Once Baptista was sure that Shakriella was gone, she scanned the tiny room she was in. The colour of the dull paint made her want to puke. Then she noticed another small door; she cautiously walked to it. It opened as she turned the small handle. There was a toilet and a sink, and a mirror. Other than that there was nothing else, not even a light.

Baptista looked over at the glass of water as she felt the scraping dryness on her tongue. Though she was reluctant to drink the water, thinking maybe there was something else in it. But she couldn't live with paranoia forever. So she went over to both the glass and the plate and made their contents disappear.

Days went by, and nothing had happened for Baptista. No one visited her, not of the spirit world or of the natural world. Every day there was a plate and glass, but she had not seen any sign of Michael or Lance. She tried looking out the window but all she could see was black during the night, and woods during the day.

"Hello?!" She screamed as she bashed her fists against the door.

No one answered. She heard no sound.

She banged on the door again, making her knuckles sore as they collided with the wood. Again there was no answer, she sighed and fell against the wall, and slid down to the floor. Her thoughts went to her mother, then Poloma and her daughter Noemi, and then to Frankie. She missed them all so much.

"You really need to stop whining." An unfamiliar voice said.

She looked up from the ground and saw the face of the voice who was talking to her. She had never heard his voice before, but she knew who he was. One of the vampires she had seen in her dreams, and all the time he'd never speak. His blue eyes flashed in the dimmed light that filtered through the small room she was in. His wavy blonde hair feathered, just above the tip of his ears, and at the middle of his neck. There was only one way she could always describe him, warm death.

"It's you." She said just above a whisper.

"Of course it's me, I'm the only one right now that isn't totally pissed at you for telling your guide to go to hell." He said playing with the hem of his shirt.

"They're all mad at me?" She said, looking shocked for a moment, then realization struck and that expression went right to shame. "I didn't mean it. She should know that. I'm just scared right now."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." He said looking around the room in disgust. "I can't believe Lance still has this thing." He shook his head. "And that they are actually keeping you here in it."

"Why? What did they do in here? Or do I really want to know?" She said looking to him eye to eye.

The young vampire, Kasper walked around the small room, not responding to her. Totally lost in the past, where the screams of victims echoed. He remembered how they used to torture young women in here, rape them, rip them apart slowly, enjoying ever ounce of pain that came through here. He shuddered and looked over at Baptista and quickly shook his head.

"I knew I didn't want to know." She said just imagining a small portion of what Kasper knew. "Why are you here? Why aren't you mad at me like the others?"

"Oh, I find you completely annoying," He said with utter honesty. "But you're the only one who can stop Lance."

"Me?" She said completely shocked. "How can I stop him?"

"I'll tell you everything you need to know about vampires." He said now playing with fringe that dangled from his sleeves.

"Something tells me you've had some history with Lance, and through me you're having a slight taste of revenge." She said getting up, staring him deeply in the face. It was like he was completely there, and not a ghost.

He smiled slightly and nodded. "He needs to be stopped though. He's a monster, and he's going to hurt my Aloysia."

Baptista smiled at the name. Everyone had this attraction to Aloysia; maybe it wasn't a purpose enchantment, that's just the way she was. As everyone else who was under her non-purpose spell, she wasn't going to let anything happen to her, or Abivin. She looked up at Kasper wondering what his relationship was with Aloysia.

"How would he hurt Aloysia?" She asked.

"I can't see into the damned future!" He said loudly. "But I do know everything that he does, hurts Aloysia in some way. He's an arrogant fool to have done the things he has with her!"

"So..." Baptista said. "Tell me how to kill vampires. It's obvious you die."

"Good girl, getting down to business." He said sitting next to her on the floor. His nose curled at the sorry condition of the room.

Kasper told her everything he knew about vampires, being an old vamp himself. He told her the key thing she needed to know, how to kill a vampire. There were a couple of ways, out in the sun too long, chopping off the head and leaving it out in the sun, ripping the heart out, and even de-fanging them and lock them somewhere where they can't feed. Baptista laughed at that one, but with Kasper's cross look her expression quickly faded. He also gave her some tips on how to get around the vampire's hypnotic spells. Kasper said that that was how they were going to try and access her dreams. She was not going to let that happen, she couldn't let them have her thoughts.

Baptista woke up in the stinky bed she laid in; she looked at the ceiling groggily. There before her was a face she didn't want to see, Michael's. She moved away from him quickly and went towards the wall, as if clinging to it, she would become one with the wall and he couldn't get her. She glared at him, but had the satisfying thoughts of knowing how to kill him. Then realized what she was thinking could be read by him that she quickly covered those thoughts with others.

