AN: Many apologies for the delay, all! Life got rather hectic. As a reward, here are TWO chapters! Get excited :)

Chapter Nine

David couldn't understand what her problem was. All throughout their strategy meeting, Riss had stayed silent and pensive —no snarky comments forthcoming. Even Star had ventured a cautious opinion. Was it, he wondered, the "rock and a hard place" aspect? Did she have a problem with the conclusion they had come to, that this would end in death for someone, and the boys were of the opinion that they'd rather it not be any of them?

Eventually he nudged her as she sat with her head on his shoulder, bringing her out of her funk. "What's the matter?"

"Huh?" she said, making a face at being jerked out of her brown study.

David raised an eyebrow. "Do you disapprove?"

She stared at him like he was crazy. "No. I just think you're all being thick."

Marko and Paul giggled. "How so?"

"You're thinking like —like vampires," she shrugged. "Talking about fighting Vivian and Andre, fighting Blaine's pack —but you act like you're just going to duke it out with fists and fangs."

"So? We're good at that," Paul smirked.

"With vampires over a hundred?" she said, incredulous. Riss sat up straight. "You'd have a better advantage if you thought like a human."

They all stared at her.

"Think about it," she insisted. "How much of that stuff, like sunlight and garlic, really works?"

In the thoughtful silence, David reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the bear. Carefully unwrapping it from the Kleenex, he showed it to Riss. "This burned me when I touched it."

Her hand, which had been reaching for it, checked in mid-air. "Burned," she whispered. "It spilled on Blaine —burned his hand." She touched the plastic hesitantly. Nothing happened.

Dwayne approached, frowning intently. He reached out —and they all heard the sizzle of flesh. He jerked back, sucking on his fingers. "Holy water," he declared, shaking the sting out of his fingers. All eyes stared at the bear.

"How did that happen?" Bree whispered.

Riss looked shocked, but she closed her fingers around the bear and shook her head. "Never mind. That's my point. What works on vampires? Holy water."

"Salt, garlic," Bree said, counting on her fingers. "Stakes to the heart."

"Garlic doesn't work," Dwayne said, with authority. No one asked how he knew this.

"Don't know about salt," Marko said with a laugh, "But stakes work on everybody, okay?"

"Running water," Star offered, "and fire and sunlight?"

"I don't think the water thing is true," Paul said, making a face. "I mean, we fly over the ocean all the time."

"Fire works," Dwayne said, nodding at Star. She smiled happily.

From where they sat at Star's feet, Lisa whispered something to her new friend. Laddie offered, "Cut their heads off."

"Again, I'm sure that would work on everyone, but yes," David said dryly.

"Crucifixes," Bree said. "Mirrors."

"How do mirrors kill a vampire?" Star said, frowning.

"I think it's how to tell if they are vampires," Riss corrected her. "But you could probably hit them over the head with one."

"Ha, ha," said David.

She poked him in the ribs. "Hush. So out of this wide assortment of methods, can we use any of them against Vivian and Andre?"

"There's furniture all through here," Star said softly. "Plenty of wood for stakes."

"And fuel for fire," Bree said.

"Sunlight's tricky," Riss said. "But there's gotta be a church in this town, we could get some holy water." She stared down at the bear.

David made a mental note to get her alone and ask her about that later.

She glanced around at the boys. "Okay, this is what I'm talking about. It's like a mental block or something." She snapped her fingers under David's nose. "Hello?"

He grabbed her hand and kissed her fingers. "We're still drowsy, Riss. But sunset is in…."

"Twenty minutes," Dwayne said.

"Right. So we are either going to have vampires descend on us within the hour, or we've got more of a buffer, say three hours." He stood up and winced against the last trickles of light that flickered through the cavern. "Dwayne, you start making this place defensible —stakes, fire, the works. And block off the smaller entrances —we want to know where they'll be coming from. Riss and I will go get some holy water." He pulled on her hand.

"We've still got twenty minutes," she protested as the rest of the group erupted into a flurry of activity. The guys disappeared down the tunnels to acquire supplies, and the girls and kids began to pile up debris into barricades.

