“So you know which hall it is?” I asked as Milo drug me to the other side of the room.

“Nope, but it’s got to be one of these two halls.” Milo let go of my hand, but he still hung onto Bobby’s. In another circumstance, it would’ve been a very funny sight to see a black glittery fairy leading a rather short Han Solo by the hand.

They led the way, but once we were in the hall, they slowed down considerably. Milo didn’t really know how to track Jane, not as well as I did anyway, but it was going to be impossible. There were too many people tonight.

Everything smelled like blood, and I was incredibly impressed with my current level of self control. My stomach burned a bit, and I was really thirsty, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. It did, however, make it hard to distinguish different scents and sounds. Blood overpowered everything else.

I was about to give up on the whole thing when I finally got something. I froze in the middle of the hall, and Bobby bumped into me. It was too dark for him to see that I had stopped moving. Very faintly, I could smell her perfume. Her blood wasn’t as distinct to me as I thought it would be, but her perfume was.

“It’s this one,” I whispered, gesturing to the door in front of us. Milo moved in front of Bobby, putting himself between him and any possible attack.

After the way Jonathan had reacted the last time we busted in on him with Jane, I figured we should take the necessary precautions. This time, I decided against busting in. Very slowly, I turned the knob and pushed the door open.

Jonathan didn’t hear us because he was feeding on Jane. He knelt on the bed, her body hanging limp in his arms, and he gnawed on her neck. It wasn’t the gentle bites that Olivia always gave her girlfriends, or like the ones I’m sure Milo gave Bobby.

This was intensely animalistic, reminding me of the shark attacks I watched on TV. Jane appeared completely unconscious, and when I listened for a heartbeat, I couldn’t hear one. Only the sounding of his, pounding strong and fast.

Without thinking, I flew at him. He was killing her, and I had to stop him while there was still time, if there was still time. I jumped onto his back, and he snarled and threw Jane to the ground. It would’ve been easier for him to just drop her on the bed, but he purposely chucked her away, like a piece of garbage.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, but he reached back and grabbed me by my hair. He lifted me by it, and I screamed. I kicked and clawed at him, and he threw me against the wall.

The pain stopped instantly. Hitting the wall hurt like hell, but it was over right away, and I was back on my feet. I dove at him again, punching at him. I had never been in a fight before, so I was just doing whatever I could think of.

Theoretically, I should be really fast and strong, but I did not feel like it. He blocked every move before I even made it, and when I was resorting to simply scratching and kicking, he turned me around. He wrapped his arms tightly around me, pressing my back to his chest, and I couldn’t move.

“Drop the meat!” Jonathan roared at Milo, and I looked over at him. Milo had carefully picked Jane up off the floor, but he didn’t want to leave me alone with Jonathan.

“Get out of here!” I shouted. I didn’t really want him to leave me, because I had a feeling that I couldn’t win this fight, but this was his only chance to save Jane. “Go!”

Milo was indecisive, and Bobby stood in the hallway right out the door, looking pale and afraid. I struggled against Jonathan but didn’t accomplish much. He tired of the stand off, and in a ridiculous move, he bit into my shoulder.

I yelped, and I could feel the blood flowing hot and strange from the wound, but he didn’t drink from me. He could’ve bitten my throat and caused real damage, but he was doing this just to hinder and annoy me. Losing blood weakened me, and I wasn’t that strong of a fighter to start with.

“Alice!” Milo shouted.

“Drop the girl!” Jonathan snarled, and threw me to the ground. My shoulder had already stopped hurting, and it tingled from healing, but I could feel the blood seeping out of me. It was incredibly nauseating.

“Run, Milo!” I yelled, and Jonathan turned back to glare at me.

He stood right by me, where I lay on the ground, and an idea occurred to me. He kicked me, and I let him, and Bobby shouted at me to get up. If Jane wasn’t unconscious, Milo probably would’ve handed her to Bobby and helped me himself.

As soon as Jonathan turned back to Milo, I moved forward and bit into his ankle as hard as I could. I tore through his Achilles tendon, and Jonathan screamed in pain and fell back on the ground. Even though the pain would stop soon, the damaged ligament would slow him down.

I got to my feet. Jonathan, still on the floor, grabbed my ankle. I stomped on his hand before he would get the chance to bite me the way I had done him, and he hissed but wouldn’t let go. He bared his teeth like he was some kind of animal, so I kicked him hard in the face. At the same time, he pulled my leg, so I fell back onto the ground.

His mouth was full of blood from me kicking him, and when Jonathan laughed, some of it sprayed on me. The worst part was that all the blood still smelled like Jane. I kicked him in the mouth again. He finally let go of me, and I scrambled to my feet.

Milo had started setting Jane down on the bed, preparing to help me fight off Jonathan, but Jonathan was busy holding his mouth to stop the blood from spilling out. I rushed over to help Milo get Jane, even though he wouldn’t need any help. She was little more than skin and bones. Her throat was torn open, and Jonathan had really gone to town on it when he had bit her. It was like a dog bite and not the usual small incision vampires made.

I swallowed back vomit and lifted her up in my arms. I couldn’t feel a pulse, and her head and limbs just dangled. Milo stared down at her with a look of dull horror. If she was still alive, she wouldn’t be for much longer. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement, and Bobby gasped. I looked up, but it was already too late.

Jonathan had Bobby in his clutches.

- 26 -

Milo lunged after them, into the hall where I couldn’t see anything. I wanted to throw Jane on the bed, but if she was dying, I didn’t want that to be the move that killed her. All I could hear was the sound of growling and flesh hitting flesh and Bobby screaming.

Finally I decided saving Jane’s life wasn’t worth my brother or Bobby dying, so I set her on the bed.

“Sorry, Jane.” I pushed her short hair off her forehead, and she felt completely cold under my touch.