"So my pet, have sweet dreams?" He said staying where he was, staring at her with his haunty blue eyes. They were the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. Too bad they were on such a monster.

"None that really concern you." She said with an overconfident attitude. "They are mad at me now, because I told my - someone to go to hell. Now they won't come to me."

Michael smiled with amusement. "Like I'd believe that my pet."

"Fine don't, but it's the truth." She said putting her conversation with Shakriella on the top of her mind, hoping that Michael would be reading her at this moment. If he wasn't, she somehow she was trying to project those thoughts to him.

She was very lucky, because Michael was reading her and he saw the visions of images in her mind she was projecting towards him. Not knowing that Kasper was helping her, he didn't suspect that she had the knowledge to do such a thing. He growled and stared at Baptista, she obviously made the spirits mad at her on purpose.

"You just don't know when you make mistakes do you?" He reached at her with his vampiric speed and grabbed her by the hair and drug her out of the room. "I've got something to show you my dear."

He drug her violently throughout the mansion until they were outside in the backyard, no where near her view from her small little window. There were bodies upon bodies being tossed into a great huge pyre. She saw they were bodies of vampires, noticing huge bloodstains of where their hearts would be. The beheaded must have been tossed in before he had dragged her to the horrific sight.

"These are idiotic vampires who sided with Abivin and Aloysia who tried to rescue you. Now they're dead." He smiled at her distraught face. "They're dead because of you my dear."

"No!" She said getting her arm out of Michael's grip and running out into the night.

The fire glared into Michael's eyes and he couldn't see where she had ran off to, and the smell of burnt corpses were the only thing that filled his nostrils. He growled in the attempt to find her. He hurled his companion vampires as he went by when they told him that they didn't see Baptista run by.

A growl came before Baptista's face in the woods. It was a vampire Michael had sent after her. All she knew is she had to escape, she couldn't stand being in that room any longer. She ripped off a branch from a young tree and held it as a weapon in front of the vampire hissing at her. She kept her eyes on his every move. Shockingly she could keep up with him; it had to be something to do with the pyre. That's the only thing she could think of, or the adrenaline rushing through her.

A sloshing sound filled the area they were in; blood trickled down the large branch in Baptista hands. The vampire's heart was on the other end of the branch. She quickly ripped it off the branch and made sure that there was no way it was attached to the vampire. His body fell to the ground. She crushed the barely beating heart in her hand, the meaty thing squished between her fingers. It was so disgusting, then she rubbed the blood on her, knowing that the vampire's tracked with sent. Then she went off into the night.

"They were massacred." Abivin said with rage as he pounded his fist into Aloysia's wall. "Maybe we should just give up on this girl."

"Abivin! That doesn't sound like you." Aloysia said coming to wrap her arms around him, but he moved away refusing.

"They're dead Aloysia, there's only five of us left, and that's counting you and I. There's no way we can stop them." He stared down at the floor; he couldn't look at the other three who were staring at him and Aloysia in the room.

Mark, Sam, and Gemma wanted to say something to comfort their friend, but there was nothing they could say to change this situation. It was totally grim and there was no way they were going to win against Lance and Michael. They stared at Aloysia, she had her head hung low, she occasionally looked from Abivin to the other three.

"I need to go out for a bit." Abivin said grabbing his keys and heading out the door before anyone could stop him.

"Please be careful." Aloysia said as he sped off into the night. She hoped that he somehow heard that.

Baptista went through the woods not stopping in her pace. She was extremely exhausted, but she couldn't stop, she had to get away from the mansion, and she prayed for sunlight or even a car's headlights to save her from the long nightmare that blended those days into a brackish nightmare. Her skin screamed with vampire blood and her own sweat, though she had been dirty anyway, having no way to shower besides that sink in that room she was held in. But it didn't help when you put dirty clothes back on.

She felt like she was going to collapse, but she couldn't let her body let go like that. She knew she needed to get away, far away, she just really wished she had a car right now. Baptista leaned up against a tree, heavily panting, but still listening intently for any sound of someone following her. She didn't know where this hidden power came from; maybe it was just natural instinct. Like prey running away from the predator.  How lovely it would be for her to stumble into some water. Her body ached for the water she was loosing, and her tongue was as dry as a desert.

