The ride home was mostly silent, each of us lost in our own thoughts. Panacea's offer was tempting, but I was too distracted to really think about it. I could see Dad giving me the occasional glance out the corner of his eye. At one point, while stopped at a light, he lifted his arm like he was planning to touch me, but pulled away at the last second.

He just looked so worn and the taste of guilt was so heavy on him that it was making me feel sick. The tension between us was almost palpable. It felt like we'd gone back to how things had been before my transformation. Back when we barely spoke.

I stared out of the windows in an effort to distract myself, one hand idly tracing where the vampire had bitten me. Now that we were away from the hospital, I was starting to feel drained, weak.

"Taylor, is something wrong?" Dad's voice sounded strange, like I was hearing it through a wall. I turned to face him and the world spun around me.

Grabbing my head, I took a deep breath and waited for the feeling to pass.

"Taylor!?"

"I'm—" I took another breath. "I'm alright. Just felt a bit dizzy."

Pulling over, Dad stared at my face, putting one hand to my forehead. "When did you last eat?"

"I had that drink thing at Panacea's."

"No, when did you last eat," he repeated with more emphasis.

Oh, oh! "At the library last night, but I guess it wasn't enough."

Huffing, Dad put the truck into gear. "I know you probably just want to get home, but I think it's best we go to the mall and get you some breakfast first."

I wanted to argue, as I really wasn't dressed for a trip to the mall, but now that I was aware of it, I was having a harder time ignoring my hunger.

"You need to eat more," Dad warned. "Magic, flying, shapeshifting. The more you do, the more energy you'll need. It's not like you need to worry about getting fat." He smiled weakly at his joke, and I smiled despite playfully groaning.

"Have you been eating at school?"

"I… No, not really. I keep meaning to but…" But what? The school was a perfect place to eat, yet I was coming home nearly starving every day, having to take quick nibbles on the bus just to get by.

"I'm not sure," I said eventually. "I do try, but something keeps stopping me and I end up trying to feed quickly on the bus… I don't, I don't know why…"

"You said there's wards around your school? It's possible they're stopping you." Dad sighed. "I wish you'd told me… I know you planned to stick it out, but maybe you should consider staying home until you can change scho—"

"Yes!" Realising just how quickly I'd spoken, I flushed in embarrassment.

Pulling to a stop outside the mall, Dad gave me a long look.

"I'm sorry, Taylor." He put a hand on my shoulder. "I wish I'd known. I should have noticed."

"It doesn't matter." The argument sounded weak, even to me. I had been the one to hide everything from him. He didn't need to keep apologising.

"Yes, it does. When we get home, I'll contact Winslow. I'm pulling you out of that school. you can study from home for now. Okay?"

Not trusting myself to speak, I just nodded. Leaving Winslow felt like giving in, like I'd let Emma win. But, at the same time, I could feel a tension leaving my body. I didn't need to worry about it anymore.

Despite all the emotions I could taste in the air, Dad's voice was level and his face relaxed. It was kind of scary how well he could hide his expressions, but I supposed he'd had a lot of practice.

"Good, now let's get you fed and then back home."

I shook my head. "Just, give me a minute."

Even from the parking lot, I could feel the collected energy of everyone in the mall. I was too far away to really feed on it, but I was close enough that I could pull some of it in. Once I was confident I wasn't going to pass out or something, I forced myself to transform into my 'normal, school' appearance, complete with more suitable clothes.

Having a seat belt suddenly pull tight against my now flat chest was a novel, and somewhat painful, experience. Note to self, sensitivity is the same, no matter what size they are.

Rubbing my chest, I ignored Dad's laugh and followed him into the mall. I was nearly at the doors when something occurred to me.

"Dad… that thing last night bit me. Do I need to be worried about that?"

Dad blinked in surprise, then laughed. "Dad?" Ignoring me, he walked off ahead, with me following close behind.

##

Mornings, Dauntless decided, should be banned.

He'd been up most of the night on patrol, then spent another two hours recharging his equipment before finally falling asleep sometime around dawn with a plan to sleep until noon.

He'd managed to get a few brief hours of sleep before he'd gotten the call from Miss Militia about the upcoming meeting and that he had to attend.

Blinking in an effort to get his eyes to focus, it took him far too long to recognise the coffee cup that had been placed in front of him. Reaching out for it, he looked up into the amused face of Assault.

