The first place Darren went was the diner, though his instincts told him that was a bad idea. Steve would wake up at any second and no doubt go after him, and who knows how many other hunters Steve told about him who could spot him. He knew he should just leave and flit far away, but Mya had been so good to him, it felt wrong to leave without saying goodbye.

The sun would be rising in less than an hour and he doubted Mya would even be there, but he planned to slip into her office, write her a note, then sneak back out without anyone seeing him.

When he got to the diner, he snuck around the back and found Mya's office window, but was surprised to see the light on. He peered in and saw her getting up from her desk and packing up her purse. She was getting ready to leave. Darren knocked on the window and she jumped and quickly turned around. When she spotted Darren she opened the window.

"Darren, what are you doing?" She looked slightly annoyed at being startled.

Darren spoke quickly. "I don't have much time to explain, but there are vampire hunters after me. I have to go, but I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye and thanking you for everything you've done for me."

Mya still looked confused. "Why are vampire hunters after you?"

Darren looked down the street. When nobody was there, he turned back to Mya. "It'll take too long to explain, but he injected me with this liquid that prevents me from using any of my mental abilities."

Mya's eyes widened. "Wait, what liquid?"

Darren pulled it out of his bag to show her. She didn't grab it, but she looked at it. "Hold on," she finally said and rushed back to her desk.

Darren sighed. He peered back towards the street. Still, no one was there. He put the vial back in his bag and hopped impatiently from foot to foot.

When Mya walked back to the window, she handed Darren a sheet from her stationary book. "Take this," she said. "My brother is a chemist. This is his name and work address. Tell him I sent you. He can look at that liquid. Maybe there's a way for you to get your mental powers back."

Darren nodded and stuffed the paper in his pocket. "Thank you Mya. Now, I have to go. Thank you for all your help."

Mya smiled sadly. "Bye Darren. Good luck. Send me a message when you're safe, okay?"

Darren nodded and slinked down the alleyway. He took side streets and alleys as he made his way out of town. As he made his way swiftly from street to street, the sky above flooded with dark clouds and soon it started to downpour. Darren was thankful for the rain. With the clouds covering the sun, he was able to cover more ground through the morning. He looked at the address of Mya's brother. It wasn't exactly close, but if Darren flitted, he could get there in less than a day. The name Mya wrote down was Lucas Ovo. He worked at a research corporation a few towns over.

When the storm stopped and the sun came out, Darren rested in an old barn. It looked as though it had been empty for some time, but the faint smell of livestock and hay was still present. He didn't sleep, but he did lay down to rest his legs and examine his wrists and ankles. He had some rope burns on each leg and arm, but they were worse on his wrists and one had started to bleed. Darren rubbed some spit into the wound and relaxed back against the barn wall.

How could he have been so dumb? Darren was thinking to himself. How could he have lived with a vampire hunter for over a year and not notice? Darren spent the remainder of the day kicking himself for it. He also tried reaching out to other vampires and locating them, all with no success.

First, he tried sending a simple, but cheery message to his father.

"Hey Dad! Guess who's the dumbest vampire ever!"

No response. It didn't even feel like sending a message. When he sent out any thoughts, it just felt like him thinking. He also tried reaching out with his mind to locate Larten, Kaleb, and Gavner. Every time he tried, his mind would only find fog and eventually, the strain made him feel dizzy so he stopped. For the first time in his life, Darren was truly alone.

By the time sunset came around, Darren was ready to go. The sun wasn't completely set yet, but he would be able to stand the next 30 minutes flitting in the sun if he kept to the shadows enough. Darren wasn't too keen on staying in one location for too long. He had no idea how many people were now after him. If Steve got a few buddies to help him search, who knew how long he had before they eventually tracked him down. He remembered before him and Gavner found Yanish dead after being killed by vampire hunters, he had been making wild zig zags trying to shake them off, but he couldn't. Darren wondered exactly how long he had. If a trained General couldn't escape, how was he going to?

