Something was burning on her throat. It was starting. Kayla unclasped the emerald pendant, and stuffed it in her pocket. Dangerous or not, it was still her good luck charm. She grabbed her two new daggers from the bedside table, knowing she would need them.

"We need your help," Brysin said, his voice strangely small. "I know we lied. We're turning you into something you never wanted to be. We broke your trust," Kayla turned to face him, expecting that stupid little plea for help. How pitiful.

Brysin slipped his hand into hers. She stared at him. "I won't be the one to blame you if you hate us. If you hate me. Fight for the werewolves if you wish. I will never blame you for the decision you make, Kayla," She barely felt it, barely saw it, but could sense it as Brysin's lips lightly brushed her cheek.

"Thank you," Kayla said, not sure whether it was for the speech or the kiss. Maybe it was just for being someone she could trust. A salty tear rolled down her cheek, and he wiped it gently away with his finger. Kayla, driven only by raw emotion, flung herself onto him, not crying, just savoring the moment in his arms. Brysin didn't resist, he only wrapped himself protectively around her.

They rushed downstairs, following the battle-hungry vampires. From then on, they just went with the flow, which led Kayla to the woods. Vampires were assembling, getting ready to fight, as they pushed farther into the dark forest.

Up ahead was a clearing, just like the one in Kayla's dream. Bathed in moonlight, with Z in the center. Except now, behind her was crowded with masses of fur and claws. Werewolves. Werewolves were like wolves, same color and basic shape, but they stood on their hind legs, and much more deadly.

"Kayla!" Z called out. Kayla pushed through the vampires, all waiting for Safiria's command, into the moonlight. She glared coldly at the ShadowSlayer.

"I can stop this now," Z explained. "Come back to the ShadowSlayers, and I can call off this war. They," She gestured to the werewolves. "will obey my command. All you have to do is give me your word,"

"Kayla?" She turned at Brysin's voice. "You were a ShadowSlayer? Is that true?" Kayla nodded grimly. Already regetting sharing that hug.

"I'm sorry I never told you," She hung her head. "I shouldn't have lied," Z held up the bottle of green liquid from the night before, her face pulled back in a pearly grin.

"I'm giving you a final chance," She explained. "You can still come back,"

Kayla looked from the vampires, who had lied to her, didn't trust her any longer, to Z, who was offering her a final chance to return to her old life, being a ShadowSlayer. She had a choice.

"Remember," Z added. "I can call off the war. Right. Now," Kayla had decided. Her hand reached out and took the vile.

Z smiled widely, and the vampires hissed and booed from behind her. Brysin was not one of them. Her distorted image was reflected in the glass. Her eyes had turned a deep shade of gold. She could stop this now...

Kayla raised the vile to her lips, pausing as the smell reached her nose. It all made no sense. The answer was so simple, yet the details so complicated.

One of them being that there was no. Such. Thing. As a cure to vampirism.

She remembered her dream, and in a flash, it all made sense. The smell of the liquid. The dream. Z wanted to destroy all the night creatures.

And she was starting with Kayla.

She crushed the vile in between her fingers, brittle as a toothpick. The toxins dripped into the grass, and she smiled slyly at Z.

"Sorry Z," Kayla laughed. " I'm a vampire. Poison is out of the question. Oh, and I won't be sorry," Z was visibly infuriated.

"Attack!" She shouted, unleashing an avalanche of fur and claws. Growls, howls, and hisses ripped through the night air, chaos breaking loose. Kayla darted in between vampires and werewolves, searching for Z, who had disappeared in the flurry of attack.

She caught a glimpse of cloak and blond hair, and chased after it. A werewolf stood in her way, but she sent a well aimed blow to its eye, and it collapsed. Kayla looked around frantically, not wanting to lose her quarry. There!

Z was standing off to the edge, where the fights were less numerous. In her hand was a very, very long sword. She was waiting.

"End this now!" Kayla hissed. Z frowned.

"Why should I?" She asked. Kayla swung, and the two were locked in combat, metal on metal. Z slashed at her side, and Kayla parried and returned the blow with her other dagger. Z dodged the swing with a sidestep.

Kayla then brought down both daggers, and Z blocked them with her sword. Their strength equal, the two stood there, trembling with the force of the other's blow.

"This," Z croaked, her left hand moving from her sword towards her pocket. "Ends," Kayla watched in horror as she drew a short, black, knife. "Now!"