"It's Alexis, leave me a message," the voice from the recorder rang through the empty house, "Hey, Alexis, it's Jacob, I just wanted to see what you were up to on Friday, because there's this Halloween Party that my friend is having, and I wanted to know if you were interested in going. So call me back as soon as you can, or I'll call you on your cell. Love you."

There was a jingle of keys outside the door, and the door swung open. "Oh no, I can't get a ride from you. You've already done so much. Thanks for rescuing mister. Oh gosh no really I'm fine," Alexis imitated herself as she walked through her front door limping and holding her arm close to her chest. "OW!" she yelled as her arm hit the door frame.

As if it wasn't enough that she had a building fall on top of her, she got attacked by all of the vampires she could possibly handle. She hung up her keys, threw her bag on the ground, and walked into the bathroom to examine the damage. Once she stepped in front of the mirror she knew that she wouldn't be leaving the house tomorrow, a bruise was starting to emerge around her eye, there was a cut across her cheek, two puncture wounds on the right side of her neck, several scraps and bruises along her arms, and what she figured was a minor fracture break in her left ulna. She closed her eyes as she lifted up her shirt, and she opened them and realized that she had at least one broken rib and massive bruising in the surrounding area. Then, preparing for the worst, she lifted her paint leg up and, in addition to the twisted ankle she knew she had, saw several more bruises.

"From now on when a police officer asks to give you a ride home, say yes," Alexis told herself in the mirror. She walked out of the bathroom and limped her way to the kitchen where she pulled out a few ice packs. Without hesitation, Alexis limped her way to the living room, knowing she would not be able to climb the stairs to her bed. "DAMN!" She yelled as she pushed herself from the ground wincing in pain. She looked back to see what she had tripped over and when she saw her bag she kicked it to the wall and there was a loud thud.

When Alexis awoke the next morning to a sun-filled living room all she knew was that she had made it to the couch. There was a beep from her cell phone, and she slowly pulled out her phone and saw that she had missed six calls, three from her boyfriend, two from her best friend, and one from a number she did not recognize. She held down the one-button and it dialed her voicemail.

"You have six new messages," the annoying recorded voice rang into Alexis's ear, aggravating the headache that she had awoken with. "First message,"

"Hey honey, it's Jacob I left a message on your home phone I just wanted to ask if you wanted to go to a party that Blake is hosting, if so call me back. Call me back anyways, love you" Jacob's voice said.

"Second message,"

"Lexi, it's Ethan, I just wanted to see if you wanted company for that top secret mission thing, that is if you're still waiting around for it. I hope you didn't get bored and start fighting vamps again. So call me back."

"Third message,"

"Honey, I really need an answer…" Jacob's voice said through the phone again.

"Fourth message,"

"Alexis Baines, this is the council. We need to meet with you. You may name the terms. Call us back with the date, time, and place you would like to meet," The voice she had spoken to last night spoke through her phone. She wondered how they had received her number, but ignored that as she listened to the rest of her messages.

"Fifth message,"

"Honey, I know that you and Ethan have that Halloween tradition of trick-or-treating, but you're nineteen for Christ's sake, just come to the party with me." Jacob pleaded.

"Sixth Message,"

"I just overheard a police officer in the diner talking about a tall brunette girl that he helped after he found her laying down in an alley, pretty badly beaten, and when he offered her a ride home, she refused. Remind you of anyone? That's it Lexi, I'm coming over." Alexis recognized Ethan's voice and she suddenly sat up. She heard the clang of dishes and could smell something sweet coming from the kitchen. Alexis slowly stood up and limped her way over to the kitchen, where she saw her best friend at the stove flipping pancakes.

"So you hear that some girl was found in an alley badly beaten and you just assume that it's me?" Alexis asked and Ethan spun around.

"Well, I, um," Ethan stammered. "Yes."

"Are those for me?" Alexis asked as she sat on a bar stool.

"I thought that you would enjoy some fresh pancakes, instead of those frozen ones you always eat. I mean I know they're your favorite food…" Ethan trailed off as he stacked pancakes onto a plate and set it front of Alexis. Alexis looked up at her blond best friend.

"You are the best," Alexis said staring into his eyes.

"Well," Ethan said as he brought his hand to his neck, and turned back to the pancakes on the stove. "So do you want syrup or strawberries?"