"Marry me?" he asked as he grabbed his cup.

Assault laughed and looked towards his wife. "What do you think, should we keep him?"

Battery flushed, but managed to smirk. "Well… you are both very pretty."

Around them, the other Protectorate capes laughed as Assault openly gaped. It was rare she managed to get one over on him.

Sipping his coffee, Dauntless shrugged. "Eh, I'm game."

Assault looked between them both, then dropped heavily into his chair, arms crossed in a mock pout. "You're both evil!"

"Alright, that's enough," Armsmaster said, bringing the laughter to a stop. Dauntless couldn't be certain, but he was fairly sure Armsmaster was glaring at him behind his visor.

"I know some of you are off duty, but this is important."

The wall behind Armsmaster lit up and Dauntless forced himself not to groan. If Armsmaster was using the wall screens, then this meeting was likely to go on for the rest of the day.

"First off, it's come to my attention that we have not been having our team meetings as regularly as we should—"

"Aren't you the one who's supposed to schedule them?" Assault said. Dauntless hid his smile behind his cup.

The visible parts of Armsmasters face flushed. "Yes… well I've been busy…" Clearing his throat, he attempted to get the meeting back under control.

"That's why I have asked Miss Militia to assist me. While she has always been my unofficial second in command, I've spoken to the director and made it official."

"So… you're officially making her do the work for you?" Dauntless couldn't have stopped himself if he'd tried. He really wasn't awake if he was saying things like that aloud.

Armsmaster glared, but any retort he might have made was cut off by the laughter around them.

Thankfully, Miss Militia — Hannah, as she wasn't wearing her mask — didn't seem to be too upset.

"That aside," she said before Armsmaster could reprimand them all, "there are a few things we need to go over."

The rest of the meeting was the usual busy work — new patrol routes, gang sightings and so on — so Dauntless felt no shame for tuning most of it out. Eventually, though, the image of a man nailed to the wall came onto the screen, catching his attention.

"There has been a development in the Shadow Stalker case. This —" Armsmaster gestured at the picture "— was taken last night. Coroner puts the time of death at two days ago. The arrows used are of a common brand, low cost and easy to find, but they match those used most often by Shadow Stalker."

"That's not much to go on." Hannah frowned at the picture. "We'd need more than that to arrest her. Besides, if the bolts are easy to get, then this might just be someone trying to frame her."

Dauntless nodded. Framing a troublesome hero or rival villain wasn't an uncommon tactic, after all. He tapped the desk to bring up more information on the case. Attitude aside, Armsmaster was nothing if not thorough. Sure enough, dozens of reports appeared: forensic analysis, arrow trajectories, possible angles of attack.

Armsmaster continued, "I agree, but Shadow Stalker's behaviour has been getting steadily more erratic lately. The level of violence has increased faster than is normal for an independent hero. As such, we have been asked to bring her in for questioning."

And depending on how that goes, Dauntless thought to himself, she'll likely end up in the wards or in prison. It was galling, really, that things were so bad that violent criminals could be allowed onto the team.

Looking at the notes before him, Armsmaster's jaw tightened. "One last thing. Dauntless, I suspect this is your area of expertise. This man attacked a young woman last night. The victim is in the hospital, but is expected to make a full recovery."

A picture appeared on screen of a corpse. Its skin was sunken and waxy, giving it a gaunt look. Dauntless didn't need to see the fangs to know what it was.

"Yeah, that's a vampire." He'd only dealt with a vampire once, back when he was still a student, studying under Dr. River. That the victim had survived was surprising. Vampires were typically messy eaters, and most people died long before the vampire was full. They also weren't as common as they used to be.

"Huh, less sparkly than I was expecting." Assault grinned, but it quickly faded when no one laughed.

"Vampires really aren't like that." Dauntless sighed. Rubbing his face, he tried to recall his old lessons under Dr. River.

"They're parasites, one step above zombies, really. They happen when a person dies alone. I mean, completely alone. No friends, no family, no name. Just completely forgotten about by society. A minor spirit, possibly of anger or regret, will enter the corpse, turning it into a vampire. The result is more like a rabid animal than a person. It has some instincts, just enough brains to stick to dark places and ambush people. But once they attack something, they'll keep going until one of them is dead."

