Disclaimer: See prologue

A/N: Hi! I started writing this as the last part, but it started becoming insanely long, and so I decided to break it down into two parts. So this is now a four-part story, with a prologue, and maybe an epilogue too. We'll see...God, I'm really making this more complicated then it needs to be, I should have just done normal chapters...

It had been almost six hours and no one had returned to update me on what was going on. I was becoming anxious. Elizabeth had decided to go to bed an hour after they had left, but I was still camped in the kitchen, alert and waiting for the slightest disturbance. It was cold and dark, but I didn't want to light a fire; the house would stand out if the windows were bright. Despite having been up since noon, I wasn't tired. I tossed a knife up in the air and caught it at the handle. I repeated this several times, then sighed and placed it on the counter. I flipped the chair again and practiced my balance again. A couple times, I wasn't even able to get both feet up before I slid off. The next several times I fell after a few seconds. After about twenty minutes I gave up; I was either too stressed or too distracted to do something I was so bad at.

I righted the chair and sat down again, resting my chin in my hand and absentmindedly tracing a scratch in the table.

Though I felt perfectly awake, I must have drifted off, because I seemed to blink and then when I opened my eyes, there was a slight glow of the approaching morning sneaking through the window and Elizabeth was sitting across from me sipping from a mug of coffee. I looked instinctively out the window. Not seeing any danger, I turned back and asked, "Was I asleep?"

Elizabeth nodded.

"For how long?"

"I don't know, I just came down an hour ago," she said stiffly. We didn't speak to each other often, and when we did, it was rarely more than a couple words, not full sentences. After a few seconds' silence, she asked, "How long do you think they've been gone?"

"Maybe eleven hours?" I guessed, looking at the tiny bit of light outside.

"Do you think they're all right?"

"Probably."

She made a "Tsh" sound under her breath and took another sip of coffee. I raised my eyebrows; I thought that had been a pretty civil conversation.

"What was that for?" I asked defensively.

"You don't even care," she said, in the highest, whiniest tone she had, the one that drove me completely insane. "You're mad he wouldn't let you go with them, and you don't even care if he gets hurt."

"Your immaturity continues to amaze me," I snapped. "In the first place, I'm not mad at him, I'm mad at you. If you hadn't been so ridiculous as to want to stay here, I could have gone with them."

"You're mad at me?" she asked shrilly, then rolled her eyes. "Of course you're mad at me, you always are."

"That's not my fault," I growled.

"Yes it is," she retorted, sounding like a toddler. "You're jealous of me because I have everything you want."

"Ugh!" I cried, throwing my arms in the air. "What do you have that I want?"

"I'm a human, for one thing," she said, grinning victoriously, as if she thought that alone was enough. "I'm not a vampire."

"Oh, is that your problem with me?" I asked, almost laughing at her stupidity. "That's too bad, because in case you hadn't noticed, you're married to a bloody vampire!"

"Arrow and I love each other," she said, folding her arms, "something else you're jealous of."

"Oh, for the love of the vampire gods!" I exclaimed, exasperated. "I don't care that you're married to Arrow. I don't! If you weren't such a foul woman, I'd be sickeningly happy for you two!"

"That's it, isn't it?" she asked, smirking. "You're jealous."

"You're acting like a four-year-old," I spat, slamming my fist down on the table. "You're choosing to believe that, despite the fact that Arrow and I have told you an infinite number of times that that's not the case."

I could have continued shouting at her for hours, but movement outside the window caught my attention. I turned, tense at first, but then immediately relaxed as I saw that it was not a vampaneze but Vanez nearing the door. I felt slightly embarrassed that he had most likely heard most of our argument, but swiftly pushed it out of my head, eager to hear news of what was happening.

I swung the door open and Vanez stepped inside. He smiled reassuringly. "Three of the vampaneze have been killed, and none of us have had any serious injuries. The other one seems to be taking cover in a forest near here," Vanez said. "We've got him almost cornered; barring any vampaneze we don't know about, we should be rid of them by sunrise."

I heaved a sigh of relief, and I could see Elizabeth smile and relax back into her chair.

"Arrow's okay?" she asked.

"Yes," Vanez nodded. "Seba seems to have broken a finger or two, but other than that, there's nothing to mention. In fact, Arrow was the one who insisted I come back quickly to update you two."

"Do you have to go back?" I asked, standing hopefully. "Can I come with you?"

He shook his head, but held a hand up when I slouched back down into my chair. "As soon as I return, Larten and Gavner will come join you two here. Three vampires will hardly need two assistants to bring down one vampaneze."

I smiled, feeling a bit better at the prospect of seeing my friends; I hadn't seen Gavner since leaving Vampire Mountain, and I had seen Larten only very briefly last year.

"I need to get back," Vanez said, looking out the window. "Only another hour or so till we begin to cook in the sun, and we can't let this wait till tomorrow night. Be cautious."

I nodded, and without another word, Vanez turned and headed out the front door. I watched as he ran up the hill, disappearing half-way as he reached flitting speed.

