In what was considered the basement of the New Life Corporation sat a fully constructed green house of sorts. It was filled with an array of night dwelling and daytime plants, all sitting under carefully manufactured misting pipes and green lights that made most of the flowers look emerald in color. But that mattered little to Max. He could see them just fine with his enhanced vampire vision, as could his techs with their super improved night goggles he had collected months in advance for this particular project.

Among the night bloomers he raised were fairy lilies and pinks, moonflowers and evening primroses, all happily content to grow in this underground darkness. The day blooming plants however, which included the usual roses, pansies, tulips and various other flowers, had started their growth in a promising direction, but now they were ultimately dying in the dark, despite the special fertilizer Max had instructed his techs to use.

He stood there looking down at them scratching his chin with a perplexed expression drawn on his face. "I just don't get it Curtis, they were doing just fine the other day," he said as the tech stood beside him in a long white lab coat, scribbling little notes about each plant that they passed.

"They need sunlight sir. This green light just isn't enough," Curtis answered without looking up from his clipboard.

"Yes, but that's why we're here, isn't it? To change their genetic make up. Once I gain complete control of this town, they'll have to survive at night," Max insisted.

"The problem is that the subject escaped before we could get a proper blood sample. I'm almost positive that we could construct a food based power source for these plants using her plasma. If in fact she is who you say she is." The tech fearfully looked up at Max through his glasses.

Max didn't seem to mind. He was still pondering the overall outcome of the situation. "Well then, I guess I'll just have to wait until I gain full power. Have you come to any conclusions as far as the shields go?"

Curtis moaned slightly. He hated not knowing the correct answer, especially when Max was asking. "No sir, you'll have to ask Lucas. He's been the one in charge of all force field projects. My guess is that it won't work, ultimately because she's like a fifth element connected to the Earth."

Max took a deep unneeded breath to keep his frustration and anger at bay. It would do him no good to keep killing off his lab employees. "I didn't ask you to guess, Curtis. I need the precise answer." He hesitated for a moment before giving Curtis a pat on the back. "Your job here is important to me. Keep up the good work." With that said, he turned and made his way towards the Element ward.

In another part of the murder capital of the world known as Serenity's cabin, Edgar and Alan woke up, smacking their mouths together at the awful left over taste of dried blood on their lips. Their faces were also dried and caked in the rain as were their clothes and every time they moved, little bits and flakes of red fell from them to the ground. It looked like they were shedding red skin. They both moaned simultaneously, looking down at themselves in agony. Alan decided that a shower was much needed and moved over to the bed to shake Serenity violently awake. "Hey…where are your towels? We need to take showers before the blood hound gang wakes up," he said.

Serenity rolled over blinking her eyes open to see him and pushed his arms away. "Stay back!" she screamed, seeing Howie's ghastly face at first.

They hadn't noticed that Marko had already risen when the sun set behind the clouds, for reasons other than just being fully rested. Ever since he had been staked by the notorious Frog Brothers, he could hardly sleep a whole day through, let alone in the same room with them, and he was standing at the kitchen window, peering out through the heavy sheet that had kept the sun out. The blood rain had stopped, and he looked back over his shoulder at Serenity and wondered if her waking had ceased the downpour, and if it would be back. However, the commotion between the three caught his attention first. "I'm thinking frog legs for breakfast sounds real good. Beats Chinese, anyway."

Edgar clung to Alan in fear for a second before barking out the words, "Beat it blood sucker! This is none of your business."

"The hell it isn't my business," he snapped, letting his hunger for blood control his rage. They hadn't had much of a chance to feed the night before and the pangs knocked through him as he cocked his head and let his fangs drop. He would be more than ecstatic to rip these two apart after what they had done to him, and it would be a well satisfying meal. He moved eagerly towards them when a hand on his shoulder pulled him back, and he turned sharp to see David.

"You guys don't know how to use a bathroom?" David asked in an even tone as he watched Serenity pull herself up using Alan's arms for support.

Serenity didn't say anything at first. The dreams or visions she had had in her coma like state were still haunting her, but after a few moments the answer did come out. "Towels…towels are in the bathroom." She shrugged as if it were obvious and took a deep breath, taking note at how hilarious the two Frogs looked.

Edgar only scowled as he moved away from the bed, still keeping a watchful eye on Marko and picked up his bag. Alan followed, making for the bathroom, which was still a watery mess from the night before.