"I want to talk to you," David said, giving her a look.

"What about," she said, avoiding his eyes.

"What's wrong?" He tucked some of her hair behind her ear, letting his hand linger there.

"Someone's going to die in this confrontation," she whispered.

"Yes," David agreed, "Vivian and Andre."

"How do you know that?" she demanded. "What if they don't? What if it's you?" She stared at him, eyes wide.

"Worried about me?" He leaned his forehead against hers.

"Yes," she whispered.

"Don't be," he said, wrapping his arms around her. "What was the deal with the bear?"

She uncurled her fingers from the plastic pendant, and they both looked at it. "I don't know." She shook her head. "The only thing I can think is —" She broke off as tears sprang to her eyes.

"What?" David asked, alarmed. He had never seen Riss cry, ever.

"I prayed," she whispered. "I prayed and I was holding the bear, and I think —God heard me."

The words jangled unpleasantly down David's spine, but he shoved away the sensation. The sun was going down. "Well, then you can be the one to apologize for stealing the water," he said. "Let's go."


In the early dusk, as the last rays of sun dipped below the horizon, David and I zipped out of the cave on his bike, heading into town. I didn't know where we were going, but apparently the boys had been in Santa Carla long enough for them to know where most things were, even if they didn't frequent them. Like church, I guess.

David parked on the street, and I swung off the bike holding three water bottles and a jug in a backpack. David eyed the sky. "Don't be too long."

"You're not going to help?" I said, my arms full.

David rolled his eyes. "Church ground, Riss. We can't step on it."

I stared at him. "You might've mentioned this earlier. We could've holed up at a church —"

"Without us to protect you," he reminded me. "Hurry up, you're burning moonlight."

I huffed and walked into the church, which was partly lit. It sounded like they were having choir practice.

Slipping in at the back of the sanctuary, I stopped and stared. It was December now —Christmas decorations and evergreen boughs filled the sanctuary, as well as candles and soft white twinkle lights. My heart wrenched.

As the choir direction gave directions and discussed the next piece, I slowly unscrewed the tops and dipped them into the water stands behind the pews. They weren't paying attention to me, and it was partial darkness, anyway.

"Okay, everyone," the director said. "Let's try it once more from the top." He clapped his hands and gave them the tuning note.

The choir took a deep breath, and the haunting carol flowed from their lips, filling the space.

"I wonder as I wander out under the sky,
that Jesus my Savior did come for to die
For poor on'ry people like you and like I...
I wonder as I wander out under the sky."

My hands shook as I screwed the lids back on and stuffed them into the backpack I held. The choir repeated the refrain again as I forced myself to stand. Do you see me? I thought, looking up at the cross in the shadows above the door. Can you hear me? Clutching the water bottles, I dipped my fingers into the water. I had grown up Baptist, and water for sprinkling wasn't a concept I was familiar with. But I swiped my fingers across my forehead.

"You've preserved my life for almost a year," I whispered. "There's gotta be a reason."

I eased out the door as the choir segued into "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus."

David was waiting for me in the shadow of the brick wall by the street. "Did you get it?" he said, eyeing the backpack.

"Yes."

"Don't spill any of it on me."

"It's on my back," I said, carefully mounting behind him. "That would be tough. Drive slowly, huh? I don't want this thumping into me at every bounce." I wrapped my arms around him and he revved the bike.

"What are you humming," he said over the roar of the bike.

"Huh?"

"You were humming. What was it?"

"A hymn," I said in his ear. "The choir was practicing." I couldn't see his face, but his body was stiff, uncomfortable. I pressed my lips together and didn't say anything. Tough, if he had a problem with it. I had let Vivian and Andre beat me down for so long that I had grown used to the spiritual silence between God and me. These few moments had made something dry and withered in me start to come alive again.

On the road back to the cave, David finally said, "It sounded nice."

I didn't know if he meant the tune or my humming. I rested my head against his back and sighed. "Thanks."

Back in the cave, Dwayne met us at the entrance where the boys stashed their bikes. "We're sealing up all the entrances except the ones from the air. We won't have sneak attacks." He waved to Paul and Marko to fill this entrance with rocks and debris.

