So sorry this chapter has taken ridiculously long. My computer broke and then my internet box broke had to wait for another one...blahblahblah anyway finally getting back to a regular pattern of writing and uploading. Thanks to those still reading at this point. I'll try not to bore or disappoint. Much love xo

Amelie and I didn't exchange any more words as we made our way back to the Glass House. I did remember to thank her when I got out of the limousine

though and there were two big reasons for this. One was that it was just good manners. The second being she was a vampire, apparently in charge of all

the vampires in this town, and she scared the crap out of me.

"Thank you. For the ride and for...you know with that Brandon guy".

The tiniest of smiles lifted the corners of her lips. "You're welcome. Remember now; don't go out after dark alone".

I smiled back at her. "I won't, I promise".

I thought I was going to hyperventilate as I opened the front door, stepped into the hallway and shut it again behind me as quietly as I could. I might as

well have slammed it though because as soon as it clicked shut Eve came barrelling out of the living room to face me.

"Where the hell have you been?"

I jiggled the plastic bag in my hand. "I had to go to the store".

"Did you not hear us when we said you weren't to go out on your own after dark?" Michael stood by his girlfriends side. All I needed now was Shane to

make the set complete.

As if my thought had been his cue Shane came slowly down the stairs. I could tell from the set of his shoulders and the ticking muscle in his jaw that he

was mad. "You made it back then?" he asked me, his voice loaded with ice.

Just a few minutes before I had been ready to admit that I had been wrong and that I should have listened to them but now that they were all ganging up

on me I felt my temper flare. "Any particular reason I shouldn't go out alone after dark?" I didn't direct the question to any of them in particular, just waited

to see who would be the first to lie to me.

"We told you" Eve said, "Sometimes bad things happen".

"Bad things like what huh?" Come on, I thought, let me catch you all in a lie and knock you off your high horses.

Eve shrugged. "Nothing in particular" she said in a monotone.

"So nothing out there that goes bump in the night? Literally?"

"What?" Shane spluttered.

"She knows" Michael said, his voice flat.

At the same time Michael spoke Eve asked "Is that blood on your shirt?"

Amelie had suggested that I go to the hospital and get my head checked out but I wasn't at all keen to. I'd been spending too much time in hospitals lately.

She soon realised she wasn't going to convince me it was for the best and insisted on inspecting every inch of my head before sighing softly and letting me

off the hook about the whole going-to-hospital thing.

"I had a run in with one of your kind" I said to Michael, more venom in my voice than necessary.

"You were bitten?" Eve gasped, her hands flying to her mouth but I shook my head.

"No, he threw me into a brick wall and I cracked my head".

The three of them insisted I sit with them in the living room and tell them everything I had learned and been through that night but before I could sit down

Michael called me into the kitchen. I was wary of course having just found out that he was a vampire but he'd known me for a while now and had never

tried to hurt me. Had never tried to hurt anyone from what I had seen of him.

"How are you doing?" he asked and I knew he didn't mean my head.

"It's sent my mind into a bit of a spin to be honest. I mean vampires? I've grown up reading books and watching movies about them but did I ever for a

second imagine they were real?" I shook my head. "And my very first experience with one wasn't exactly great you know?"

"I was your first vampire acquaintance" he reminded me with a smile, "Not whoever attacked you tonight. And we get on alright don't we?"

I sighed. "Yeah, yeah you're right".

He placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently.

I started from when I had thought I was being followed, turned and saw no-one, then turned back and he had been in front of me. When I told the part

about my punching him Michael's eyebrows rose but no-one said a word. When they learned how he had tossed me into the brick wall then licked my blood

Shane had gripped the arms of his chair so hard that his knuckles went white. When I mentioned that I'd kneed him in the groin Eve grinned.

"So I ran and then this limo pulled up in front of me and some vampire called Amelie sent him packing, gave me a lift to the store, checked my head was ok

then brought me home".

"Amelie?" Shane asked, surprise clear on his face and in his tone. "Our cold-as-ice hard-as-stone founder saved a human?"