Paul rose from the side of the bed head and chest first, mimicking the way one might do if rising from the grave and the first thing out of his mouth was, "What, are you guys gay? You take showers together?"

Edgar and Alan looked at each other and huffed. "Of course we're not gay," Edgar retorted. "But at least we don't dress up like lame wannabe rock stars either." He shoved Alan back and closed the bathroom door before Paul could react, leaving Alan to fend for himself. He looked around the room uneasily and rolled his eyes, dropping his bag to the floor and took a seat on it.

Dwayne got out of his chair and stretched, putting his hands on his knees as he looked at Alan. "And you call yourselves vampire hunters?" Alan gave him a disgusted look out of the corner of his eye, but no way in hell was he about to say something smart back. He figured it was better to wait and attack later when the chance of getting your throat ripped out was less of an issue.

Marko sat down next to Serenity. She looked concerned about something, but the smell of her blood refreshed made his skin crawl with anticipation. He could feel his change coming again, and the animal inside him screamed for him to take her into his arms and suck her life force into himself. Oh what a heavenly treat she would be, so pure, so decadent. He cursed himself and tried to meet her eyes with his. "Hey, you ok?"

She wanted so bad to look at him and find comfort in his soft blue-green eyes, but she couldn't. The haze from the dream still lingered and caused her to look down and away. "Course I am," she said quietly.

Before he could protest her lie, David interrupted. "Marko, It's time we hit the town," he said. "See if there's any real food left out there before you eat the girl."

Marko reached for Serenity but didn't touch her. Her eyes were distant and unsure and she didn't return the need to meet his touch, so instead he slowly rose from the bed and followed after David and his brothers.

As soon as they were gone Edgar opened the bathroom door, still looking through Serenity's cabinet drawers to find a towel. "Let me guess," he said, "They went out to hunt some innocents. You know, if you want to save the world, you should let us do away with them once and for all, for good this time."

Serenity frowned and crossed her arms trying to ignore the fact that he said, 'this time', and looked into the mirror that sat across the room, but instead of seeing the reflection of the other side of her dwelling, she saw Howie. His arms were folded in a scolding manner and he was shaking his head at Edgar. "Noo!" she screamed, jumping back against the headboard.

"It's for the good of man kind," Edgar insisted, holding up a light purple towel.

"Not them!" She pointed a hard finger at the mirror. "He's haunting me," she trembled.

"Who?" Alan frowned, getting up to take a look. "I don't see anyone."

Serenity rubbed her forehead. "Howie. He's haunting me."

"Howie?" Edgar asked. "Who the hell is Howie?"

"He's one of the guys from the lab. Dwayne killed him, and now he's haunting me. He keeps going on about the chosen four and I'm not sure what it means."

Edgar took his shirt off and threw it on the bathroom floor. "Could just be side affects from the poison. Alan, mix her some herb while I take a shower." Before Alan could argue, he slammed the door again.

'Girls gone whack'

"That doesn't make any sense," Alan said rising off the bed to dig through his bag. He pulled out a small glass bottle no bigger than a vial, corked with half a lid from a wine bottle and took it to the kitchen to find a small mug.

"No, it really doesn't." She paused for a moment and looked towards the bathroom with a puzzled look. "Did you just hear Edgar say something?"

Alan filled the mug with hot water and carefully pulled the plug from the bottle he held. It smelled of strong herbs and alcohol. Ten drops is all it took for the room to wreak of Burdock and Rosemary. "Besides his horrible singing? No. Why?"

"I could've sworn I just heard him say I've gone wacky."

Alan snarled under his breath as he stirred the tincture with a spoon. 'Why are we the ones who have to settle on this mission? Pretty soon she'll have lasers shooting out of her eyes.'

Serenity glared. "What did you just say?"

The hot herbs turned a pale green signaling that they were ready. Alan carried the mixture over and handed her the cup with a questioning look. "What? Drink up. It'll clear your head."

"You just said you don't know why you have to settle with this mission." She tentatively took the mug from him and took a sip.

"No I was just thinking…wait a minute," he frowned. "Are you reading my thoughts?" 'Please don't tell me she can read thoughts now.'

Serenity huffed. "I guess I am. Now that I know how you really feel, and here I thought you guys actually cared."

