Chapter One

It had been a week since The Incident and Yuugi still felt that his mind was in shock. He had tried not to think about it, as he didn't want anybody to know – or himself – that he had indeed killed a man, that he had blood on his hands. Of all the people in the world, he had never expected him to be one to have to resort to death as self-defence. But when he did let his mind wander, he found himself asking if what he had killed was indeed a man. He hadn't thought so when the thing had turned to ash.

That night he had hoped it had all been a nightmare and that maybe, just maybe, his mind had been playing horrible tricks on him. Only when he had awaken in the morning to his grandpa shaking his shoulders with a worried look on his face did he find out that no, it hadn't been a dream. He hadn't been able to bring himself to tell his grandpa what had happened, and instead went with the presumption that they had been broken into and possibly even robbed, as much as he had hated to say it. The two of them had set about cleaning the shop they had found that everything was in its place, if a little broken.

A few of their regular customers had come and offered to help, though the both of them had declined. At some point. Anzu had come over, gasped and looked on shocked. She had helped them despite the fact that they had both tried to get her out of the shop. For the rest of the day, they had set about trying to reorganize the shop, bring it back to how it once had been, and a few days later they were open once more.

But now, now that it had been a long while since Yuugi had had to clean up the ashes that the creature had left behind when it had died, he couldn't help but think that somehow – just somehow – it all sounded vaguely familiar, like there was something that was known for turning to ash once it died. Though, as much as he thought, sometimes even zoning out on his grandpa and Anzu, he could never think of what it was. The gnawing feeling in the back of his mind only served to annoy him, making him irritable in the last few days, snapping at people for no good reason.

And, of course, Yuugi being the man that he was, apologised profusely, saying that they had done nothing wrong and he just had trouble sleeping.

But, one night when he actually couldn't sleep, he decided to stay in his room and watch TV on the small screen on his desk, huddled up in the corner of his bed with his quilt tucked over him, hugging a pillow to his chest. His large amethyst eyes were stuck to the screen, soaking in everything of the movie that he was watching. He had always loved this movie, and it was probably his thirty-something'th time watching it.

"When Judas betrayed Jesus," Henry picked up the crucible, raising it to his eyes for inspection, "his reward was thirty pieces of silver." He moved the crucible over to where Abe was holding out his axe. He gently poured the hot liquid over the edge of the blade, coating it. Some drops fell to the floor. "At that moment, those pieces were a symbol of betraying God, of evil. And silver became a curse upon the cursed."

The scene changed to Abe and Henry standing at an old-fashioned bar, two groups of candles on the wooden top of the bar. Henry had his eyes on the nuts in his hands as he crushed them. He stopped momentarily to ask for a drink. Abe refused the offer of a drink with the shake of his head. He took a handful of nuts himself, crushing them in his hand.

"You'll never see a vampire with silver on his person," he continued. "Nor will you see him reflected in mirrors. . ."

Yuugi froze on the spot as those words registered in his mind. He'd heard them countless times before, could even mouth them word for word. But now. . . Now they held a different meaning for him. Or at least, he thought they did. His body was frozen in time while his mind was, instead, whirring 100/mph with the thoughts of what had happened to him a week ago. He was no longer focusing on the movie. He couldn't.

Painfully wide eyes moved slowly to his hand. Mentally, he placed the slim, silver knife that had once belonged to a set owned by his grandma in his palm. All he could remember was how that creature had gotten up after a sharp kitchen knife had been embedded in his chest, yet a simple and almost harmless piece of cutlery had ended him.

The sound of banging on glass aroused him from his state of mind, head snapping over to stare at his window. He sagged in relief when all he saw was the tree that had grown out of proportion banging against it. He quickly got up and out of bed, ignoring the cold air that hit his warm body, and turned on the lights.

He left the TV on, the movie continuing on in the background. He decided it was better than the eerie silence that would reign would he turn it off. He grabbed his laptop and shuffled back onto his bed with a trembling body and eyes still painfully wide open. He turned on the computer, chewing on his bottom lip absently as he waited rather impatiently.

As soon as he was in, he opened Ice Dragon and typed at the top ''. In the search bar that appeared, he typed in 'abraham lincoln vampire hunter'. He immediately went to the Wikipedia page and skimmed over the part until he found the single word that made his blood run cold and his trembling only worsen. He tried to shake his head, to take a calming breath, to explain to himself that they simply didn't exist. Because they couldn't exist. They were mere fiction, stuff of fairytales and myths created to scare children and adults alike. Nothing more.

