A/N: So, I'm finally starting to get down to the final chapters on this thing. Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed and/or favorited and/or alerted this story. It's been a fun ride As always, I don't own anything actually on the TV. Oh, and the evil cliffhanger was unintentional, but this chapter was turning into a monster already, and I had to cut it off at some point.

Beth was angry. She'd spent the entire night unable to forget Rowan's words. She'd expected to have someone to share with, but the other woman had told her that she was fantasizing about Mick, not living in the real world. She'd called Mick a killer, actually compared him to Josef. Mick wasn't like that. No matter what Rowan said. He wouldn't actually kill anyone who wasn't a danger to others, who didn't deserve it.

Mick had tried to get her to tell him what had her so upset, but she just couldn't tell him. What if she told him what Rowan said, and he didn't refute it? He already saw himself as a monster, having Rowan say the same thing wouldn't be helpful in convincing him that he was normal. He didn't need anyone else telling him there was something wrong with him. Josef was bad enough. Always trying to get him to feed off people, rather than the blood he bought from Guillermo. Josef wasn't satisfied with Mick trying to live as normally as possible.

The ring of her cell phone pulled Beth out of bed. After spending most of the night at Mick's apartment, she'd gotten home and into bed just after sunrise. She looked at the number and groaned. She was supposed to have the day off today. She'd only gotten four hours sleep.

"Hello?"

"Beth, I need you to come in. I just got a call about a murder."

"Alright, I'll meet you there. Just give me the address."

She grabbed a pen and wrote down the street number Ben rattled off, and froze.

"That's Josef Kostan's house."

"I know. It's bad, according to the police. Just get there as soon as you can."

"Wait, Ben. Is Cole—is he one of the ones-?"

She just couldn't imagine that adorable little boy dying. And it would destroy Mick.

"Who's Cole?"

"The little boy."

"Little boy? I haven't heard anything about a kid. Just-get over there."

Beth hurried into some clothes and ran out the door, not even pausing as she pushed the speed dial on her cell phone. It rang several times, then went to voice mail.

"Oh, God, Mick, call me the minute you get this. Something happened out at Josef's, someone was murdered. I'm on the way over there now."

Mick was probably in his freezer already. He might not hear the phone. She redialed the number, then redialed a second time, and a third, and still no answer. What if something had happened to Mick? What if this was vampire related? It might have something to do with their meeting last night, and she didn't know anything about it because Mick hadn't said anything after he picked her up. And Rowan and Cole might be right in the middle of it.

Beth was pretty sure she broke every speeding law driving back out to the house she'd just admired the night before. The place was already littered with crime scene tape, and police were swarming the house. Ben was waiting for her when she got out of her car. With Josef being so high profile, and with the attempt on his life earlier in the year, it was no wonder they already had the DA out at the scene.

"Who—who died?"

"There are several bodies inside. One woman, white, mid twenties, and ten males. Come on, I'll walk you in."

"I'd put the time of death at about three hours ago," the medical examiner interrupted them to inform Ben, as he stepped out of the house and pulled off his gloves. Beth let Ben lead her into the house, through the crowd of police trying to lift fingerprints and DNA. This could be so bad. If Josef's DNA was actually anywhere in the house it wouldn't be human. Beth didn't know how that would appear to the labs, but it would raise some eyebrows. And that wouldn't be good for Josef. Or Mick.

They passed the first body covered with a white sheet, and Beth froze.

"This is the female. There are six males between the main room and the back deck, and four more upstairs"

"Who is she?"

If it was Rowan, it would absolutely kill Mick, and she didn't even want to think about what Josef would do.

"We haven't been able to identify her yet. They haven't found a purse or any ID. Now what were you saying about a kid being here?"

"Josef's girlfriend and her son were staying with him. "

Ben's eyebrows rose at that statement. How did Beth know all this? And Josef Kostan, playboy extraordinaire (at least according to all the coverage he received), dating a woman with a child? Ben didn't see that happening. Unless, of course, the child was Josefs.

"Would you be able to identify this girlfriend of his?"

"Yeah. I know her pretty well. "

Ben gestured for the cops to step away from the body, and lifted the sheet. Beth nearly cried in relief when she saw that it wasn't Rowan. However, she did recognize the young woman. Rowan would be crushed when she found out.

"It's not her. Its Cole's nanny. Mary, something. I never knew her last name."

A woman in uniform came down the stairs at that moment, her face looking grim.