"No it's not like that," Alan said, putting his hands on his knees. "You're just a little more… complex…"

"Than what? A vampire?" She slammed the mug down on the nightstand so that some of the liquid splashed out. "Well I'm so damn sorry that you can't just stake me and get it over with." She bounced off the bed and grabbed her hoodie.

"Wait, Serenity, where are you going? You can't just leave."

"Oh hell yes I can leave! I have a race in one week. The world can't end if I'm not here right?" She put on her shoes and made for the door.

"Yeah but those lab techs are out there right now looking for you," Alan pleaded.

"All the more reason to leave. They probably know where I live." Serenity stopped to think for a moment and slumped down against the wall putting her fingers to her temples. "You don't understand. I have a career started for myself. One that I love very much, and I can't be the reason for all of this STUFF…"

"Paranormal activity." Alan added.

"Whatever. I just want out."

Alan rolled his eyes and got off the bed to take a seat beside her on the floor. "We will figure it out, Edgar and I, it's our job."

"Hey Alan, what's all the commotion about out there?" Edgar yelled from behind the closed bathroom door as he jumped out of the shower and dried himself off.

"Serenity's hearing peoples thoughts now," Alan yelled. "Hurry up. By the time you get done it will be morning again, and I think we should go back to the shop."

"The shop?" Edgar asked. "But we've got a serpent infestation there still, remember?" He came out of the bathroom fully dressed with a towel around his neck. "Unless you can get rid of them," he said, looking straight at Serenity.

She frowned. "Me? How would I get rid of them?"

"Mr. Rambo here seems to think you have this divine power over darkness. I guess if your world falls then so does ours," Alan said looking back and forth between the two.

"I don't think…I know. I've been reading up." He grabbed his bag off the floor and pulled out a book Alan hadn't seen him snatch out of the store before they had left. He opened it to the dog-eared page and placed it at Serenity's feet. "You've got all the signs. The tattoo, the rising powers…you are the one, with the exception of the whole seeing ghosts thing. I have no idea where that comes from. Now we just need to figure out who's behind the clowns in the white jackets."

"The who?" Serenity asked.

"He means the lab techs," Alan said very simply. "There has to be some kind of dark power behind them for this town to turn into a disaster like it has. Do you have any idea who it could be?"

"Just a hunch, but I think I know exactly who can tell me." She looked into the mirror again at Howie's ghastly figure and watched as he stepped aside to show her David's image.

Meanwhile, further down town, the rain was gone, but had definitely left its mark on the town, leaving slushy red goo on the streets and dried, encrusted casings on all the streetlights. The sandy beach itself looked like red clay as the seawater washed pink foam to the shore, and the air smelled of bitter metallic residue, causing the boys senses to go a bit haywire. Not only that but the town was deathly silent as the four vampires moved stealthily through it on the hunt for mortal blood. The exception to the silence was the flocks of people that grouped together as they entered various churches around town to pray. That would likely be their best bet for food as far as David was concerned. The thorn in his leg had embedded itself deep within the muscle and it slowed him down a little.

"Maybe you should have one of us remove that thing," Marko said, as he watched him limp along in front of the pack.

"Yeah," Dwayne agreed. "We don't need anymore trouble hunting than we already have."

David looked back at them with an aggravated expression. They had no idea why he was in such a rush to feed and be done with it. The whole hunting game was usually his thrill. "Let's just do what we came here to do and get back to the girl.

"I don't know man, I sure as hell am no saint, but something just doesn't seem right about this," Paul moaned as he skipped along behind Marko. "Picking people out of Church?"

"Ah, come on Paul, where's your sense of adventure?" Marko asked. "You can beg for mercy in hell if that's where this town is headed."

"Marko's right. Now we do what we need to do. I don't like the fact that we left the girl behind with those idiotic Frog brothers. They probably can't even wipe their own ass's without holding each others hands," David said as they neared the backside of the church where a small group of teens had gathered to smoke.

Marko was the first to pick his victim, a sweet young thing with dark brown hair and green eyes that reminded him of Serenity. He pondered for a moment, before he sank his fangs into her throat, why David always referred to her as that girl, but the second the warm blood hit his tongue he forgot all about it.