Slowly, his finger moved across the pad so the mouse on the screen hovered over the word. He clicked on the link and instantaneously, the page he was on was redirected to another.

Vampire.

His eyes moved across what he decided was the introduction and scrolled down until he found the table of contents. He stared at each and every link until he decided to click on 'Description and common attributes'. The page moved down and he read the small paragraph, eyes widening at the first few words.

'It is difficult to make a single, definitive description of the folkloric vampire. . .'

He continued reading, noting how this creature that had attacked him certainly didn't look bloated, but it neither had fangs. Its teeth had been long and sharp like a knife, making him wince at the memory, at their sharpness. The thing's skin had been darker though, and that alarmed him. He skipped the next section and read 'Identifying vampires' finding it to be rather outdated. But then again, what did he expect? As far as anybody knew, vampires didn't exist.

Yuugi scrolled down a little more, stopping when the section jumped out at him. 'Apotropaics'. He saw what most people already knew, about crucifixes, garlic, holy water, their inability to cross running water and a few others. But what made him stop and gasp were three parts of the paragraph that read as follows;

'. . . (in some cultures, vampires do not have a reflection and sometimes do not cast a shadow, perhaps as a manifestation of the vampire's lack of a soul). . . Some traditions also hold that a vampire cannot enter a house unless invited by the owner, although after the first invitation they can come and go as they please. . . Though folkloric vampires were believed to be more active at night, they were not generally considered vulnerable to sunlight.'

Not vulnerable to sunlight? Only able to come inside once invited? Yuugi's mind was having trouble computing it all. He knew most of this, or would have at least have recognised them if someone had mentioned him. But now, as he thought of it and tried to convince himself that these creatures did exist, fear gripped his heart. How could something so. . . So horrible exist in such a world?

He shook his head gently, though never peeled his eyes away from the screen. He pushed a few golden strands behind his ear as they fell in front of his vision.

He couldn't stop himself from reading more. He felt the bile rise in his throat once more at the thought of having to decapitate one of these beings. Just the thought of how much blood there would be and how he'd see the inside of the neck made him want to puke, his face having gone sickly pale. He closed his eyes and breathed heavily through his nose, trying to calm himself and stop the flopping of his stomach. He didn't like this feeling.

Reading on about the other methods, the young adult didn't know if his mind was playing tricks on him or if he really believed this. How could a creature exist? Sure it didn't. He did admit that there were bats that drank blood. But he doubted that there were beings who could become bats, aside from being bloodsuckers. He pursed his lips at the thought of coming into contact with one of them again. He shivered, remembering the animalistic claws that had made grabs at him, and wound their fingers around his slim throat. Almost subconsciously his own hand raised to gently rub the skin that was touched. He flinched and then sighed.

Being afraid would get him nowhere.

He tried his best to push his thoughts out of his mind, keep the images at bay, so he could at least get a few hours of shut eye. He closed his laptop and placed it on his desk, at the same time turning off his TV. He used his phone as a light when he turned his bedroom light off, returning to his bed. He snuggled down under the covers, pulling them up to his chin. He squeezed his eyes shut, and convinced himself that he was safe.

Sometimes, a lie was better than the truth.

Yu-Gi-Oh!

That morning Yuugi woke up the same as he did every day, but instead of getting up straight away he stared at the ceiling, letting his brain work through the information he had gathered the night before. Of course, he'd ended up getting little to no sleep, but that didn't matter.

He pushed off the covers with a shaky hand, took a deep breath and forced himself up. He walked downstairs, smiling a little when he saw his grandpa in the kitchen, making himself a cup of coffee. "Morning, Grandpa."

The old man looked up, a smile of his own lighting up his face. "Good morning, Yuugi! Did you sleep well?"

"Not really. . . But I do feel more energetic than these last few days!" the youngest tried, walking past his grandpa to get a bowl and spoon. More like agitated as Hell.

Purple eyes similar to his own watched him but no more questions were asked on that topic. Taking a sip, the grey-haired man exited the kitchen while saying, "You should visit Ryou sometime soon, Yuugi. I haven't seen him around here lately and I'm getting a bit worried."