"I see… between the internet and social media, that kind of death is rare," Armsmaster said. "Is their bite contagious, or is that just a story?"

"Yeah, the tradition of cremating unclaimed corpses helped, even if most don't know why it's done. As for creating more… no. Most modern vampire legends are really the mixing of lots of different stories. If you happen to meet one, destroy the head or the heart and that'll be the end of it. Fire works too, but then, fire kills most things."

Still, something about the vampire's corpse bothered him. Bringing up the report, Dauntless started skimming through. "What killed it? Even a young vampire should be more than a match for a normal human, but it looks like it was stabbed to death."

"According to the victim report, she was saved by a parahuman. The description doesn't match anything on file, so I'm assuming it's a new trigger."

Dauntless whistled. A new trigger taking a vampire? That was impressive. Or stupidly lucky.

"So there's a new hero in the bay? Guess things are looking up," Assault said.

"Yes, though I'm already scanning hospital reports for anyone who matches the description. So far, nothing has come up," Armsmaster said.

"Why?"

"It's in the report in front of you," Armsmaster said with a sigh. "Apparently, the cape was severely injured in the fight. A large amount of blood was found at the scene, and a preliminary investigation confirmed it was female. Unfortunately, the blood sample evaporated before I could finish testing — which tells me it was likely magical."

Okay, that wasn't right. Human blood — even that of a magic user — didn't do that, so it had to have come from a creature. There were only a few magical creatures that could pass for human, and none of them were really the heroic types.

"Did you say there's a description?"

"Yes. Female, pale skin, long hair, nearly six foot tall with wings, horns, and a tail. The report also mentioned scales and that the girl vanished in a swirl of black."

"Fuck!" No, no no no! It can't be! Taking a deep breath, Dauntless ran a hand down his face and tried to calm down. That description had done more to wake him up than any coffee.

"You okay?" Assault asked, leaning forward in his seat.

"Yeah… yeah I'm fine, it's just… Okay, it sounds like we're dealing with a succubus and yes, that's a bad thing," Dauntless said before Assault could make a joke. "It's a magical creature that feeds on humans. It was probably targeting the victim when the vampire turned up. I guess it was too badly injured to finish the victim off and chose to run away."

"Okay, what do we need to know? How smart is this creature?"

He tried to think back to his lessons with Dr. River. His teacher had never dealt with a succubus personally, but it wasn't hard to find the stories about them.

"Human level. They're shapeshifters by nature and typically look like beautiful young women. Normally, they try to avoid fighting and prefer manipulation and trickery. If you meet one, assume master/stranger powers. Honestly, I suggest shooting first."

"Seriously? That's harsh man. She did save that girl, after all."

"Don't assume human motives. Besides, succubi aren't native to this world, they're demons and can only come to this world if summoned. If you kill one, they just get sent back to their home dimension."

"Oh, like that cat?... I mean… I think it was a cat… I can't…" Triumph shook his head, and Dauntless squeezed his shoulder.

"Don't think about it, let the memory fade, it'll be better for you if you do."

Triumph nodded, taking a breath as she slowly calmed down and her body returned to normal. Dauntless really needed to find a cure for that curse.

"I can see two options. One, the succubus is being compelled to follow someone else's commands, or two, it's already killed its summoner and is running free. Either way, it's unpredictable. For now, if you see one, pull back and call for help. I'll see if I can make something that can break illusions."

"Master, stranger, changer... that's quite a collection of abilities. How would someone go about summoning one? Can you tell us anything about the summoner?"

"It'll be a villain, someone who can use magic and is powerful. When you summon a creature, you have to add spells to force them to obey you. If you don't, there's nothing stopping them from attacking you. Most summoned creatures are just clever animals, but a succubus is different. They can plan and will often try to get free through trickery or demand payment for their services. Odds are good the succubus or the summoner have already killed in the past and will do so again."

Armsmaster tapped the tablet in front of him for a while, lost in thought. Eventually, though, he nodded.

"Alright, I'm putting you in charge of this investigation but I want regular reports. Miss Militia, can you back him up?"

"Of course."

As the meeting broke up around them, Dauntless continued to stare at the dead vampire. If there really was a succubus here, he'd need to take precautions. His armour was already spelled against mind control and anything else he could think of. Maybe one of Dr. Rivers' old contacts would have more information he could use?