"Mr. Talbot, we searched everywhere. There's no sign of a child anywhere in the house."

"Cole's not here? Are you sure? He might just be hiding."

Oh God. If Cole was taken….. Beth pushed past Ben and ran up the stairs, ignoring the cops yelling after her as she pushed her way into Cole's room. Ben was not far behind her as she called for the boy.

"Cole, its Beth. You can come out now! Cole? You can come out now, it's alright!"

He had to be there, hiding somewhere. If he was gone—

"Talbot, you need to see this."

Ben pulled Beth away from the child's bedroom and down the hall, where a cop was standing in the doorway of the bedroom, holding onto a camera, but taking no photos. This had to be Josef's room. It certainly looked like his room. It just screamed Josef Kostan, but there were also feminine touches. A silk robe was laying over a chair, and those weren't men's satin slippers on the floor.

"Through here."

Ben and Beth followed the cop into another room, where four bodies were covered with white sheets. A large industrial freezer sat in the middle of the tiled room, and a robe hung on a hook on the wall. They must have come after Josef just as he was getting ready for sleep. This was really bad. How on earth could they explain this?

"So you know Josef pretty well? Maybe you can tell me why the hell he has a freezer just off of his bedroom."

Beth just shook her head helplessly, hoping she looked as confused as the rest of them.

"Alright, I want photos of everything. I mean everything. We have to figure out what the hell is going on here."

"Ben, Josef isn't under one of those sheets, right?"

If Josef had been shot, he would need blood. He could attack someone here in the house. Then it wouldn't matter what explanations they came up with for the freezer. They would have proof vampires existed, or another team would come to find all their colleagues dead. Ben looked at Beth strangely, as if he was trying to figure something out.

"No. At the moment, he's missing. And so is the boy. Who is the girlfriend?"

"Her name is Rowan Bailey. She's a professor at Hearst."

Ben turned his back on Beth and grabbed one of the cops, ordering them to get to the college and make sure that Bailey was still there. Beth didn't like the tone of his voice as he told them to use caution and to be on the lookout for Kostan.

"Ben? You don't think Josef did this?"

"Right now, we're not discounting anything."

A horrifying thought occurred to Beth, and she grabbed Ben's arm, pulling him away from the others. This might not be at all vampire related. That man from last night-

"Another professor at Hearst has been harassing Rowan. Last night he threatened her, and her son."

"Do you really think a college professor massacred eleven people and kidnapped Josef Kostan and a child?"

"I think it's a strong possibility. And if he is behind this, he's going after Rowan."

Josef didn't know how long he'd been chained up. How much time had passed? It felt like days that they'd tortured him, but he knew it was probably only hours. He pulled again at the chains that kept him bound to the chair he was sitting on. They didn't give, at all. These men were obviously professional, and used to dealing with vampires. These chains were made of silver, and every time he managed to break the skin on his arms, it got into his bloodstream.

The door opened again, and the same man entered. He was vaguely familiar to Josef, but he couldn't place how he recognized him. The man was human, that much was obvious. Where had Josef seen him before?

"Look at you now, the great and terrible Josef Kostan."

It was the first time he'd spoken, and Josef tried to place the voice, but it wasn't working. He'd seen the man somewhere; he just had to figure out where.

"Let me go and I'll show you just how great and terrible I really am," he growled at the man, as the human left the doorway for the rack of instruments on the wall. The room really looked like some sort of medieval torture chamber.

"I think not," the human answered as he selected a tool from the rack, keeping his back to Josef, "you see, I need to keep you alive, for the moment. You still have a purpose to serve. Then, I'll send you to your death, and rid the world of the rest of your fellow creatures. But I have something very special planned for you. After all, I owe you."

"Why, did I not invest in your company or something? Refuse to hire you?"

If he even hoped to get out of his prison, he had to figure out who this lunatic was and just why he'd been taken. And he had to do it soon. Rowan was out there, unguarded. And Cole… Josef didn't know what happened to the rugrat. If he was in any way hurt, though, Josef would make certain that those responsible died a slow and lingering death.

"You're a monster. A vile, evil creature that does not belong on this earth. And you stole her from me. "

"Stole who?" This human was making no sense. Josef's eyes bled white when the human turned around with a poker in his hand. It was the seventeenth century all over again. Again.

"My associates tell me they haven't tried this on you, yet. It's very special to me. You see, it's coated in silver. It will make the pain even more excruciating. They were saving it, for me."