"We've got holy water," David said, motioning to the backpack I toted.

"What are we gonna do with it?" Marko said, passing us carrying a huge rock.

"We could pour it into the fountain," I suggested, shifting the straps' weight on my back.

"Good idea," David said, waving me on. I trudged carefully up the slope and through the halls to the main room of the boys' cave. "Hey, Star, come help me with this," I said, setting my bag down. "Can we get this chandelier out of the fountain, do you think?"

Star and I inspected the chandelier. "I'll get this end," she said, "and we can put it right below that big hole in the roof, where most of the guys fly in —it's kind of spikey looking."

"Good call." I grabbed the other side, and with loud rasping, we hauled it out of the fountain and under the patch of moonlight.

Plugging the fountain, Bree got the bottles out and busied herself with pouring the contents into the basin. "What do you think would happen," she mused, "if we drank some of this?"

We all stared.

"Well, nothing, to us anyway," I shrugged. "It couldn't hurt. Just don't chug it; otherwise we'd be left with nothing to use."

Bree handed around the last water bottle and we all took a swig.

"It's water," Star said. "What makes it holy?"

"A priest blesses it," Bree guessed.

I thought about the bear and didn't say anything.

"Laddie, Lisa," Star called to where the kids were breaking up rickety furniture for stakes. "Come over here and take a sip of this."

They did. "What is it?" Lisa said. "It tastes like water."

"It is," I assured her. "How many stakes have you got?"

"Lots, but you have to sharpen them," Laddie sighed. "They would let me use the knife."

"Good call," I said to the girls over his head. The last thing we needed was a bloody finger. "Maybe let the boys take care of that when they get done with the barricades."

"So what do we do now?" Lisa asked, plopping down on our mattresses.

I sat on the edge of the fountain and trailed my fingers in the few inches of water in it. "I guess we wait."


We had a while to wait. Halfway through the night, the boys got bored and started fooling around, but the exertion had taken a toll on us. Star, Bree, and I sat on the mattresses and tried not to yawn.

We had decided that, while not 'defensible' per se, our little grotto was preferable to being shut away in a room down the hall. We didn't want to take the chance that someone would try to bottleneck us in there. So now the curtains were thicker, and several tables and chairs were piled in front of the entrance.

Laddie had fallen asleep. Lisa was chattering to Marko about Lord of the Rings, but I could see her yawning every few words, too.

Suddenly, all the boys stiffened.

Marko boosted Lisa towards me. "Someone's coming," he said.

Star drew the curtains around our little alcove, and we waited with bated breath.

The air whistled, and a muffled voice said, "I'm very disappointed in you, David. I thought you knew better than this."

Sire, Bree mouthed at me with wide eyes.

I leaned forward and listened intently.

"Well I guess this proves you're not right all the time, Max," David drawled.

"What are you boys thinking?" the sire demanded.

"There's a new pack in our territory," Dwayne rumbled. "We aren't going to tolerate that."

"Vivian and Andre are livid! Stealing those girls like that—"

"They're ours," Marko said.

"Well, this just proves to me you boys need discipline. Feeling possessive about your food is a weakness you need to overcome."

Star gulped, and Bree put a hand over her mouth. And suddenly, I was angry. Very, very angry. Their sire could look at human boys and see potential sons, but girls were just food? I poked Bree and whispered, "Change shirts with me."

She shot me a weird look.

I motioned for her to hurry up and pulled my shirt over my head. Her shirt had a wide neck, which she had chosen to avoid contact with her bandages —but on its own it looked… a little slutty. I pulled the loose teal material over my head and adjusted the neck so it left one of my shoulders bare. Then I shook my head and tousled my hair.

"What are you thinking?" Bree hissed in my ear.

The voices outside the curtains were starting to get tense and angry.

"Changing his mind," I mumbled before pushing aside the curtains and stepping out, affecting a yawn I didn't feel. All conversation stopped.

Running a hand through my hair, I picked my way through the debris field to where David sat, again in his wheelchair. He gave me a look, half angry, half impressed.