If nothing else, a succubus should be just as vulnerable to his lance as anything else.

Sighing, he stood up and headed for his workshop. If he was going to fight a succubus, he needed to make sure his gear was up to it.

##

Tuesday

Scurrying down the street on his way home from school, Greg Veder tried not to make eye contact with anyone lest he give himself away.

He'd killed her! Oh god, he'd killed her.

The thought ran in circles through his mind, burning the words in letters six feet high on the inside of his skull. Her screams as her skin tore apart had echoed in his ears as he ran and continued long into the night.

He, he needed to tell someone, anyone. Maybe he should go to the police, tell them it was an accident. They'd bel—

Shadows moved in the corner of his eye, but when he turned to look, there was no one there.

Calm down, you're just seeing things.

"Yeah, no. I mean seriously, the guy was pathetic! I mean—"

Greg turned his head so fast that something in his neck went 'ping'. For just a moment, he saw her standing there on the other side of the street. Her brown hair was waving in the wind as she spoke on her phone. His heart stopped when she glanced in his direction, her eyes empty pools of darkness, pulling him in even as every nerve in his body screamed at him to run.

A passing bus hid her from view, and when it was gone, she had vanished.

Stumbling backwards, Greg barely paid attention to the man he walked into.

"I'm sorry!" he screamed as he ran.

##

Wednesday

Shutting his bedroom door, Greg leaned back against the wood, letting himself slowly slide down until he was sitting on the floor with his knees against his chest.

He'd heard people talking at school. 'Madison's at home, she was mugged and needs to rest'. But that was impossible. He'd seen her die; the image of her flesh sloughing off haunted what little sleep he'd managed to get in the last few days.

"Greg? You okay sweetie?" His mom's voice drifted up stairs, distracting him from the memories.

"Y-yeah!" He tried to push the terror down, tried to sound normal. "I'm fine, I'll be down in a minute!"

Standing up, he threw his jacket and bag onto his bed. Grabbing a clean t-shirt, he quickly got changed. Pulling a water bottle from his bag, he poured it over his dirty shirt.

Glancing out his window, he saw a pair of yellow eyes staring up at him from the darkness. They seemed to float there, twin spots of light in the middle of a dark shape, before moving forward.

A faint purple haze appeared in front of the creature, stopping it in its tracks. Greg almost laughed. It couldn't get in! The ward he'd built worked! The house was safe!

The eyes continued to glare up at him as a dark shape, almost like a hand, reached up and pressed against the ward. More of the ward became visible, the glow highlighting the creature's body. It looked like a walking shadow in a roughly female shape. Madison? Greg's stomach fell as she pushed harder and the purple haze started to bulge inwards under the pressure.

"Greg! Dinner!" His mom's voice echoed through the house, making him jump.

Greg glanced quickly at his door, then back into the garden. Madison had vanished. The ward hadn't failed, he could still see it faintly, but the message was clear: it wouldn't stop her for long.

"Greg?!"

"C-coming!"

Grabbing the sodden shirt, he quickly went down stairs. "Sorry Mom, I spilled a drink on my shirt and wanted to get changed."

##

Thursday

Three days. It had been three days since he'd killed Madison. Three days since he'd had more than an hour's sleep, and three days since he'd been able to eat without feeling sick. Yet no one cared.

Greg had been watching the news, the papers, and even PHO. Madison's body hadn't been found yet; no one even seemed to know she was gone. If she was even gone.

For days now, he'd been seeing her. In the streets, outside his home, in his dreams.

Madison was dead, he knew that. So what was the thing he kept seeing?

There had been vague warnings in the Grimoire about summonings. They'd mentioned letting things into the world, evil things, old things. Was that what was happen?

His hands were shaking again. Taking a deep breath, Greg looked out the window in an effort to calm down. If, if he'd really let something through, then he needed to tell someone. The police? Maybe the PRT, they could use magic, right?

But then they'll know what you did.

Maybe, maybe that was for the best. He couldn't go on like this, no sleep, no food, and the constant gnawing of guilt—

Madison walked through the school gates, her hair bouncing as she walked. There was a cast on one of her arms and she had a bit of a limp, but she was smiling. She looked up, and just for a moment, Greg realised she was looking at him. Her smile changed, becoming something else.

