I didn't know what to do with myself. I kept slamming against the concrete blockage, hoping the stone monstrosity would crack or break, but nothing happened. If I have had the explosives, I might have been able to breach the pathway again, but everything was stuck on the other side.

My guns, my stakes, my blood.

I had nothing.

Every bone in my body hurt, my nails were broken, my body bruised. I could feel my ribs and spine aching with each movement. With the lack of blood, my bones couldn't heal quickly enough.

"Alright." I breathed in, trying to calm the panic, and checked what I had on.

A phone, a gun and a crumpled map was all I had left.

With shaky fingers, I unlocked the cracked screen and dialled William. He would help me. He would know what to do. If he wasn't dead already.

While I listened to the phone ring in my ear, I checked the pathway on the other side. The hallway was similar to the one I left behind, only more battered now that I goddamn bazooka took down the walls. It led to the stairway.

Shouting, firing and explosions reached from above. I was close to the surface. William and Thomas could help me blow up the wall if I reached them in time.

So, I ran.

My entire world narrowed down to the simple goal of getting Ian out of the hellhole underground and every fibre of my body hoped I wouldn't be too late.

I counted on Vilmus, which wasn't something I thought I'd ever say.

I counted on their relationship and his need to kill Ian himself. If he wanted that, the vampires would have subdoed him instead of killing him outright.

Ian was strong, but he wasn't strong enough to take on so many of them, not with salvia divinorum poisoning his blood.

The phone still rang in my ear, but no one answered. I hung up and called Thomas, without luck. Frustration and desperation mixed in my belly, pushing me forward.

I hid behind the wall on the surface level where the sounds of fighting grew stronger and assessed the situation in front of me. Shouting reached my ears, muffled and full of panic. I couldn't see our soldiers, but I saw a few vampires running through the hallways, carrying weapons and blood.

My back glued to the wall and I took in a deep breath. No one was answering.

Thanking God for smartphones, I opened the camera and took a picture of the map in my hand. I circled the room Ian and I were in and sent it to everyone I knew, including the Barbies, the vamplings and even Caiden.

Ian and I need help. The way through is blocked. Send help and explosives. Vilmus is going to kill us.

Someone had to see it eventually. I hoped eventually wouldn't be too late.

I breathed in and glanced towards the exit. As one of the vampires who carried stakes and blood walked by, I cried out.

"Help! I need help!"

The vampire stopped and like a good soldier, moved towards me. He was a handsome guy, tall and well-built, with gorgeous green eyes. I didn't need to fake pain as he looked over me. His forehead creased. He didn't recognise me.

"Please." I whispered.

A little hesitantly, he handed the blood to me. I opened the bottle and drank greedily, letting it heal my broken bones and chipped fingernails. To my surprise, the man just stood there, his expression perplexed.

I wanted to kill him outright. I wanted to steal the stake from his bag and attack him while he wasn't looking, but then he spoke.

"Is he dead yet?"

Surprise burst through me.

"N-no." I squeezed out.

"Hurry up." The man gave me the stake and another blood bottle and walked away.

Without enough time to process what just happened, I pushed myself off the wall and headed down where I came from. No one was answering my cries for help. No one except for Caiden.

Tell me what to bring.

I grunted and dialled him. He answered after one ring.

"Don't you fucking come here." I cursed.

"Tell me what to bring." Caiden spoke, his voice strained. "You guys took a bunch of weapons, but there has to be something here."

"Nothing but guns." I shook my head. "It wouldn't help."

"I'll find Thomas and William." He pushed. "They must have something."

"Caiden." I grunted as I moved through the hallways. "You're going to get yourself killed."

"I'm coming." He hung up on me.

I shouted and kicked the stone in my way, but despite everything, I had no time to think about what a ridiculously stupid idea this was.

With renewed strength and a bottle of blood to spare, I gripped the stone blocks and pulled. They wouldn't budge. If I had someone stronger, someone like William, by my side, I might be able to pull the pieces away. But he wasn't answering my cries for help and I had no time to go look for him.

"Alright, Chloe, think." I whispered and leaned against the wall.