"I've tried!" he called back, pouring cereal into his bowl. He placed the box back in the cupboard and followed his grandpa into the living room. "But he always tells me to go home. I think he says he's got the flu or something. Won't let me go near him."

"Even when he's ill he still worries about others," his grandpa said with a small shake of his head.

"He texted me yesterday though to say that he was getting better and should be up and about in a few days." Yuugi munched on his spoonful of his breakfast. He didn't like cereal with milk. Made the bottom pieces go soggy and disgusting. "I'll make sure to visit as soon as he lets me."

That seemed to please the elder as he said nothing more on the subject. The two of them conversed until Yuugi had finished his breakfast and ran up the stairs, vaguely hearing his grandpa call about being careful. He stepped into the shower and washed his body under hot jets of water. When he came out, his skin was slightly pink. He laughed at himself when he looked in the mirror. He looked like he'd gotten a minor sunburn.

As he was getting dressed, however, the thoughts from the night and week before kept circling around his head. His eyes were watching his computer as his arms slowly did up his belt. He stopped his movements a moment, letting his hands rest on the leather, thumbs hooked between his belt and jeans.

"When Judas betrayed Jesus his reward was thirty pieces of silver. At that moment, those pieces were a symbol of betraying God, of evil. And silver became a curse upon the cursed."

He couldn't help but think that maybe he would encounter another creature. What would happen? Would they get him this time? Would he be able to escape once more? He shook his head, not wanting to think about what would happen if his life essence was sucked from his body. Because that was what vampires wanted, right? They wanted your life's essence, to take away the thing that makes you work and bring death upon you.

With a deep sigh, the young man continued to get dressed, grabbing a dark T-shirt and a soft jacket. He liked the way it felt against his skin and it kept him warm. He was happy when he wore it, and thought that if he had something so familiar on, maybe he wouldn't feel so jittery and agitated every few seconds.

As he walked down the stairs in socked feet, grabbing his shoes at the bottom, he couldn't help but think about how exposed he felt. He didn't have anything to defend himself should the creatures decide to attack him again. He was doubtful, though, trying to convince himself that maybe he – still – had hallucinated the whole ordeal, and he had merely freaked out while sleep-walking or something.

Thing was, he didn't sleepwalk.

All throughout the day, his mind was anywhere but at work. He managed to smile and be polite, even talk to the costumers and assure them that he was perfectly fine. He would force himself to laugh or chuckle if someone told a joke, if only to get on their good side.

Should he be taking one of his grandma's silver knives around with him wherever he went? It seemed like a good idea, like something he should do. His grandma would forgive him. He was using her cutlery for a good cause – even if it wasn't its actual purpose.

But would it be sharp enough to penetrate skin? Sure, it could cut meat, but then you had to do a sawing motion. And the only reason he had been able to push it inside the. . . Thing the last time was because there was already a wound. He shook his head, not wanting to think about it. It still gave him nightmares, sending cold shivers down his spine.

Suddenly, the door to the shop banged open, almost hitting the wall with the force. A rather wide-eyed man rushed inside, breathing harshly and stomping right up to the counter. Yuugi stopped what he was doing and watched the man in surprise and confusion. Just what the Hell was happening?

"Have you seen him? Has Ryuji been here? I've been looking all over for him! Please tell me you've seen him!" the man shouted at Grandpa, eyes wide and pleading.

". . . Ryuji?" Grandpa asked back, looking a little more than confused.

"Yes, Otogi Ryuji! Uhm, he has green eyes with black hair in a ponytail! And and he's pretty tall. Normally wears sleeveless tops?" The man still looked hopeful, leaning forward with his hands pressed on the counter.

From his place in the store, Yuugi froze.

Grandpa frowned. He'd never had a very good memory for people who weren't his friends. He took a step back, slightly put off by the man's behaviour. "Do you have a photo of him?"

"Ah, yes! Of course!" The stranger reached into his pocket and unfolded a piece of paper.

Yuugi was sure that if the costumer he was serving hadn't been holding onto the game, it would've crashed to the floor.

The elder leaned forward and peered carefully at the photo before shaking his head. "I'm sorry. I've only seen him a few times, and none of which have been recently."

The stranger cursed and shoved the picture back in his pocket, not caring if the paper got scrunched up. He ran a hand through his hair and then ran out of the shop, shouting out a "Thank you!" as he left.