There in the distance she saw a light, her body and eyes perked up and she got on her feet again and went towards this light. It wasn't moving, so maybe it was a house. She just hope that it didn't house vampires. Though the closer she got, the more she knew it wasn't a house, but a tower.

She was now in the middle of a field, she felt like she was prey for anything now. Vampires, coyotes, any nighttime wildlife that would find her a nice bloody midnight snack. She looked off into the distance from the tower and then she saw her freedom, the horizon showed lots of lights of a town. She knew it wasn't the city, but somewhere where she could come in contact with another humans. Though she looked a terrible sight and there would be a lot of questioning, she didn't care. She was tired, thirsty, hungry, and she wanted some feeling of protection, and those were the only things she could be thinking of at the moment.

Time seemed to slow down as she got closer and closer to the town. Like when dreams taunt you of safety within them when you're being chased by a monster. Baptista threw away the feeling as she ran faster and faster. Normally she'd be almost having an asthma attack running from the mansion through the woods like that, but wherever this power was coming from, she didn't care, as long as it got her away from those evil creatures. She kept repeating that in her mind, and that kept her going at her pace.

A young teenage boy was sitting in his backyard when he heard something coming from the small woods. He got to his feet ready to run when he saw Baptista coming towards him. His back light showed she was covered in blood, and she had a scared look across her face. She stopped before him, breathing hard, trying to make out words, but it just wasn't happening, and she collapsed to the ground, she looked up at him catching her breath.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" He said kneeling down beside her.

"No, not really. This guy, he tried to kill me." She said, telling the truth, but she wasn't exactly going to tell the boy the man was a vampire.

"Where are you bleeding from?" He said examining her body in the soft light from the moon and the back light. He couldn't find any wounds except small scratches, but nothing serious that wasn't hidden by clothes.

"I'm not bleeding, I don't think..." She looked at her arms, and legs, cut from branches. "I need to get inside, I think I'm going to pass out."

He helped her up, her poor form, still a little sunburned, cut, and totally worn out. She was covered in sweat, and she smelled terrible from it, but he couldn't say anything about it. Her hair was dingy from not being washed in days, but in the night the young teen couldn't tell.

"Mom!" The boy yelled. "Hurry, there's a girl who needs help!" He took her into the bathroom and set her down on the tile floor. "Sorry, I don't know if my mom'd get mad if you got blood on the couch."

"It's okay." Baptista muttered.

"Chris what the heck is going on here, you going around yelling like--." Chris' mom saw Baptista and her mouth shaped into a perfect O. "Oh my God, are you okay?"

Baptista really hated when people asked that. What the hell was she supposed to say? Oh yeah, I'm just fine and dandy, spent a couple days in a vampire's mansion. She stared up at the lady in pain. Chris' mom told Chris to leave and she shut the door.

"What happened?" Chris' mom asked.

Baptista repeated what she had told Chris in their backyard. "I'm going to go to the police tomorrow. Don't worry, this guy isn't a threat to anyone else. We fight all the time."

"A bad husband? Boyfriend? I know how that is." She said showing off some bruises on her arms. "Don't worry my husband's gone for the weekend, probably sleeping with that secretary of his."

Baptista didn't say a word she stared off into space, as if the whole universe and all it's meaning was in the white tile floor of this woman's bathroom. Then she looked up at Chris' mom as she was filling the tub with some nice warm water. This woman sort of reminded her of her Aunt, she sort of wished now that she had gone with her after her mom died. Though her Aunt wasn't really her aunt, just someone who was deemed her Godmother. But she had to run off with Frankie off to the big city. Now look where it got her, vampires chasing after her. But she'd probably end up being molested by her Aunt's bastard husband, and be wishing for vampires.

"There, I thought you'd like that. It's the only thing that keeps me sane after my fights with my husband. Are you hungry?" She said with a sympathetic smile on her face.

Baptista nodded. "Thank you very much. You don't know how much I need this right now."

Chris' mom's smile grew. "Believe me I know. I really know." The slightly overweight woman got off of her knees and headed to the door. "I'll get you some clean clothes as well. My daughter has some things, not like she needs them anyway, since she's left us to go to the big city."

"She just up and left? Did she take anything?" Baptista asked getting up carefully, raising her eyebrows. This was all too familiar territory, and she was really wondering why this woman was just sharing everything with her. Her tub, her information, her runaway girl's clothes.

Chris' mom nodded.