"I'm all out of strawberries."

"I just picked some up."

"Nuh uh"

"Yup, so is that a yes to strawberries?" Ethan asked.

"YES!" Alexis exclaimed. Ethan walked over with a bowl of strawberries, and set it in front of Alexis. She scooped the macerated strawberries onto her pancakes. Cutting the pancakes with her fork, she stuffed a large group into her mouth. "Ohmigod you make the best pancakes!"

"Thank you," Ethan said as he turned the stove off, made a plate of pancakes, and took a seat next to his best friend.

Ethan had moved next door to Alexis when they were five. When Ethan was seven he fell out of his tree house and his babysitter was on the phone and didn't notice. Alexis had rushed over to help Ethan, and brought him to her house. When Ethan's parents had come home the babysitter had not noticed that the child she was supposed to be watching was gone. His parents, scared for their son's life, rushed to all the neighbors' houses looking for help in the search of their son. It did not take very long, because as they came over to the Baines household, Alexis opened the door, and showed his parents to her room where Ethan was playing the Nintendo 64. They had been best friends ever since. He still lived at home with his parents, but he went to college so his parents did not make him pay rent. So they still lived next door to each other, but Alexis would only see him when he wasn't at class or busy with his college friends. He was the only person that knew her secret.

"So how did it go last night?" Ethan asked as he poured syrup over his pancakes. "I overheard the police and then I rushed here and you were on the floor."

"Yeah well, I went out to kill vamps after the cell phone turned out to have a tracking device." Alexis said as she stuffed her mouth with more pancakes. But, she continued without bothering to swallow, "Whish prolly washn the shmarshtst i-"

"Lexi, there is plenty of time to swallow." Ethan laughed. Alexis glared at him, swallowed, and then continued.

"I said, which probably wasn't the smartest idea because I was still weak from the warehouse falling on top of me." Alexis said and then put another bite into her mouth.

"Wait, a building fell on top of you? The cell phone was tracking you, and the vamps gave you the cell phone?" Ethan said as he tried to comprehend what Alexis had just said.

"Okay. The Council gave me that cell phone. That cell phone had a tracking device. I was bored waiting in the warehouse. I did pull-ups. The beam came crashing down on top of me. Then the floor underneath me fell apart. I ended up on the first floor. Pushed the beam off of me. Scooted to the wall. I received a call. They told me where I was. I got pissed. Threw it against a wall. Took my stuff. Felt like blowing off steam. Went to kill one vamp. But a building fell on top of me. I was weak. They won. Nice police man saved my life. I walked home. Collapsed on floor." Alexis said in very short deliberate sentences so that there was no way that Ethan could mess it up. "Do I have any orange juice?"

"Yeah, let me go get you some." Ethan started to stand.

"No, I am perfectly capable of getting myself some orange juice." Alexis said, and she stood up walked to the fridge, and poured herself some orange juice. "Do you want any?"

"Yes, please," Ethan said. Alexis poured him some and handed to him. "So what was your damage as far as last night goes?"

"Cuts, scrapes, bruises, broken rib, twisted ankle, fractured arm," Alexis said, picturing what she looked like in the mirror last night.

"Well you seem to be alright," Ethan said looking at his friend.

"Well, most of the pain is gone from my ankle, the arm will take at least a week to heal completely, the bruises should be gone in a few days, and the rib should heal in about a week and a half," Alexis said from memory. "But I should be able to patrol tonight, if I stay in and rest today. I just need to bandage my arm."

"Need any help?" Ethan asked as he grabbed the plates and began to do the dishes.

"Nah, and you can leave those. Don't you have class in half an hour?" Alexis asked as she looked at the microwave clock.

"Yeah, but I can skip if you need help," Ethan said, ignoring her request for him to stop doing the dishes.

"I'm fine, go, besides isn't that Allison girl in your English class? You should go, and don't wimp out on asking her out today!" Alexis said and she pushed Ethan out of the kitchen with her good arm.

After arguing with her for a few minutes, Ethan finally left. Alexis walked up the stairs, leaving a sink of dirty dishes, and collapsed on her bed. She turned on the television and fell asleep. It became dark, and Alexis awoke to a phone call.

"Hello?" She asked sleepily as she sat up in her bed.

"We need you."