"You woke me up," I complained before collapsing into his lap. He caught me well for being unprepared. I purposefully ignored his sire, who looked very out of place standing in the cave in glasses and a button-up shirt.

"Sorry," David said, putting on his careless smile. He had figured it out.

I pouted. "No, you're not."

"No, I'm not," he agreed. "But you love me anyway."

My heart thumped uncomfortably at the word, but I heartily hoped no one besides David heard. I sighed artfully. "I suppose I do." Wrapping my arms around his neck, I kissed him, and he responded with an enthusiastic snog, stopping only when the boys began to wolf whistle and clap.

I snuggled against David's side and shot the boys a glare. "Grow up." I smirked. "Oh, wait."

"Riss, I don't think you've met Max officially," David said, only now motioning to their sire. "Max, Riss. Riss, Max."

"Hi," I said as David kissed my hair.

"To answer your question, Max," David said, "we didn't take them just for food."

Max stared at me through horn-rimmed glasses I was completely sure he didn't need. Marko bit his thumb to keep from laughing. Paul didn't even try to hide his guffaw. Dwayne stared stone-faced.

I thumped David in the chest. "Don't be a jerk."

He grinned at me. "You love it."

"That's not the point," I muttered, rolling my eyes as my heart thumped again.

Max spoke up and said, "I can't excuse this behavior just because you have a crush, David."

David and I both turned to stare at him. I don't know what face David made, but I fixed him with an icy glare.

"You can't excuse his behavior in extricating us from a dangerous situation where two groups of vampires pettily tried to provoke an altercation that would lead our deaths, just because you think he wants in my pants?" You could have crashed the Titanic on the ice in my voice, not to mention the polysyllabic words. That happened sometimes when I got angry; I threw every big word in my arsenal at the foe. "Hypocritical of you," I continued, twining my fingers in David's hair. "Since you were trying to encourage chivalrous and gentlemanly behavior."

Paul and Marko looked like they had trouble following. Max blinked. "In what way provoke an altercation?" he repeated slowly.

I propped my elbow on David's shoulder and shrugged. "Vivian and Andre purposefully called a group of vampires to your territory, just to try to cow us."

"They're on our turf," Dwayne stressed, "drawing attention we don't need. Like you always say."

"Show him your wrist," David murmured.

"My wrist? Try my neck," I snapped, lifting my hair away from my neck to expose the vicious bites and bruising. "Try Bree's neck; she needed stitches."

The curtains rustled and Bree poked her head out, now wearing a tank top. I held back my surprise; I guess Bree was going to help bolster our position as well. "I heard my name," she said, slowly emerging. "What's going on?"

In a heartbeat, Marko was there to help her down, and she leaned on him a little more than she needed to for support. "Talking about what those bastards did to you," he said, settling his hand around her waist.

Bree automatically touched the bandages around her neck, and looked down.

"They don't give a damn about territory or exposure," David told Max.

"And they flunked out of Vivian and Andre's course," I added. "They said they'd never accept that group as a client again. They lied to us." I pointed to the scar tissue on my leg. "That was Blaine, the last time."

I felt David stiffen. "You never told me that."

"Well, I'm telling you now."

"I'm gonna kill him."

I looked down at him, startled. His blue eyes shone with utter seriousness. Mindful of all eyes on us, including his sire's, I nodded slowly. "Good."

He leaned forward and kissed me, very slowly.

"Uh, don't look now," Paul said from his perch, "but someone's coming. I think someone followed you here, Max."


More quickly than I thought possible, Bree and I were stuffed back into our alcove, sharpened stakes pressed into our hands as the boys took up a defensive stance around the room.

Lisa and Laddie stared with eyes the size of dinner plates. I handed them smaller slivers of wood, more the size of large pencils.

"How is that going to help?" Star hissed.

"No one ever said how big the stake had to be!" I said. "Pointy end out, kids. Back against the wall." Holding hands, the kids pressed their backs to the cave wall.

We didn't have long to wait. Whooping and hollering, Blaine's pack landed, barely missing the chandelier. Floating down more quietly came Vivian and Andre.

