The two men stood back-to-back, circling and stabbing viciously with their stakes. Outnumbered two-to-one, at least they had the element of surprise and the confusing cover of Gwen's preternatural screaming. Norma ran to help them, but Star streaked past, her half-vampire strength still blazing inside her like a fire made of mindless rage and pure energy.

The younger man had Marco by the arm and was about to run him through when David flew down in a steep dive and grabbed the man by the head, intending to snap his neck. The older hunter, although occupied with fending off both Paul and Dwayne, swung what looked like a cavalry sword circa the Civil War in a wide arc above his head, slashing a long red cut across David's cheek. This would hardly have slowed David down, but at that moment, Star launched herself into the air and barreled into David. They crashed, rolling and scouring a scrape in the ground on impact.

Norma attacked Paul from behind, lodging her silver-tipped stake in his back. His instincts had warned him, however, and he shifted enough to throw off her aim. The stake harmlessly missed his heart. "Hey! My runaway snack!" he exclaimed delightedly as he pulled the stake out from between his lower ribs. The silver burned a little, causing his wound to steam as it closed. "You came back," Paul said and weilded the stake by the wrong end like a club. Norma ducked and rolled as he brought it down hard.

The old man was struggling to keep up with Dwayne, who toyed with him sadistically, jumping back and forth and all around with supernatural speed. He pinched the old man's nose, chuckled cruelly, and leaped into the air to hover before the vampire hunter could swing his stake. The old man stumbled forward, and Dwayne landed behind him, kicking him in the backside. The man caught himself with one hand as he stumbled and, with surprising agility for an old guy, cartwheeled back onto his feet and landed a kick on Dwayne's chin. It didn't hurt the dark-haired vampire, but it was a victory just to see that small, smug smile wiped off his face and replaced with a flash of embarrassing surprise.

Marco had the other man on the ground. Star was on top of David, hands around his neck, throttling him and pounding his head into the ground. Star looked up when Norma screamed, "NOOOO!" Marco had managed to kill the younger male vampire hunter. Norma had Paul by the hair, but she completely forgot him and ran to the dead man's side. She kicked Marco in the face as he stooped to drink the blood that streamed from the man's ripped-open throat. "Gilbert!" Norma shouted into the corpse's face. "Gilbert NO!" she cupped his face in one hand as she fumbled for his wrist with the other, as if she wanted to check his pulse. Marco loomed over her, but the old man, retreating from his battle with Dwayne, slammed his shoulder into Marco, knocking him over the way a cop breaks down a door. He hooked his arm under Norma's, yelled into her face that they had to get out of there, and dragged her away from Gilbert's body. She fought him at first, but he slapped her and pointed to the vampires.

Marco, Dwayne and Paul lunged towards the two hunters. David had taken advantage of Star's distraction to get the upper hand in their struggle, and he had her face-down on the ground with her arm twisted behind her back. He was pulling her hair so hard, it was coming out at the roots. Blood streamed from her scalp down her face and neck. She watched the hunters, her best hope for defeating the vampires and escaping this nightmare, turn tail and run. White-hot anger seared through her from head to foot. She screamed in frustration and bucked David off her with enormous force, launching him into the air. She leapt up and, grabbing his leg, swung him like a sling and threw him at the other boys' backs. He smacked sidelong into them and they toppled like bowling pins.

At last Gwen's eerie screaming faded to a stop.

Norma and the old man were in the car and roaring down the hill. The boys groggily rose to their feet and turned angrily to Star and hungrily to the corpse of Marco's kill. Their hunger won out over their lust for revenge. Star turned away, pressing her hand to her mouth as tears streamed down her face. She heard a small sound coming from behind a bush. She investigated.

"Laddie!" she cried in dismay. He was crouching in the bushes, shaking, his eyes wide. "Why didn't you stay in the car?" Star's voice broke. Despair was setting in. Her one consolation had been that Laddie was finally free. Her strength was draining from her, turning to hopelessness and apathy. She sank to her knees, put one hand on Laddie's shoulder and hung her head. The vampires finished gorging themselves and gathered around Laddie and Star. She almost fell asleep as David lifted and carried her back to the cavern.

Star spied on the funeral of Gilbert Johnson. David almost hadn't let her go, but her condition had deepened considerably, with her bouts of depression and sleepiness becoming more frequent. Even when her powers gave her the strength to match any of the other vampires, their constant mind-games had worn her psyche down. She felt tied to the vampires even when she was not physically tied up in the cave. She still refused to kill, even though she knew it would assuage the pain of the hunger that incapacitated her regularly now.

Norma stood over Gilbert's tombstone and carefully placed a single white rose on it. Star learned that Gilbert was her husband. The old man was a close friend and expert vampire hunter. The trio, now a duo, had been hunting vampires together in Santa Clara for a long time. The old man put his arm around Norma's shoulder, and they shed a tear together for their best friend and brother-in-arms.

Star left. She was tired and felt distinctly uncomfortable being out during the day, even a rainy day like this one.

Star continued to secretly watch the vampire hunters. She still wanted to escape, but realized she was going to have to be smart about it. David had a stronghold in her mind now. She had to be surreptitious; watch and wait for the right moment. The second attempt at escape would be, one way or another, her last. When the old man's two grandsons moved in with him, Star got an idea. The idea evolved into a plan, and the plan was easily initiated when Star got the older boy's attention with her hypnotic vampiric beauty.

Determination is a funny thing. It is intangible, but has nearly palpable powers.

Star was surviving on pure determination as her altered biological systems went into starvation mode. She somehow continued to resist feeding when everything in her demanded she do so.

She knew that when grandpa's family was in danger, he would be so determined to destroy the vampires that nothing would be able to stop him.

The End