Elizabeth finished the last of her coffee and stood. "In that case, I'm going out," she said.

"What? Now?" I asked incredulously, jumping to my feet. "It's not even bright out yet, you can't!"

"Mira and John will be up," she said pointedly. Mira and John lived on a farm a mile from our house, and awoke early in the morning to tend to their many animals.

"Stay here," I said authoritatively. "It's too dangerous to go out right now. Unless the sun is out, the vampaneze could still –."

"I heard him," she interrupted. "He said they had the last one cornered."

"That doesn't mean –."

Before I could finish, Elizabeth had stalked out of the house, slamming the door behind her. I sighed, shaking my head. As I chased after her, I tried to call her back, but she had already crossed over the stone wall at the edge of the property.

"Elizabeth!" I shouted after her, clearing the wall easily and sprinting up next to her. I grabbed her arm and tugged her back towards me. "Just wait another two hours, then you can go wherever you want."

"Leave me alone, Arra," she snapped, shoving me in the chest. I stumbled back and my grip on her arm slipped.

I glared at her. "What's wrong with you?" I hissed. "Don't you get it?"

She stared back at me, her look equally venomous. "Go away," she growled, and with one last flash of her eyes she turned on her heel and walked away.

I could have dragged her back to the house and forced her to stay there; I should have. But I didn't. I stood and watched until she had vanished from sight. For almost twenty minutes, I didn't move. Part of me wanted to say, "See if I care," and go back to the house. But another bigger part of me knew that if anything happened to her, it would be my fault. I ran a hand wearily through my hair and began to run after her. If I hurried, I'd be able to catch up to her before she reached John and Mira's farm.

She must have been going nearly as fast as I was, because I didn't catch sight of her until a large, red barn, which marked the beginning of her friend's farm, began to appear in view.

"Elizabeth," I yelled, and she slowed momentarily as she heard me. Not even bothering to turn around, she kept running. I took a deep breath and sprinted faster, as fast as my legs could take me, too fast for any human to outrun. Elizabeth knew this, and, seeing that I wasn't far behind her, cut to her left and disappeared through the barn's double doors, presumably to try to lose me. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her weak attempt.

I reached the doors only seconds after her, whipping them open in one quick motion. I darted inside, letting them swing closed behind me. The barn was almost pitch black inside. Elizabeth was only a few steps away from me. I reached both hands out and grabbed at her shoulders, catching only the left one. That was enough to knock her off her feet.

"You're being ridiculous," I barked, pulling her up to her feet. "Do you have absolutely no regard for your life?"

She brushed the hay and dirt off her dress and scowled at me. "I told you to leave me alone," she grumbled, "Why couldn't you –?"

That was when my vampire senses started to scream at me; an almost-silent creak on a floorboard above us, a stale, rotting stench hanging in the air. "QUIET!" I hissed at Elizabeth, clapping a hand to her mouth. She struggled momentarily, but must have caught the serious look in my eyes, because she promptly stopped.

I lowered my hand from her mouth, straining my ears for another sound. The smell was almost overwhelming now, I couldn't believe I hadn't smelled it from outside. For a second, my eyes darted nervously around the barn; in each empty stall, the railing that circled the second story above us, the rafters in the ceiling. My head whipped around as I hear another sound. This time, it was a footstep. Then I saw a flash of red eyes behind a stack of hay.

"RUN!" I shouted at Elizabeth, not bothering to keep my voice down. They knew we were here, they had known all along.

Finally she listened to me. We hurried to the barn door. I reached for the handle, my heart pounding in my ears. Before I could open a wide enough gap for us to get out, something leaped down at me from above.

Elizabeth shrieked, scurrying out of the way as I was knocked off my feet. "GET OUT!" I screamed, struggling to get free of the vampaneze that had me pinned to the ground. She pulled the door open and raced out. The vampaneze on top of me made to get up and go after her, but as soon as his weight slid off my legs, I snapped my foot up and kicked him in the gut, sending him sprawling into the opposite wall. He snarled at me, picking himself up. I tried to stand, but before I could even sit up, my attacker flung himself at me, stomping his bare heel down on my chest, pinning me to the ground. I coughed, pushing at his ankle and knee knee, but I couldn't budge him. Finally he lifted his foot, opening the barn door to start again after Elizabeth.

"Let her go, Arrig, she won't get far," a raspy voice from my right said.

I turned my head towards the voice, slowly pushing myself up on my forearms as the pressure on my chest released. I counted one, two, three vampaneze in the barn, at least that I could see. My heart was racing, my head spinning. I scrambled all the way up to my feet, shaking, backing towards the door.

The one who had spoken, a large vampaneze who was a startlingly dark purple, gave me a jagged smile, his yellow, pointed teeth bared at me. I could feel the handle of the door; I could have tried to run, but I knew it wouldn't work. The three vampaneze would catch up to me in seconds, and then would go for Elizabeth. Arrow had entrusted me with her safety, I couldn't let anything happen to her.