David took to the oldest looking in the group, a definite red head, and his favorite, just like a strawberry ice cream cone. Paul took to the junkie of the bunch, inhaling the sweet perfume of weed that lingered on her clothing before ripping her apart. Dwayne however, preferred the thrill of the chase. He let his victim get an eye full of what the other boys had done before tearing after her down the little dirt road the church sat on.

They discarded the bodies in the dumpster behind the church when they were good and finished. In a time like this, no one would even notice. "Marko," David called, as he shoved the last part of his victim in the trash. "Go find some food for our young heroine."

Marko nodded and left the group trying to recall if Serenity had ever mentioned food, or what she might prefer. Chinese was definitely out. Then he remembered seeing her for the first time in that Thai restaurant. What a sassy first impression she had made, with those stunning, blue eyes of hers. He could tell David was still hiding something about her from them and he wondered when he would tell. He also wondered if any of the local restaurants would even be open.

While Marko set off to get the food, the three returned to find Edgar and Alan on each side of Serenity in front of the TV holding stakes and crosses, for as they say, old habits die-hard. She heard them enter and turned to see, clutching her stomach with one hand as it made a loud gurgling noise, but it didn't hide the slight frown she wore. David knew she was wondering where Marko was. "He's bringing food," he stated, hobbling over to take a seat on the bed.

'Stupid girl and her careless daydreams, soon she'll be nothing more than another dead corpse on the sand in Santa Carla.'

Serenity glared when she heard those words erupt from David's fowl mind and jumped up, grabbing one of the crosses from Edgar's hand. She marched right over to David and thumped him across the face with it, forgetting that in her hands, it did little to hurt him. "Who the hell are you?" she raged angrily through gritted teeth. "Do you work for Max? What is it you want from me?"

'What the fuck,' Paul thought as he ran to grab and pull her away, dodging the flailing cross.

She kicked and fussed, snapping her head around to give Paul the evil eye. "Don't pretend like you don't know, you two faced ass hole!"

David smirked as Dwayne joined Paul and they both held her back, looking at each other in confusion, before the Frogs decided to join in, which was cause enough to let Serenity go before getting maimed with crosses and stakes.

Serenity lunged at David again, using the tool as more of a crop to beat him over the head and when that didn't work she kicked him in his injured leg. David cursed at her and growled. "Alright, that's enough!" he demanded, picking her up and tossing her back down on the bed before pinning her there. "I'm not the one planning to kill you, princess."

"You already did!" she hollered, spitting in his face. "Almost twice now, and guess what, I'm still going, like a dam energizer bunny. Now tell me what the fuck is going on or I'll have Edgar and Alan kill you all."

"You don't need them Serenity," David hissed. "You already have all the power, you just have to use it." She stopped struggling against him for a moment and stared deep into his arctic blue eyes, scanning his thoughts, which were as empty as seashells washed upon the shore. "I should have known," he continued, feeling her attempt to probe his mind. "Our little girl here can hear our thoughts."

Paul and Dwayne had Edgar and Alan pinned against the wall, but when they heard this, they released them in shock. "How did that happen?" Paul asked.

"She's the freaking chosen one death breath," Edgar squealed, lunging for him once more.

Paul couldn't help but vamp out this time, knocking Edgar's weapons to the floor before grabbing him by the throat and lifting him into the air. "I've had just about enough of your germ infested talk for one night," he growled.

David looked back at Serenity. "If I let you up will you behave? Or do I need to let Paul knock off a member of your paranormal geek squad?"

"Paul let him go," she pleaded, trying to ignore David's warnings.

"Say please," Paul chuckled. Dwayne had sat down on Alan, pinning him to the floor, and he was turning blue from lack of oxygen.

"Ok, ok, let me go," Serenity said, a tone of defeat in her voice. She tried to push David aside as a last word and sat up on the bed behind him. Paul and Dwayne let the Frogs go and Alan stammered backwards to get away, gasping for air.

David only smiled. "Sorry about that. No hard feelings huh?"

"To hell you are sorry! Now tell me what's going on!" Serenity hissed, straightening her shirt.

"What is going on?" Paul asked. "What did you three smoke while we were gone? It smells like ass in here."

He mentioned this just as Marko walked through the door holding a bag of food. "Feeding time for the morts," he said, looking at both the Frogs first and then Serenity with a big smart ass smile.