She left Baptista to herself and she undressed and got into the bath. It turned from a clear lucent colour, into a light red. She drained the tub and filled it again with warm water. It just about stayed its lucenty colour, but there was still a reddish tint. But she felt safe here, like with her Aunt, but she knew she was going to leave. For their safety. She just hoped her scent didn't bring Michael here, and hurt these lovely people.

All Baptista could remember is being in the tub and then she was on the couch in the living room of the nice people who had taken her in. She was in a small jersey made for a young woman and short jean shorts. Not really her style, but clothes were clothes, and they obviously proved that Chris' sister was not that much older than she was when she left for the city. Maybe she could find her and make her keep contact with her family, but she had a feeling if she ran into her she wouldn't talk to her family anyway. She never wanted to talk with her Aunt when Poloma had pleaded with her in a letter.

It was so nice to see the daylight somewhere else besides that rancid room that Michael had thrown her into. It was also wonderful to see everyone around her alive and well, even though Chris' mom had bruises decorating her arms.

"Do you have any scissors?" Baptista asked walking into the kitchen. Wonderful smells came from there. "And where are my clothes from last night?"

"You're involved a lot deeper than you've let on." Chris' mom said.

"What do you mean?" Baptista said, getting worried.

"Vampires. Those things took my daughter and made her into a monster." She said slapping the spatula on the counter. "Your clothes, are in the garbage, and when the light hit them they burst into flames."

"I'm not involved with a vampire if that's what you're thinking. I never even admitted to being with a boyfriend or anything like that. They captured me, and they killed some good people and I have to stop them."

"So you're a vampire hunter? Like the ones who came to my house so long ago? The ones that promised they'd save my daughter's soul, but they never got their hands on her?" She began to get irritated.

"Um, no." Baptista said. "They killed my friend, and friends of other friends."

The spatula hit the wall, sending grease flying everywhere, almost hitting Baptista. It pointed at a picture of a young girl with blonde hair, and brown eyes. She looked to be very young nineteen years in age, far much older than Baptista thought she was by judging her clothing.

"That's my baby!" She yelled. "She's still damned, and when she dies she'll go to hell for the murder she has done."

"I'll stop her. Because I'm going to kill them all." Baptista said so sure of herself. "They're going to die because they killed my friend, and corrupted other people. It's one thing to survive, but these, these ones are monsters."

"They're all monsters." She said, continuing her cooking.

Baptista shook her head thinking of how loving Abivin was to her, and how regal Aloysia was with her lovely enchanting presence, but she didn't dare to argue. Chris' mom pointed to a drawer and Baptista cautiously went over to it and opened it. Seeing scissors inside. She grasped them in her hand and went off into the bathroom.

There was no way she was going to be able to repair the mess and knots her hair was. One bunch by bunch Baptista cut the long ruby hair she had. Her hair was short as an average boys and with its form it gave her a faerie appearance. She didn't quite look like herself anymore, but she still shined with that angelic aura. She sighed, she'd never escape this, she wanted to at least look her age. She took what hair she had cut off and flushed it down the toilet. She didn't want to leave like she was going to, but Chris' mom was crazy with grief. She slipped out the window and went off into the street, walking down enjoying the sunlight.

"Baptista." A familiar voice said, it was that of the lovely titan woman.

"Shakriella! I thought you left me!" Baptista said, then realized that some people were looking at her. She blushed terribly and continued walking on.

"You know I can't do that." She said smiling. "I'm proud of you, you got out, all on your own." She put a hand on Baptista's shoulder.

It felt so good and cool on her especially walking out in the heat like she was. She was going to burn again if she didn't get to shade soon. It was like she was a vampire herself with that skin of hers. She smiled and didn't say anything, but with the look on her face she didn't need to say anything to Shakriella.

"There's only five left." Shakriella said. "Abivin, Aloysia, and three of their friends. Michael and Lance killed them all. That's why you were in the room so long. I didn't want you to get caught in the mayhem."

"Why did they have to die for me?" Baptista whispered going through a park. She sat down on a bench enjoying the sweet shade.

"They didn't die just for you. They fought for lots of people and things. Lots of lives that were taken away by those two and their followers." Shakriella said sitting next to her lovely angelic faerie looking friend. "By the way, I love the hair." She rushed a few of her long golden white fingers through it.

Baptista smiled and was relieved a little that these vampires didn't die just for her, that they had other reasons for fighting those idiots. "Where am I?"

"Not that far from Aloysia's house, it's about two miles from here." She said looking off to the direction of Aloysia's house.

