There had to be some way to get out of this. I looked around frantically, scanning our surroundings, looking for a way out.

Things weren't looking good. All three of the doors were heavily secured with two guards standing outside each one. The six windows placed around the room weren't an option either, seeing as each of them had iron bars on the outside of all of them. Our alternatives weren't looking good. I momentarily relaxed, trying to think of a way to get my sister and me out of here, but I could only think of one thing that would buy enough time for an escape. Unfortunately, if I were to choose this option, only one of us would escape. Alexandria had to get away. There was no question about that. I had to get her out of here, which meant that I would not be coming out of this alive, or at all. I turned to face my sister, who sat cowering against the wall next to me.

"Alexandria?" I asked her. She looked up at me, fear filling her large brown eyes.

"Yes?" she asked me, her eyes never leaving my face.

"I need you to do something for me," I told her.

"What can I do?" she asked.

"I know a way to get you out of here." She stared at me, wondering what I had in mind.

"I can't tell you the details, but i need you to do a couple of things for me, alright?"

"Okay," she answered.

"I need you to hand me your dagger," I told her.

She dragged it out of the sheath on her thigh, and handed it to me.

"What else?" she whispered.

"I'm going to do something that will get the guards away from the doors. When they leave their stations, I need you to run out of one of the doors as fast as you can. Get out of here. And no matter what you hear, don't turn around. Don't come back. Just get out. The only important thing is that you get out of here. No matter what you hear, no matter what you see, no matter what I do, just get out of here. Are we clear?"

She said nothing, just nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. If only there was a way for both of us to get out of here. But I had no other choice. I couldn't ask her to do this. Even if I did, everything we'd done in the past few days would have been pointless. It had to be me. She had to get out of here alive. And our only other option was for me to carry out the plan.

I gave my sister one last hug before standing up, her dagger in my hand, which hung at my side. I walked to the center of the room, my back to my sister. When I reached the center of the room, I motioned for her to stand up, which she did, pressed as tightly as she could be against the wall. I gave her one last smile before turning around, my back to her once again.

A million thoughts raced through my head as I prepared to free my sister. Why does it have to end like this? Why isn't there another way? I love her. I'd do anything to keep her safe. It's for a good cause that I am doing this. But there was one thought that stood out above all the rest. I'm doing this for her. I owe her that much.

And so, with that thought going through my head, I whistled quietly once, a single low note escaping from between my lips. The guards all turned around to look at me. I raised the dagger to my throat, the sharp blade pressed lightly to my skin. The guards stared intently at me, eager for me to finish what I was going to do. They all knew. They knew, I knew, and Alexandria knew, her knowledge given away by her sharp intake of breath. The guards' eyes never left the dagger at my throat; though I'm sure they heard her gasp. Fear rolled off my sister in waves that crashed over me, one after another, but I had made up my mind. There was nothing that could keep me from getting her out.

So, before I ran out of courage, I sliced the skin over the artery in my neck, cutting off most of the blood flow to my brain. Alexandria gasped again. I yelled for her to run and the guards were upon me in a matter of seconds. I don't know if she ran or stood where she was because consciousness was abandoning me. I swayed on my feet and fell to the floor, where the guards went in for the final kill.

Imagine this: Six huge guards, two at each of the three doors in the room; a severed artery; none of the guards have fed in the three to four days that we had been kept there; and you're the one standing in the middle of the room with blood gushing from your neck. The guards abandon their posts at the doors and come into the room, all walking towards you, surrounding you so you have no way of escape. But it's not like you would try to make a run for it anyways, seeing as lack of blood the brain can be a bit disorienting. But just imagine that. Not a pretty sight, right? Well, imagine being the one in the middle of it all; the guards are descending on you and the only thing you're concerned about is getting your little sister out of the room. Well, that's a pretty good description of my situation right now.

My whole body was numb now. I couldn't feel anything; I couldn't speak, couldn't see, couldn't feel; I couldn't even stay standing up. So, falling to the floor, I finally gave up. If she was gone, then I hoped she made it out safely. If she wasn't, then this whole thing had been just a convenience for the guards, and waste of my time and life. But my eyes snapped back into focus as soon as I hit the floor, every sensation my body was capable of came flooding back three times as strong. I looked around the room one last time. I had one last thought before blacking out. She's gone.

Darkness.

It surrounded me. But why was I seeing anything at all? Was this what death was like? Or had I somehow miraculously survived my plan?

No. That was impossible. Six huge vampires and one tiny human. No one could have survived that. It was impossible. Physically impossible.

Or was it? Had I actually survived? Had someone saved me? I didn't remember anyone coming in after….I am such a wimp. I save her, sacrificing myself, and I can't even bring myself to say her name. But it's not like it mattered anymore. There was no possible way to survive that. I'm dead. There's no denying that.

"Is he awake yet?"

Where is that voice coming from? Has who woken up? Who is the voice talking about?

"No. Not yet. But he's not dead, if that's what you're wondering."

It was a different voice from the first. It sounded like it should belong to a small girl.

No. It couldn't be her. There's no way for that to be possible. I banished her. If I'm alive, it can't be her.

But they were most definitely talking about me.

So I'm not dead. Well, that clears that question up. And I guess that's a good thing. I think. It all depends on who it is that's talking about me. Except it can't be Kail. I just can't be. But I have to know. I have to.

I opened my eyes, instantly shutting them against the bright lights above me.

"Good morning, sunshine!" It was the girl again. The girl who sounded like Kail; but couldn't be Kail.

"Am I dead?" I so stupidly asked. I obviously wasn't.

"No, silly! You're not dead. But you very nearly were. But if you ever do anything so stupid again, you will be." She said this all very cheerfully, as if talking about my death amused her.