There was no way to move the big stones out of the way, too much weight rested on them. Moving the small ones might help unbalance the entire construction, but it might as well be completely futile. If only I could squeeze through-

My eyes widened.

I glanced at the concrete monstrosity, latched onto the stones and pulled myself up. The bottom parts of the blockage were the heaviest, with the most stones piled on top of one another, but the top was somewhat thinner, with smaller stones peeking through.

I stood on one of the bigger stones and picked out the smaller ones, throwing them on the ground. After a minute of digging the rocks out, I managed to create a small hole. I peeked through. The room was empty except for the vampire bodies lying around. None of them were Ian.

I breathed in with relief, realising Vilmus might have ordered to have Ian brought to him alive.

I pushed my hand through the hole and cleaned the way as well as I could. The small hole wasn't big enough for a vampire. But it was big enough for a bat.

I jumped down and took off my clothes. For a moment, I worried someone would come down here and see me half naked. The state they'd find me in would be vulnerable, but perhaps I'd confuse them long enough to kill them.

I folded my shirt and my panties, feeling way too exposed and nervous, and shoved them into the hole. Then, I squeezed my eyes shut and called forward the bat form.

William said once that the ability to turn into a bat was pretty much lost on old vampires. The form was useless in a fight, mostly because once the vampires turned back into their regular form, they'd be naked and weapon-less. Bats couldn't carry stakes.

My bones cracked and the world around me grew bigger as I turned smaller. I flapped my wings to gain momentum and flew up. The hole in the concrete was big enough for me to crawl through. Fear surged through me, fear that the concrete monstrosity would collapse and smash my small bat body.

I breathed in deeply and pushed my clothes to the end of the hole. The stake was much heavier and I had to pull it along with me. I squeezed through the crack. My clothes stumbled on the floor. I flew out and landed on the ground.

I squeezed my small fists and shut my eyes. The uncomfortable, stretching sensation spread through me as my body grew bigger and bigger. The wings retracted and my hands returned.

"Great." I coughed out dust and dirt. "Now I'm naked."

I put on my panties and my shirt, but the jeans were too big to fit through the hole. I couldn't even fit my bra and shoes through. At least I still had my stake. Half-naked and slightly ashamed, I looked at the crumpled map.

Vilmus's chambers weren't far away.

The vampires left the door open behind them. Forcing myself to remain as quiet as possible, I sneaked through the left doorway. The lack of shoes suddenly came in handy.

According to the map, Vilmus had his own way out through the chambers, but it probably only opened with the touch of his spit or something. Chance were, Ian and I would have to escape through the blocked exit.

If someone chased us, we wouldn't have time to turn into bats and crawl through the hole. I checked my phone. No one answered my messages. If no one reached us in time, we might have to run all the way to the other side.

I couldn't decide which option was riskier.

No weapons, no pants and no backup plan, I took in a breath and sneaked through the tunnels, sticking to the walls and shadows. The lights above me flickered sporadically, damaged by all the explosions. Smell of death still lingered in the air.

I stopped in place once I heard voices in the distance. My hand tightened around the single stake I had on me. Retrospectively thinking, perhaps I should have waited for backup.

"Where is he?" A rough, angry voice growled.

"In the chambers." Another said, softer, more composed.

I wondered whether they were talking about Vilmus.

"He should get his ass upstairs, it's not good." The angry one growled again.

The other vampire spoke, "He's sending us upstairs."

Their voices turned quieter and their footsteps softer. They walked away.

The fight upstairs had to be going relatively well if Vilmus was sending the cultists upstairs to fight, which also meant he was alone with Ian in his chambers.

I consulted with the map and moved again. The door to Vilmus's chambers was open, but a bunch of voices mashed together on the other side. Sounds of shouting and arguing reached me, but I couldn't quite comprehend them. I glued myself to the wall and waited in the shadows.

All I needed to do was grab Ian and run.

My heart hammered in my chest and I cursed my body for shouting so loudly. These vamps could hear me if they tried hard enough.

Shouting gradually died down. Someone slammed the door. Someone else stormed off beside me and I covered my mouth with my hands to supress the yelp that almost escaped. The cultist seemed to be walking away from Vilmus's chambers.

And then, the familiar voice spoke.

"Alone, at last."