David's pack growled, a feral noise that rumbled from their throats and made the cavern buzz.

"Now, boys, I'm sure we can avoid a fight," Andre said, smiling that same smarmy smile that made me want to punch him. "Just give us back the girls."

"I thought I could trust you not to follow me, Andre," Max said, a hard note in his voice now. "I guess I was wrong."

"Well, Max, I know that a father sometimes doesn't want to discipline his children, but —"

Max took off his glasses. Somehow that was more sinister than the growls. "I was not apprised of all the facts, Andre."

Andre laughed, but we all caught the nervous edge. "Facts, Max?"

"They're blood thieves, what other facts do you need?" Blaine hissed, his face morphing into angular ridges.

I couldn't see David's face, but I'm sure he had morphed, too. He growled. Only Max's hand on his shoulder held him back.

Vivian sighed. "Just give us back the girls, Max, and we won't have to kill your sons."

"You seem pretty sure about that," Marko said.

She turned to sneer at him spitefully. "As if you could ever be a match for me."

"Oh, I don't know," Marko shrugged, revealing the cup he had been holding behind his back. "We'll see." Then he doused her with the water.

Vivian screamed —a high-pitched shriek that rattled what rafters were left in this place. Half her face burned and melted, the water corroding the flesh down to the bone. She fell to the ground —and the melee started.

I couldn't follow all the quick-moving fighters. The numbers were evenly matched, but the ages of the vampires varied. I clutched my stake and thanked the Lord we had talked the boys into human weapons —that was their one advantage.

Paul managed to get Rafael in the heart with a stake (he thereupon exploded —super gross), and Marko was fighting a weakened Vivian, but besides that they were locked into standoffs. Max had Andre by the throat, and David and Blaine were refusing to give ground.

I'm not going to just sit here, I thought. I got a better grip on my stake and stood.

Bree grabbed my ankle. "What are you doing?" she hissed.

"Making a difference," I said. The closest fighters to me were Marko and Vivian, who couldn't see very well —her eye was still melted —but she was strong. I scurried out of the alcove and over the barrier. "Move her to me!" I mouthed to Marko.

He slammed into Vivian, angling her back towards me. I ran forward and rammed the stake into her back.

Her whole body went rigid. I met Marko's amber eyes over her shoulder.

Then she collapsed to the floor, turning into ash before our eyes.

"Nice," Marko said, flashing me a fanged grin.

I stared at the pile of ash at my feet, the only thing left of the woman —monster —who had tortured us physically and emotionally for months. I started to shake.

Andre screamed, breaking Max's hold at the sight of Vivian's remains. Marko rushed to help Max. At the same moment, Blaine broke David's hold and came at me.

"YOU!" He screamed. I stumbled backwards and into the fountain. Crouching, I splashed a wave of water at him.

He growled and dodged, reaching for my throat.

David's hands grabbed Blaine's neck, and I hastily shut my eyes.

When I opened them again, Blaine's body was on the ground, head twisted completely off.

I met David's bright yellow eyes and shakily nodded.


The tide turned once we whittled down their numbers. More of David's pack could gang up on the older, stronger vampires, and that was enough to take them down.

In the aftermath of blood and ash strewn across the cave, I sat, feet still in the fountain, and watched the boys haul corpses out to sea. Bree put a hand on my shoulder. "This is it," she whispered. "We're free."

I squeezed her hand. "It may not be that easy."

"What do you mean? Vivian and Andre are dead —"

I hushed her as the boys flew back in the cave with their sire.

He took his glasses out of his breast pocket, cleaned them, and set them back on his nose. "Well," he said, sighing, "This night did not go how I expected."

Bree had to stop Marko from trying to wash his hands in the fountain of holy water. I rolled my eyes. They really were thick about these things.

"But you boys held your own very well, and I'm proud of you," Max went on. The boys hid smirks. "And I can admit that I was wrong." He turned to us, smiling congenially. "I can see that there are advantages to having daughters. Welcome to the family, girls."

Not free, I thought, holding back a shiver. Not yet.