How could this be possible? He had had grey skin, veins on his face and holes for eyes. How. . .? Yuugi wasn't paying attention to the murmurs around him. His skin felt hot, he could hear his heart beating loudly in his ears. He wasn't sure if he was breathing any more. Someone was talking to him but it sounded muffled, like he was underwater. Had he hurt an innocent? Had the darkness merely played with him and made him think he was being attacked by something non-human? No, those claws were too real.

"Yuugi!"

Finally his eyes focused. He saw his grandpa standing in front of him, hands on his shoulders and shaking him back and forth. Worry was etched into the old man's expression, a frown also taking hold of his features. "Yuugi, are you okay?"

The nineteen-year-old blinked a few times. He then reached up and took hold of his grandpa's wrists, easing his hands off his shoulders. "Sorry, spaced out for a moment is all." He threw in a smile, hoping that would reassure the other.

It didn't.

"Maybe you need to take a nap. You were looking at nothing for a good few minutes." Grandpa was insistent, frown deepening. "I don't want you suddenly collapsing due to lack of energy."

"I'll be fine, Grandpa. You don't need to worry about me." Even so, the youth's smile faltered. He knew he wasn't going to win against the old man when it came to health.

"No. You're going to go up to your room and take a nap. When you wake up you can continue to help me." He proceeded to push Yuugi gently in direction of the stairs.

The boy sagged and gave up, walking now willingly towards the stairs. "Fine. But if I sleep through the whole day, you're the one to blame."

"Right."

Yuugi chuckled and shook his head. With a wave, he disappeared up the stairs. He stopped halfway to take his shoes off then continued. He placed his shoes at the end of his bed when he got into his bedroom, sitting on the mattress and letting out a sigh. He rubbed his face with his hands and looked out of the window.

The tree that had scared him last night was still there, though the branch wasn't banging against the glass.

"You'll never see a vampire with silver on his person. Nor will you see him reflected in mirrors. . ."

Yuugi let his face fall into his hands. All of this was stuff of fiction, made up, unreal. Illogical. But then everything has some kind of logic behind it, even if it didn't seem worthy enough to be called logic. He shook his head a little, trying to clear his thoughts. It didn't work, only making them mix together to form a weird cloud in his mind, shouting out at him from all angles. He let out a frustrated groan and flopped backwards.

Watching the ceiling for a few moments, he turned his head and found himself looking at a picture of his mother on his desk. She had died only a few years ago when she'd been a part of a car crash. She'd lived for a few hours after the hit but died in the hospital. Yuugi had been sad for a while after than – undoubtedly – but with the help of his friends he had come back as the same guy as before, if a bit more wary of the world and its tricks.

Sitting next to the photo was a locket. It was something his mum had given him for his fifteenth birthday. It was an old looking thing, probably an antique of some sort. He hadn't been particularly keen on it, but he had taken a soft spot to it after his mother's passing. He never wore it, but kept it near her picture, as if to prove to her that he hadn't thrown it out. If he remembered correctly, she'd said it had been made from silver.

Yuugi froze. Silver.

He was immediately standing by his desk, holding the locket carefully in his hands, staring down at it intently. This could harm vampires. This little thing, this small oval, could kill a creature that other metal couldn't. It wasn't sharp enough to slice open flesh, and find the idea of having he didn't to force it down one of those things' throats very nice.

He closed his fist around the now slightly warm object and turned his gaze towards his TV.

Yu-Gi-Oh!

The next day, which happened to be Saturday, Yuugi awoke late and decided that that day he would watch Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter again. But this time, he would take notes on what was said, what things about. . . Vampires were important for him to know. He would understand how to stop them in case he would stumble upon another one day.

With his pen poised over his notebook, soon the sound of scratching filled the room as well as the sounds from the movie on the TV. His brows furrowed as he listened intently. He could only curse himself in his head that he didn't know shorthand.

There were a few things about the creatures of the night that seemed to follow everywhere, things that were a given. Those creatures had sharp teeth and inhuman strength and speed. But there were a few things that he didn't expect, like the beasts turning themselves invisible or unable to kill themselves. They could adapt to sunlight, which would not harm them any longer, and they would change.