Darren flitted for almost 2 hours to make it to Lucas Ovo's company building. When he did, he was standing in front of an impressive stone building covered in glass windows. He walked in and peered around at the large, white entryway. Nobody was there except for the person behind the help desk. The woman there gave Darren an odd look as he walked in and he realized that walking into a corporate office wearing pajamas that were dirty after a night of sleeping in a barn probably didn't look very appropriate.

Nonetheless, Darren walked up to the desk and asked the woman, "Excuse me, do you know where I can find Lucas Ovo?"

The woman looked it up at her computer. "You can find his office in room 512."

"Thank you," Darren said and made his way to the stairs. When he got to the 5th floor, it was easy finding room 512. There was a name plate next to the door with Lucas' name on it.

Darren knocked on the door. There was a muffled, "Come in." from inside and Darren opened the door. The room was small and was made smaller by the filing cabinets covering every wall. There was a small desk in the middle of the room with diplomas and certificates hanging on its front and sides.

Lucas looked up from one of the open filing cabinets, took one look at Darren, and furrowed his brow. "Can I help you?"

"Are you Lucas Ovo?" Darren asked.

"Yes," Lucas answered. "Who are you?"

Darren stepped into the office. "My name is Darren. I'm a friend of your sister. Mya said you may be able to help me."

"Help you with what?" Lucas walked over. He looked down at Darren's hands. "Ah… You're a vampire. Close the door and come in."

Darren did as he said, shocked he didn't seem scared or shocked by being in a vampire's presence and how he knew a vampire by their fingertips so naturally. Lucas stepped back over to his filing cabinet and Darren asked,

"How do you know about vampires?"

Lucas answered, "Our father was a pathologist. He had a few friends who came to him with…special dietary needs. He helped them by giving them blood from the recently deceased."

"Really?" Darren was shocked.

Lucas smiled at him. "He used to tell Mya and I all about vampires and how we shouldn't fear them. He was a big friend of vampires. He wanted me to follow in the family business, but I chose chemistry instead."

Darren smiled back. "That's lucky for me because I need a chemist."

"What do you need?" Lucas asked seriously.

Darren reached into his bag and pulled out the small bottle filled with the serum he swiped from Steve. "A vampire hunter injected me with this. Can you find out what's in it?"

Lucas took the bottle in his hand and examined the liquid inside. "Do you feel any different since it happened?"

"Yes," Darren answered. "Since then, all my mental capabilities as a vampire have vanished. Vampires can locate other vampires with their mind and send short messages to vampires we have linked with. Now, all that is gone. I can't do any of it."

"Hm." Lucas walked back to his desk and grabbed a legal pad sitting on the edge and a pen. "I would need to take this into the lab in order to figure out what's in it." He made a note on the legal pad and placed it with the serum inside his desk drawer. "But I can't do it now. There are too many people in the lab who will notice. I'll have to do it after hours."

Darren bit his lip. "How long will it be until then?"

Lucas checked his watch. "The lab should be empty within an hour. You can stay here until then. I'm not expecting anybody."

Darren nodded and found a seat by the wall. Darren wasn't crazy about staying in the building for too long. He had no idea how far back Steve was. He figured Steve would surely come after him to get his serum back, but who knew how long that would take? He and a group of vampire hunters could be busting through the front door at that moment. Pushing those thoughts aside, Darren looked around Lucas' office.

He thought about what Lucas told him about his father and vampires. If their father was an ally of vampires, then Mya and Lucas should be proud they were upholding that legacy by helping him out. Despite everything that was going wrong, Darren found relief in having a friend like Mya.

The hour passed slowly, but eventually Lucas led Darren down to the lab. He used his ID to unlock the door. Everything was white and silver.

Darren looked around at the room at the equipment he had no idea how to use and Lucas took him to one of the silver tables.

"Ever been to a chemistry laboratory?" Lucas asked.

Darren shook his head. "It looks very…sterile."

Lucas laughed and put on his lab coat.

"Alright, lets get to work."