Serenity felt her heart plummet to the bottom of her stomach. So now she was just a mort to him? David gave her a knowing look and pushed through her mind. 'Nothing personal sweetheart, but you are in fact a human.'

She tried hard to hide her feelings and folded her arms as Marko pulled out the small Chinese looking to go containers from the brown paper bag and set them on the table. Paul nudged him in the shoulder. "Hey I think there's something wrong with your girl. Those Frogs gave her some bad mojo and now she's hearing our thoughts," he whispered.

Marko grabbed a fork and took a container full of Pad Thai noodles over to Serenity. He seemed oblivious to the current events causing such turmoil in the little cabin. His mind had been purely focused on Serenity as soon as he had stepped through the door. Not realizing his words had done her harm; he leaned over and held the food out to her. Divine light, he thought.

Serenity heard this and looked up at him trying to keep her eyes clear of tears. "I'm not hungry."

"You need to eat," David ordered. "Strength is important."

"Ya well, I' not your little princess, and I'm not going to sit here and be shoved or bossed around." She looked up at Marko as if to plead. "Why are you doing this?"

Marko frowned and set the food down. "David, what's going on?"

"Your precious angel here thinks that I have something to do with what's happening in this town," he answered, looking around at the three vampires.

"I know you do," Serenity argued. "Howie keeps telling me. Something about you guys being the chosen four."

"Howie?" Dwayne asked. "I killed that low life bastard."

"Yeah, well you didn't do it good enough," Alan smarted.

"I'll do you one good enough, punk, " Dwayne growled, moving to grab him by the throat again. "Little kids shouldn't play with sharp objects."

Alan thought quick and grabbed the squirt gun this time instead of the cross and stake. He took aim, but before he fired Serenity yelled out a no. She launched off the bed and tackled Alan to the floor herself.

"Sure," Alan sneered. "You can protect them from us but you can't protect us from them. I've had it, I'm out of here."

"No, Alan, don't go!" she blurted.

"Why should we stay?" he asked. "All we get is disrespect. You think these ass holes know anything about stopping an apocalypse? They're just as clueless as you are."

There was a sudden silence and after a few moments David spoke. "So the little boys and girl really want to know what's going on huh? Fair enough, but you won't like it. Either way what I say stays in this room, understood? I don't need any comments from the peanut gallery, and I don't take suggestions. This is our problem and I intend to deal with it." He looked at Serenity with soft eyes rather than his usual cold ones. "I was ordered to give you to Max on the night of the next full moon. The Frogs are right, you are the one, and Max wants your powers. He plans to take them and take over the city. What his plans are beyond that I don't know. What I do know is that if you die, the world as we know it changes. No more parties on the beach…you get what I'm saying?"

"What?" Serenity whispered, unable to stop herself from getting choked up. She put her hands on her cheeks and fell pale as she tumbled over into a weeping heap on the bed. Marko sat down beside her and pulled her into his lap, and she allowed it, uncaring of what he was or what he wanted at that moment. The only thing that mattered was that she needed someone, and she shoved her face into the crook of his neck and cried.

All of the goofy bullshit had disappeared from Paul's eyes. "How the hell are we going to stop Max?" he asked. "We all know what happened when we tried to overcome him last time."

"First things first," David answered, looking back at Serenity's crumpled form. "We need to hide her somewhere. The cave is obviously out, and we're sitting ducks if we stay here."

"What about Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum here?" Dwayne asked. "They've got that lame assed comic book store."

Paul stopped playing with the rubber bands he had found on the kitchen sink and decided to put in his two cents worth. "What about that Carla chick from the barn? She seemed pretty with it."

Dwayne disagreed. "Bad idea. She almost freaked on me and there's no sure way to know if she's connected to Max. Hell, Howie was supposed to be a postal worker."

Serenity pushed away from Marko's chest. "I am not leaving my horse there. If I have to go into hiding, then so is he."

Marko pulled her hair back and looked at the faded mark he had left on her. Human or not, it didn't seem right that all of this just suddenly be slammed down on her shoulders. "I vote no on the comic store," he said. "I think out of town altogether would be better."

Alan's lip twitched and curled as if he were about to snarl. "We don't associate with vampires in our shop anyway," he growled.

Serenity wiped the tears away from her eyes and cheeks. Yes, out of town would be a lot better, but where would they go and how long would it take for Max to track them all down?