He stopped for a moment, hand stilling from his notes, instead lifting his head to watch the scenes that flashed across the screen. He waited for a few moments, soaking in everything his eyes were showing him. Of course, he had no idea, no way to know just how much of these characteristics the things in his day had, or how different they were.

His gaze fell to the locket on the desk. If he could melt that down and pour it over some kind of sharp weapon that he could use to kill them, he would be able to fight back.

The sounds of fighting brought him back to the movie and he noted how, every time the creatures were cut into, black liquid would come out of the wounds instead of blood. He wondered if the blackness were the vampires' equivalent of human blood. It would make sense since it would be travelling through their veins.

That day, he decided that he would go out and buy some kind of knife, melt the locket and pour it over the blade.

Yu-Gi-Oh!

The act of melting the silver was something he had trouble with, though he used an excuse of needing to buy ingredients in order to make pancakes so he could buy the knife. He, of course, hid it inside his jacket and moved it up to his room after he had cut it out of its packaging.

He had inspected it before he had tried to look into melting the locket. It was small, the blade only five inches long. It was single-bladed and shone in the light. The handle was made of some kind of plastic, black in colour. It fit in the palm of his hand perfectly. He had turned it over in his hand, inspecting it.

Yuugi couldn't believe it. He would be an armed citizen travelling around Domino, constantly on the look-out for some kind of creature that would try and suck him dry. He still didn't trust himself to say the word in case that made them all the more real.

He had waited until his grandpa had gone to sleep when he had gone down to the kitchen with the idea to melt the locket and then pour it gently over the blade. Only then would it be able to call itself a murder weapon.

He had a bit of trouble, getting the right temperature in order to melt the metal. Several times he burnt his hands, cursing under his breath and running his hand under freezing cold water. He ended up wrapping a bandage around his throbbing limb with ice trapped between the folds of the cloth.

Once he did have the metal melted, he placed a small bowl beneath the blade of the knife hurriedly and then poured the liquid over the blade on both sides. He made sure to coat it as even as he could. It wouldn't do to have a blunt instrument unable to penetrate rotting flesh.

Once the silver had cooled down and the blade was covered, he stared at it for a moment, forgetting his throbbing hand for a second. He polished the knife and smoothed out the bumps as best he could. It was good for a first attempt, not perfect, but it would have to do.

That was the first night Yuugi managed to sleep soundly.

Yu-Gi-Oh!

The knife travelled through the air, spinning over itself and tearing through the paper shoulder of its target. It continued on until it bounced against the wall, falling to the floor with a clatter.

Over the past few weeks, Yuugi had encountered a few more attacks from those he'd decided to dub as the 'un-dead' as the simple fact of calling them vampires still hadn't registered in his mind. He hadn't seen one of them feed, hadn't seen blood on their lips, simply the hungry looks in their sockets that still gave him shivers. He had come to terms with the fact that the grey skin and veins weren't how they looked normally. In fact, they blended in rather well and mostly attacked in the dark, so they wouldn't be seen.

The first one had been just as awkward as when Yuugi had fought Otogi. He hadn't known well how to defeat one of their kind, since the first had been on accident and in blind panic. But now, now that he expected what was to come, he had thought it would be easier and maybe he wouldn't be horrified or scared any more.

He couldn't be more wrong.

The vampires teeth had grown so long it hadn't even been able to close its own mouth, some of them cracked and the ends torn off or rotten. Yuugi had to guess that the un-dead had been older than Otogi – possibly by centuries – as he had been more graceful and experienced when trying to kill the young man. He had managed to swipe his cheeks with his claws, cutting three scratches onto the fair skin.

Yuugi had struggled and ran, trying to escape the claws of the dark being, and for the most part he had managed. But then there had been times when he had run straight into the chest of the beast and stumbled backwards. Eventually, he had stabbed the thing in the side with his small knife, out of breath with his muscles aching.

Only seconds later had the thing screamed and turned to ash, some pieces carried away on the breeze.

After that night, the young man had realised that he didn't need to stab them in the chest with silver for them to die. It could be any place of their body, as long as it was the precious metal. With that thought in mind, Yuugi had decided that he would stab the next monster anywhere with his knife and he would escape.

Fortunately for him, it had worked.