"Mr. Veder, is there a problem?" Mrs. Fuller snapped as he all but leapt out of his chair.

"Ah! N-no, sorry! I — I need to use the bathroom!" Grabbing his bag, Greg ran from the room, not waiting for permission and ignoring the giggles.

Running to the nearest bathroom, Greg pulled his phone from his pocket. The PRT, they could handle this, he had to call them!

In his panic, his fingers fumbled with the keys and it took him three tries to get the right number.

"Emergency ser—"

"I need help! She's here!"

"Sir?

"She's here! I killed her!" He took a breath that was somewhere between a gasp and a sob. "It was an accident I swear, but she's alive and different and now she's here and she's stalking me!"

"Sir, sir I need you to listen to me." The woman's voice was calm and well practiced. "Now, tell me, are you safe?"

"I — I don't know. I'm hiding in the bathroom. I'm at school."

"Okay, that's good. We're having trouble tracking your location. Can you tell me where you are?"

"I'm at Winslow High, just please hurry."

"Don't worry, I've got officers on the way, I just need you to stay on the line."

"Yeah, yeah I can —" With a beep, the battery in his phone died. "What! No! No, no, no!"

Shaking his phone, Greg tried to will his phone back to life. There had to be something wrong! It had been fully charged when he'd reached school!

Giving up, Greg slumped down onto the toilet seat and tried to calm himself down. They knew where he was. They were coming.

Maybe it was exhaustion taking its toll, but one thought above all others kept bubbling to the surface.

Mom is going to kill me.

##

The operator sighed as the line went dead and put another mark on the tally.

"Prank call?" the man next to her said.

"Yeah, some kids down in the docks. Idiot could barely stop giggling."

"You call it in?"

She rolled her eyes. Prank calls were annoying, but that didn't mean she wouldn't do her job. "Of course! I'm not that stupid. A nearby patrol is gonna check it out. With any luck, they'll catch the kids."

##

Where are they? It had been more than an hour now, and Greg hadn't heard anything beyond the bell.

Had something happened? Did they think it was a hoax? If the police weren't coming, he'd go to them!

Giving up, he slowly left the bathroom. Lunch was in full swing, the hallways packed with students.

He was almost out of the building when he saw her. She was standing nearby, talking to Emma and Sophia. If not for the bruises and cast, he'd never know something was wrong.

Looking past her friends, she smiled at him. The sound of the corridor faded and her smile widened. Emma and Sophia continued to talk, unaware or uncaring about what she was doing.

Madison's smile widened as Greg backed up, his back pressing against the rows of lockers, the smell of blood filling his nose.

"..." I'm sorry!

Pushing past her friends, Madison walked forward, her smile growing. He tried to turn away, to run or call for help, but he couldn't move.

"I..." I'm so sorry!

A soft, delicate hand pressed against his chest and Madison looked up at him, her smile running literally from ear to ear, her mouth filled with razor sharp teeth. Her nails felt like claws pressing against his skin.

"I'm sorry!" he choked out, tears running freely down his face. The strength left his body, and Madison pressing against him was all that was holding him up.

Her eyes flashed yellow, and when she spoke, it was with two voices.

"No, no you're not. Not yet anyway."

"P—pleas—"

"Do not waste my time begging. I only want one thing from you. Where. Is. The. Book?!" her free hand came up, wrapping her claws around his throat as wisps of black smoke began to rise from her body. Her smile was gone, but the razor sharp teeth remained.

"I don't know! Plea—" Her claws tightened in warning. "It's the truth! I left it in the factory!"

"You never went back for it?"

"NO! I couldn't, not after, not after what happened." He could feel warmth spreading down his legs. Around them, other students had stopped to watch, their blank eyes unblinking.

Madison rose up, her body lengthening until she was looking down at him. "You are a coward, Greg." Her voice was little more than a hiss, her breath hot against his face and her eyes glowing yellow slits against her darkening skin.

"A coward and a fool. I'd tear your fucking heart out, but I may yet need you alive to fix this fucking mess. So for now, you get to live."

Greg opened his eyes with a start. Madison was laughing at something Emma had said, her body totally normal. Around him, other students were going about like normal. The pain from her claws was gone, as was the wet patch on his jeans.

Did I imagine everything?

Shaking, he looked back up at Madison. Her eyes flashed yellow as she glared at him.

Greg turned and ran.