I shrugged. "She was nice".

"Nice" Shane scoffed.

"If it wasn't for her I'd be lying dead somewhere so yeah, I think she's nice" I snapped.

"You said Brandon told you that when you punched him it hurt?" Michael asked.

Again I shrugged. "Yeah".

"That's very strange" Michael mused, "Not many humans have the ability to hurt a vampire with their hands, especially one as old as Brandon. Besides no

offence Leah but you're hardly a prize winning contender".

"What's that supposed to me?" I asked, indignant.

"You're a scrawny midget" Shane supplied.

"Would you show me?" Michael asked.

"That I'm a scrawny midget?"

Michael laughed. "No, punch me".

My jaw dropped. "Why?"

He shrugged. "Humour me".

I blew out a breath and stood, knowing I wouldn't be able to give it my all. I was exhausted and my head was pounding. I needed to take some painkillers

and crawl under the covers, not fight my second vampire of the night.

Michael stood casually, hands slack by his sides. "Just do your best. I don't expect much" he grinned.

I took my position. Right foot behind left, knees slightly bent, fists raised and right shoulder dropped. "Are you trying to provoke me?"

"Whatever works princess" he sneered.

I knew he only called me princess to get a reaction out of me but it worked. In one sharp movement I threw my right fist into his jaw, shifting my body and

following through for maximum impact. I hadn't expected too much from the punch either, I could tell as I threw it that it wasn't one of my best so I was

surprised when Michael stumbled backwards and fell over a low table.

"Are you ok?" I asked, offering him my hand to pull him to his feet but he pushed it aside and jumped gracefully to his feet.

"Again" he snarled. He took a proper stance this time, planting his feet and concentrating on my movements.

"Michael come on she's exhausted..." Eve began.

"It's ok" I replied. "Looks like someone's nursing a bruised ego huh?" I taunted Michael. "Well how do you think I fell after being lied to?" I threw a right

hook and a left and finished it off with a high kick smack bang in the middle of his chest. Rather than just stumbling over this time he fell straight

backwards. He was up in a mere second due to his vampire speed but I felt a grim satisfaction. I was hurt that they'd all lied to me, more hurt than I'd first

realised if my sudden burst of violence was anything to go on.

Michael's eyes had taken on a red sheen and I worried that I had gone too far but he blinked and they were back to normal. He smiled at me but he looked

confused. "That was good" he told me, "You'll need all of that fight you can muster in this town".

I yawned and said goodnight to them all, then dragged myself up the stairs, completely forgetting that I had wanted painkillers until I was under the

covers. I didn't have the energy or the will to go back downstairs so decided I'd just take the risk of having jackhammers echoing in my head all the next

day. My eyelids were drooping when someone knocked on my door.

"Come on" I yawned.

Shane came in, silhouetted by the light from the hallway. He was holding a glass of water and a little white pill bottle. "Thought you might want some

painkillers" he grumbled, setting them down on my bedside table and turning to leave.

"Wait" I called after him. He stopped walking but didn't turn to look at me. "Are you mad at me?"

He snorted a laugh. "Yes Leah I'm mad at you. We told you it wasn't safe to go out after dark and you just went right ahead and did it. You could have been

killed you do realise that right?"

"I realised it when that vampire Brandon was licking my blood off my neck yes". I'd meant to snap at him but I was so tired it sounded more like a sad little

whisper.

Shane looked at me over his shoulder then and his face softened. "Despite that impressive little show with Mikey downstairs you're no match for a vampire

Leah. No human is. They run this town and we're grateful to live another day. You'd do well to remember that".

"Sorry I didn't listen to you guys" I whispered as he stepped out into the hallway.

"Sorry we lied" he said simply. I think I was asleep before he managed to close the door behind him.

Hope this chapter was ok, the writing cogs are a little rusty after my forced sabattical. So Leah managed to pretty much kick Michael's butt but...you're just going to have to wait to find out how a 'scrawny midget' got the drop on a vamp. Reviews much appreciated but not necassary.