"That means I'm not too far from the city either." Baptista noted as she got to her feet again. "Help me get to Aloysia's house."

Shakriella nodded as she got to her feet and the two set off into the direction of the vampire's home. She couldn't wait to see Abivin and Aloysia again. She just hoped that they were okay, emotionally. She knew they were alive, but sometimes life has no meaning when you lose your friends.

The shade taunted Baptista as she and her guide walked through the streets of the town. Two miles didn't seem that much if she had a car, or even a bike, but she was going by foot. She looked over to Shakriella with a face full of sweat, as if to say Please there has to be a better way to get there! Then Baptista wiped the sweat off her face when it started to drip down her cheeks.

"I know it's a pain." Shakriella said. "But what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."

Baptista chuckled, but she really didn't think it was funny. She continued with her pace and continued walking until she reached a drinking fountain. She was so happy to see the silvery shine it produced by the sunlight beaming off it. She sucked in the cool liquid and didn't want to leave.

It took a long time but they did it, the two made it to Aloysia's house. It was marvelous, just how Baptista had imagined. She looked over to Shakriella, but she was gone again, it seems she was only there as a traveling companion. She walked up to the door, she went to knock, but then she stopped. She wasn't sure if they were sleeping or not. Well, she certainly wasn't going to wait until nightfall, so she knocked on the door.

She knew they couldn't answer the door after it hit her. The sunlight had made her oblivious to common sense. They burn in sunlight! She checked the door; of course it was locked. She wished she had a credit card with her right now. Frankie taught her that maxing them out wasn't the only things they were good for. She walked around the house looking for anything that was flat like one.

She saw a garden and walked over to it, and it was wonderful. The flowers surrounding made her feel like she was in heaven. She looked over and there was a shed, and there had to be some tools in there. She went in and found a gardening hoe and she jumped on it until it broke from the handle. She went back to the door and pulled the little tricks that Frankie had taught her, and just as she had hoped, it worked just as good. She felt a little guilty busting into Aloysia's house like this but she'd faint if she didn't get into some air conditioning.

The house was as amazing as the outside. She closed the door behind her; all the curtains were drawn shut so no sunlight penetrated the inside. She could now barely see her hand in front of her face. She opened the door again to see where she was going and turned on a light, then went back to the door and closed it again.

Baptista gasped, there in the main room there was the painting she had done of Heléna. Heléna must have been a glorious person for someone like Aloysia to worship her. As much as Baptista dreamed of her, she never really got to know Heléna, and that made her a little jealous and sad. She walked around looking at things in amazement, like she was transformed into a little girl all over again. Then she remembered why she was here.

She went into another room and there he was, in such a sad presence. Abivin was sleeping, sitting up somewhat in a chair. A blanket had been thrown on top of him, in some pity; Aloysia must have done it. Then again there were at least three other vampires in the house besides the two. The light in the room was still on, this room looked to be some sort of study and there were books all around. A lot of them looked very, very old. She walked over to him cautiously, and gently placed her fingertips on his hand.

His eyes peeked open instantly and Baptista jumped back in fear. She looked at him with saucer eyes; he didn't seem to be the same man that she had met before. He looked totally worn out, like sleeping for a million years wouldn't satisfy him. But his eyes were as large as hers were. He couldn't believe it, he knew who it was, but he didn't recognize her.

"Baptista?" He finally said. "What happened to you?"

"I got away from Michael. I saw what he and Lance did to your friends. They locked me up in this disgusting room, and they were going to try and use my gifts, and take my thoughts." She said beginning to shake a little, she had pushed those thoughts into a okay part of her mind before, but now they were in the danger zone.

He went over to her and hugged her tight. He felt really terrible to be hugging her right now after what he said and what he was thinking last night. To give up on her, and it seemed after all that had happened to her, she didn't give up on him, or Aloysia. Then again, there aren't that many places where she could go.

"Kasper, do you know him?" Baptista said.

Abivin never thought he'd hear that name come from anyone's mouth ever again. He pushed away from the embrace and looked her so deep in the eye it almost knocked her down. He didn't say anything but he nodded.

"Something tells me you didn't get along with him."  She said.

"Not really, unless you like to be used as bait to get to Lance and Michael." He said. "He'll do anything to kill them, even hurt his friends, well all except Aloysia."

"Well, he says I got what it takes to kill them." She said, feeling a little uneasy about what Kasper had said to her now. But then again, she did kill that vampire in the woods with ease.