After being confronted once more, the tri-coloured man had bought another knife, this one with a six and a half inch blade. He'd given it the same treatment, coated the blade in the left-over sliver from his mother's now melted locket. On top of that, he'd bought himself another belt and made a make-shift holster for his knives that was easy for him to get to, yet it was disguised enough that nobody would think twice of it. He'd also been jogging an hour for a few days before his next attack in the hope that he would be faster.

The second vampire had been stabbed in the hand, the blade going through flesh and bone, sticking out the other side. She had screamed before being washed away on the wind.

Yuugi walked over to grab the knife that laid on the floor with a sigh.

By now, the youth had a few more knives added to his collection, both small enough for him to hide on his person without raising suspicion. He kind of liked the idea of the small knives, and decided that if he actually started getting better at this, he wouldn't change them for another weapon.

Unfortunately, in order to cover these blades in silver, he had had to melt more than the little he had left-over from his mother's locket. He'd decided on taking the smallest piece of silver he could find in the house and use that. He had had to take a small teaspoon from his grandma's cutlery set, and just prayed to Ra that his grandpa wouldn't notice that it was missing.

So far, so good.

Along with knives, Yuugi had decided that at some point it might be a good idea to go with the traditional stake-to-the-heart technique. It would come in handy to have wooden spikes and plunge it through their chest, but he wasn't sure if they would turn to dust or if their body would stay there. Was the turning to dust simply something that happened when they came into contact with silver? He didn't know and, in the middle of the street where anybody could see them, he decided he didn't want to risk that chance.

In order to become better at fighting vampires – apart form watching Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter again and again like it was his Bible – he had asked his grandpa if he could use their basement as up until then it hadn't gotten any use. Grandpa had agreed, unknowing of just what it was his grandson was up to.

Soon, Yuugi had placed targets all up over the room. They were mainly made out of paper, stuck on things so they'd stay up. They were of all shapes and sizes, but just about resembled human forms. He decided that if he could throw his knives at the still targets and damage them, then he would work his way up to somehow find a way to make them move, and try that.

So far, he would manage to tear through the edges of the paper targets. Admittedly, it was better than when he had started, and he was starting to get the hang of getting his knife to spin through the air, though his aim could do with some more work.

Unbeknownst to him, the door at the top of the stairs had creaked open and a familiar face walked down the stairs.

The nineteen year old had just cut through the top of a paper target's head, leaving a rather large tare, when he heard a gasp. Halfway through his little happy dance, he froze and quickly turned around to see wide pink eyes staring at him, a small mouth gaping.

Ryou was flickering his gaze between Yuugi and the knife that had bounced off the wall, taking out a piece of paint with it, and fallen to the floor. The shorter of the two could tell that by the expressions fluttering across his face, he didn't know what was going on and was confused and probably suspected Yuugi of planning to commit murder.

Funny thing was, it was partly true.

"Ryou," he started, taking a step towards the albino foreigner and letting his hand that held two more knives drop to his side. He didn't know how to continue and seeing the look on his friend's face, he didn't know if he'd be able to.

"Yuugi," the Brit said slowly. "If you're going to kill someone, tell me now so I can distance myself from you as much as possible. I don't want to become part of it."

Silence reigned the small room, roses staring amethysts down, daring him to say something, anything. Suddenly, Yuugi felt too hot in his jacket, even though it was still rather cold outside.

"Ryou," he said again, as if just saying his name would make him understand. "I know this seems wrong and I know what you're thinking, but if you listen to what I have to say, you'll see that I have a rea-"

"Nope, no, I don't want to hear anything." The white-haired man pointed a finger at his friend, eyes narrowing accusingly even though there was still surprise and fear etched into them. "I don't want to hear about how you want me to cover up for you or act innocent if the peelers come after me. I want none of it."

Yuugi took a step toward him, reaching out with his free hand. Ryou took a step backwards, now on the bottom step of the stairs that lead up to the house. They never looked away from each other's face. All Yuugi could do was hope the other would believe him.

"I'm not trying to kill a man, I'm trying to defend myself," he said slowly, hoping that he would be believed.

Ryou took a few more steps upwards, hand on the banister. "You're fucking mad." His voice was slightly shaken and he looked like he didn't want to compute just what the Hell was going on. He looked like he didn't want to believe that his closest friend was capable of murder. "You're fucking mad and I want nothing to do with it. Stay the Hell away from me. I won't cover for you if they come after you. You're on your own!"

And with that, the boy ran up the stairs and slammed the door closed.