This chapter is probably the silliest way I've ever tried to write myself out of a corner. Sorry about that. (Good thing I placed that "don't expect logic" warning in the summary.)


The door was really old. The hinges were rusty and the woodwork was cracked and scratched from years of use. It looked like it could belong in someone's memory, or inside an old photo album.

Tom and Alex felt like they had stared at it for hours. And it wasn't just because they didn't know why the door had appeared so suddenly and senselessly. But because it didn't look familiar in the least.

"Maybe it's not meant for one of us" Alex said eventually, "the door could belong to any other ghost who lives around. Maybe it's an accident."

Tom frowned. "Think Purgatory can make mistakes?"

"But Annie said the door should look familiar if it was meant for us."

"Then it's not for me" Tom said, "I don't remember any fancy doors on McNair's camper van."

Alex stopped to consider her bad luck. Her seemingly only chance to pass through her door came at a time she wasn't even a ghost anymore. And her decision seemed to have already been made for her.

"I can't go now that Hal's missing..."

"What if you won't get another chance?" Tom asked in a small voice.

Sacrificing her only shot at making it to the afterlife was something Alex never thought she'd ever have to do. Especially for someone who had caused her sudden death. And drank her blood. And acted like an ass on their date.

For a moment Alex reconsidered rescuing him. Hal had been a really rubbish friend. But even if she still held a grudge, she wasn't heartless. (Even though her current heart wasn't exactly beating.)

Alex backed away from the door, hoping it would still be there when they returned.

"If we go after Hal we're going to need a lot of stakes" Alex said, heading into Tom's room. Luckily they had more than they could carry. "We can't go charging empty-handed into whatever trouble he's gotten himself into."

Alex felt good about her plan as she picked up a backpack and started throwing bundles of stakes inside. She had walked into a vampire nest before, after all. Except that it was with Annie and she was ghost and not a vampire who could be spotted a mile away. But one problem at a time. Such as figuring out where Hal actually was.

"You sure we should go around staking Hal's contacts?" Tom asked, looking uneasy.

"Well they're not so nice if they got him in trouble, now are they? We just have to find a way to get to him. Any ideas?"

"Well Hal's a werewolf now" Tom said "And you're a vampire."

Alex frowned, not really getting it.

"When I was a werewolf I could catch the scent of a vampire even without trying" Tom went on.

Alex stopped packing."You want me to be a bloodhound?"

"Just until we find him is all."

"Would that even work? There have to be dozens of other vampire groups in the city."

"But they're all different" Tom said. "...and you could tell Hal apart because of your hate for him. And maybe there's still some ghost left in you that could help you."

Alex had to admit he did have a point. A rather silly one, but a plan nonetheless.


Hal couldn't remember what had happened to him the previous day. He couldn't even remember how long he had been stuck in that damned basement. The hours tended to bleed together into something indescribable, as if he had been drugged.

Which actually made a lot of sense.

Wonderful.

He had spent weeks struggling to detox, swearing his head off and feeling all kinds of hunger pains. And now he was swapping one addiction for another. He was starting to understand why people hated vampires so much. Even though, deep down, he was missing some aspects of his past self.

500 years struggling with his condition and Hal never thought he'd ever miss it.


The cool night air of Bristol was keeping Alex's head relatively clean of any vampire-related thoughts. Though not by much. Walking down any street that had midnight joggers or dog walkers was proving to be annoying. There were too many heartbeats echoing around and it was distracting.

Still, Alex did her best to focus on finding her newly changed werewolf friend.

"What about there?" Tom asked, gesturing towards the east. "Picking up anything yet?"

Alex focused for a moment. "No, I'm feeling nothing but love for whatever's two streets over."

Tom frowned for a moment.

"Oh, I know what it is" Alex said with a smile. "English muffins."

"I'm not so sure anymore if this is working..." Tom said, scratching his head.

The two eventually decided that whenever Alex would feel a vampire nearby, Tom would rent-a-ghost inside, sneak around and leave before arising suspicion. Which was both a good and bad idea, as leaving Alex by herself around dozens of insomniacs riddling the streets was rather risky.

Still, Tom had only found her leering at a passer-by a couple of times. Whatever ghost remnants Alex had in her vampire form were helping her stay focused.

Several hours (and false alarms) later, the two had settled in front of an old theater, long abandoned and barely standing.

"You're sure he's in there?" Tom asked.

"I'm getting nothing but contempt from inside there" she said nodding. "Definitely Hal."

Breaking in proved to be no problem when a ghost was there to help, and the two quickly made their way into the building. Besides the various spots that were dimly illuminated, the entire theater seemed sunken in darkness. Typically vampire.

Luckily, it was close to sunrise, and the vampires seemed to have picked that time frame to take a long nap. Even so, sneaking around a building filled with supernaturals was hazardous, and Alex did her best to guide Tom and zero-in on her friend. They made their way down two sets of stairs before Alex found her feet stop in front of a rusty door.

They pushed it open.

They were greeted by a restrained Hal, looking rougher around the edges. And he was smiling.

"Hal? You alright, mate?" Tom asked, taking a few careful steps inside.

"I am... fantastic" Hal said, still smiling, "oh and there's Alex! Hello Alex!" He chuckled. "You're a vampire now."

"And you're high, by the looks of it" Alex said, keeping an eye on the door. "What happened?"

"I had a nice chat with the other vampires. Did you know they said I make a really useful dog?" Hal seemed nostalgic. "What a lovely bunch of people."

Tom felt something was off as he inspected the basement. The entire room was in disarray, the walls filled with scratches and missing bricks. There were strands of fur all over the floor."

"Wait... did a werewolf change in here recently?" he asked.

Hal just nodded briskly and pointed at himself. Alex and Tom looked at each other, confused.

"How is that possible? The full moon was a day ago."

"Oh, they shot me up full of something that made me sleepy" Hal said, his eyes tracking something that didn't exist on the walls.

"They forced him into changing..." Tom said, trying to make heads or tails of the situation.

But there was no time for asking questions, as a series of footsteps were echoing from a nearby staircase. They needed to get out of there, something which would prove difficult once a restrained and giddy werewolf was thrown into the mix.