Vlad's wings were flapping ferociously and they never seemed to go fast enough, no matter how hard he tried. He was the Chosen One, for garlic's sake! There must be some way to get there faster.

He had lost track of his sister and the Count a while back, them not being able to keep up and him not wanting to wait. Or, well, wanting wasn't really right. Vlad was physically unable to stop, as if his limbs could not cease to work to their fullest potential. And still he couldn't seem to get there fast enough.

The ground beneath him was flying by, and he thought that surely he must reach the van soon. For miles and miles there had only been trees and empty road, but the adrenaline in him kept his body from failing.

Erin has to be alright, or I'll never forgive myself

Just as Vlad passed a space of road where no trees were lining it, he saw it. The van.

Erin

Vlad dove right down and pulled back his wings. He ran up to the van's back doors and looked inside, only to find… nothing.

There was a cold stinging in the air, and strange marks on the floor, but no one was there. Not even a scent. Vlad turned around, only to be pushed back by Maria and Charlie as they cast a net onto him. His skin sizzled and he cried out in pain.

Where are you Erin?

x

Erin's feet ran as fast as they could carry her. All in her mind at that moment was "Get out of here" and so she did. Her feet were starting to hurt as the only shoes she was wearing were a pair of really worn Chuck Taylors. Not really the perfect fit for running in the woods.

Erin must have ran several miles in the dark, when suddenly she was stopped by a tall form.

"Ingrid"

The vampiress stood in her way, eyes glowing red.

"Did Vlad come for you?" she asked, her voice treading.

"No."

Erin was confused. She hadn't seen Vlad at all since the slayers drove off with her. Had he gone after them? But she was safe now, somewhat, and he must have picked up her scent somewhere along the way.

"Bats! He went after you, alongside me and dad. He's probably with the slayers now!" Ingrid's expression looked panicked.

Why was Ingrid so upset? Even if he had not realised that she was okay, Vlad would well be able to handle the slayers. He was after all the Chosen One. But he would have come back by now, though, if he went after them as soon as they went. Something was wrong.

Erin turned around to where she came from, looking out over the dark landscape. Then she started running again. If Vlad got killed because of her…

Ingrid flew up, picking up speed and going ahead.

Vlad…

x

"Could you please slow down, ma'am?" Charlie said, his voice polite as always, but undermined with the undeniable fear he now felt. He held tightly onto his seat, his knuckles white. "Please"

Maria seemed to not notice him and only pushed the gas further. They finally had the Chosen One! At this point, slowing down meant weakness.

And Maria was not weak.

x

Vlad had stopped screaming now, it was pointless, but the pain was still cutting into him, slicing through every inch of skin. The net that they had caught him in was drenched in garlic and something else that he didn't recognize, and upon impact the pain made him so numb that he could do nothing but scream. When it finally seemed to ease up, he was already locked in the van and surrounded by walls of argentallium.

Nothing seemed to work in there; his vampire hearing being the thing he mourned the most. Now he couldn't hear the driver's conversations, nor could he pick up on any other sound that might give him a clue as to where he might be headed. And it bothered him immensely.

Vlad thought through where he might be going, and unless these slayers had some ulterior motive, they were probably taking him to the Slayer's Guild. If he was lucky he could escape when they brought him out of the van later, but Vlad felt so weak right now that freeing himself seemed like an impossibility. Unless the others caught up with him. Would they? He hoped severely.

His body was suddenly slammed into one of the walls, probably because of a road bump, and he let out a scream that his pained vocal chords could barely muster up. Then he fainted.

x

"Please, Renfield, throw that bloody rat out, I beg you." Chloe pleaded from the back and hugged Nora closer to her.

Everyone was clamping their nose as tight as they could due to the putrid smell the rat gave off, but Renfield just huffed.

"Gertrude is staying. Isn't that right, Gerty?" he said lovingly and nudged the dead rat.

Gertrude fell from her sitting position and her head was severed from her hairy body.

The car came to a screeching halt.

"Gertrude! Oh no!" Renfield opened his door and scurried to the other side of the vehicle to tend to the "injured" creature. He took her into his hands and tried to put the head back on, but it didn't work. He started to sob.

Chloe saw an opportunity and fastened Nora's seatbelt, then climbing to the front, shutting the passenger door.

"Hey!" Renfield protested and tried to open it, but by then Chloe had already locked all the doors and seated herself by the steering wheel.

The car drove off, leaving the sobbing servant on the roadside with a dead rat in his hands.

"Oh, Gertrude…" he sniffled, watching the vehicle going further and further away from him.

x

There were only black tire marks and cold air when they arrived at the supposed scene.

"Are you sure this is where they stopped?" Ingrid asked, sniffing the air and looking around.

"Yes! They must have already gotten their hands on him and driven off." Erin panted, and silence ensued.

She had caught up with Ingrid when the trail of scent apparently ceased and the vampiress needed help from her to keep going. They had come out of a clearing in the woods and after that they had followed the road that Erin was certain she had rode on.

All Erin wanted just now was to keep going, to keep running. But neither she nor Ingrid knew exactly where the slayers had gone. Sure, the Slayer's Guild would be a fine guess, but the organisation had changed location after a group of vampires raided the old building. Plus, there was never a trail of scent to the Guild. Erin wasn't quite sure how, but somehow they managed to erase it so that vampires couldn't even smell their way to it.

"Should we keep going along this road?" Ingrid suggested after a while.

Erin nodded and started running again, with the vampiress going ahead.

Please let him be well

x

"Clothes, or whatever your name is -" Melody started.

"It's Chloe."

"Yeah, whatever, as I was saying: slow the heck down."

For the first time since she took the wheel she looked at the speedometer. Shit, she muttered to herself, shit, shit, shit. Chloe had been driving at slightly over 100 mph, but exactly how much beyond that point she could not tell, because the meter didn't go further than that. From the backseat she could hear sobs from Nora and the little boy.

Needless to say, she released her pressure from the gas and took a few deep breaths. How had she even gotten that into it? Erin, who was that even? No one she cared about! So why was she driving at over 100 mph for this person? Why was she scaring her daughter for this person?

She wasn't. Chloe was doing this for Vlad.

Even though she knew he was a vampire, he seemed to barely have changed at all. All the time that had passed from when they were kids to now, and he still had not forgotten about her. A mere childhood friend. Surely, vampires forgot about breathers, surely they did.

But why did he remember her so well, and treat her with such kindness? Of course, he had pinned her down, but he hadn't hurt her.

Vlad was still the same, life had just shaped him. Like it had her.

Chloe gripped the steering wheel a little tighter and promised herself to keep tabs on the speed from now on.

"You alright, Nora?"

"Yes, mum." the little girl sniffled.

x

All Maria's consideration and kindness was gone now. Her mind was determined, and if anyone would try to stop her from bringing the Chosen One into a cell, then that someone should be very scared. Very few people had been foolish enough to get in her way, and none lived to tell the tale.

The Head took her radio receiver out of her uniform's pocket and pressed the button.

Ksch "All troops to the Headquarters immediately, no questions. The Chosen One is captured." Ksch

Charlie stood beside her, watching the back of the van. Waiting. Fearing.

Then there was an ear piercing scream, and everything went quiet.