The vampaneze who had attacked initially, Arrig, advanced towards me, whipping out a dirty-nailed hand and slicing me in the shoulder. As he did, my hand closed around the shovel behind me, and as his arm retracted, I brought the blade up and swung all my weight into a strike. He was too close for me to hit in the head, but the shovel smashed across his shins. Arrig howled and collapsed, his hands flying to his bleeding legs. The other two vampaneze dove forwards towards me. I swung the shovel at the one on my right, this time with better aim. I sliced the blade across his throat. He gave a gurgled scream of pain as blood spurted out from his neck, and he fell against the door, trying desperately to stop the bleeding as he choked and spluttered for air. I turned and tried to strike the third vampaneze, but he was quicker than his comrades. He caught it between the blade and my hands before it could touch him. Though I tried to tug it back, he ripped it out of my grasp and chucked it to the side, advancing. Left unarmed, the still-screaming vampaneze blocking the door, I took off across the barn, looking desperately around for another weapon or an escape.

I gasped as the vampaneze's hand slapped against my shoulder, but got lucky and just barely slipped out of his clutches. With no other option in sight, I was going to have to try the upper floor of the barn. The ladder was far behind me; I would have to climb up a wall and hope I could break through the floorboards. One of the wooden sides of the barn was in front of me, and so I jumped as far and as high as I could, just barely able to dig in my nails in time to catch myself. The jump had only bought me a second or two of climbing time, but I had to make do with that.

A rattle somewhere beneath me said that the vampaneze had reached the wall and was scaling up a few feet behind me. I could hear my heart beating like a war drum, and every time I thrust my nails into the wall, there was a definite cracking. I prayed to the Vampire Gods that they wouldn't break.

As I neared the ceiling (or floor, depending on which level you were looking from), I turned my head ever so slightly to look down to try to locate the vampaneze that was following me. He was still a decent ways behind, but was gaining fast. I took a deep breath, pulled one hand away from the wall, and shoved my fist through the wood above me. I was fortunate that the barn was old and the wood broke easily. Though it splintered and sliced gashes in my skin up to my elbow, I barely noticed. I climbed the last few feet up, then checked how far I was going to have to jumped to get around the hole I had made without falling through. As I glanced back, something from across the landing caught the corner of my eye, and I cursed as I figured out what it was. It was the first vampaneze, Arrig, the one I had hit in the shin. He had obviously recovered and come to head me off. Luckily, he was all the way across the upper floor when he spotted me. I couldn't go back down, and I couldn't get off onto the second floor. There was no third floor to the barn, but I had no choice but to keep climbing. I turned my eyes up as I climbed. I didn't know what hope I could cling on to. As much as I wanted to believe I could, there was no way I could fight off the two full vampaneze bellow me. My chances of being able to even get out of the barn were next to nothing. The only way, as I could see it, that I could possibly survive this would be if I was somehow able to break through a wall, or even the ceiling, and the sunlight could temporarily blind the vampaneze enough to give me a decent head start and I could run. Even if they were blinded and shocked still for even a full minute, which was highly unlikely, they would be able to catch up to me in a matter of seconds. But it was my only option for survival, and so I climbed higher and higher.

It took maybe three seconds to reach the very top of the barn, but it seemed like hours. I struck at a spot on the ceiling with my nails, but this time, the wood didn't break. I should have guessed the wood would be stronger up here.

Suddenly, I felt sharp pair of fingernails claw across my ankle, meaning that the vampaneze were now in reach. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that there were rafters across the very top of the barn that stretched straight from one wall to the other. With no time to waste, I leaped off the wall, and by the luck of the vampires was able to cling onto a rafter with my hands. I made to pull myself up, but before I could, I felt my body jolt as a hand close around my right ankle and made to pull me off. Mustering up all the strength I had left, I dug my nails in to the rafter so the weight wouldn't send my sprawling to the ground. I couldn't see my attacker, but I knew his face was somewhere near my foot. With an almightly kick, I whipped my left foot around and slammed it into whatever body part was near me. I heard the vampaneze yell, and then, to my utmost relief, he started to fall. He tried desperately to keep his hold on me, but his grip wasn't tight enough. I clenched my teeth as his nails ripped into the flesh on my ankle, his last and futile attempt to save himself before he plummeted who knows how far to the ground. Pulling myself up, I glanced quickly over to find that the remaining vampaneze was a little behind me now, apparently having paused momentarily to watch his falling comrade.

As I turned back, a small ray of hope danced through my head, only to be replaced by a crushing reality. My hope was that, up in the corner where the back wall met the sides of the roof, there was a small pinprick of light; a small hole. The wood would be weak enough for me to break through, that is, if I was able to get over there. That was the hard part. It was probably a hundred feet from me, and the only way to get there was to cross the very narrow rafters. As I heard the vampaneze approaching, I realized that this was the moment when all my practice would be put to the test. It had all come down to this...it was my last chance to make it out alive.

So, there you have it, only one more part (really, I promise) till the conclusion. Thanks yet again for reading and reviewing, and I PROMISE I'm going to try to be better about updating! :)