Josef couldn't stop the scream that erupted when the poker was plunged into his chest, far away from the heart. The human smiled at him, enjoying the sound. He waited, until the wound began to close around the poker still embedded in flesh, to pull it back out, resulting in another scream.

"You will tell me where to find the rest of your friends, Kostan."

"Fuck you. When I get out of here, yours will be the first head I rip off."

"I think not."

He plunged the poker lower, into Josef's abdomen, and twisted it. Josef screamed again, cursing the man to the depths of Hell. He just hoped this lunatic didn't pull the poker out when it was twisted, or his insides would become his outsides.

"You will tell me what I want to know, Kostan. Then you will die, and she will watch you die, that she might know the monster that you really are. She is mine!"

The poker was twisted again, and yanked out. Josef's blood was spilling all over his body, and the floor. The blood loss would just make the silver poisoning even more painful. This man was serious about killing him.

"Tell me what I want to know."

Josef summoned his strength to spit in the man's face. He'd already been tortured for god only knew how long, and he hadn't broken yet. He may die today, but he'd be damned if he was actually going to tell them what they wanted to know. They had to be part of the group of Hunters that had come. Josef had to give Mick and Luc time enough to attack, and destroy them. If he had to die to do that, so be it. The human wiped his face clean, then backhanded Josef. Weak as he was, the blow knocked his head to the side. The human glared at him, but he kept silent, returning the glare with a look that promised death.

"I'll return. And we'll see if you're not in a more cooperative frame of mind when I get back."

The human stalked out of the room, and the door slammed closed behind him, once again shrouding Josef in complete darkness. Josef tried to stay conscious, but the blood loss and slow silver poisoning combined in helping him to drift out.

Rowan packed up her bag as the students filed out. It was only noon, but she was already exhausted. Tonight, she would have to call it an early night. Maybe she could convince Josef to just stay in with her, once they were finished with whatever it was he had going on tonight. He hadn't said anything, but she knew it was serious. He'd made love to her as if he was never going to see her again. And he'd actually declared his feelings for her. Even when they'd been at their most serious, he'd never said the words.

She slung her bag over her shoulder as she headed out of the auditorium. It was lunch time, and she was meeting Melissa. She nearly ran into someone in the doorway, and looked up. She backed up a step, and Michael Taylor's hand shot out and grabbed her arm.

"I'm a little busy right now, Taylor."

"You need to come with me, now, Rowan. I have something you have to see."

He started to push her back into the auditorium, and she tried to pull away.

"Get your hands off me!"

"Not this time. It's time you see the truth. You're coming with me."

She struggled, and screamed when she saw him pull a needle out of his jacket. Then everything went dark.

She came to as she was being carried, bridal style, down a long hallway. It was terribly cool, almost like she was underground. She started struggling in earnest when the hand around her torso drifted up and started fondling her breasts.

"Get your damn hands off me, you sick bastard."

"Fight me all you want, Rowan. I'm doing you a favor. You'll understand that soon enough. Then you'll be glad to give yourself to me."

She bucked, trying to loosen his hold, but his grip just tightened, and the hand on her breast squeezed painfully in warning.

"I don't want to hurt you, Rowan, but I will if you force me to. It's time you see the truth for yourself."

Rowan just looked at him. How had no one seen just how unstable he was? How had he managed to fool everyone for so long? She'd thought he was a little "off", and definitely obsessive, but kidnapping? He'd lost his mind completely, especially if he thought she would go along with any of this.

"Where are you taking me?"

"I'm going to show you the truth. Your life has been in great danger, every moment you were away from me. There are creatures that live among us. Creatures so evil, they must be hunted down and destroyed. They feed off humans. They are an abomination, a plague. And they walk among humans with most too stupid to notice the wolves in their very midst.

Our cause is noble. We were chosen to rid the world of this pestilence. They are not people, Rowan. They are damned. Soulless demons from the very depths of hell. We destroy them, where ever they gather. "

Rowan listened to his almost messianic ramblings with growing horror. She had some idea now of what he meant, and if she was right, she had to get away before he could use her to get to Josef. How he'd found out, she didn't know, and didn't particularly care, but she was growing more and more certain that he knew what Josef was, and that he would kill him. She couldn't let that happen.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see. We will dispatch these creatures as my brothers have done in Europe. We will rid the world of these demons. Starting with the monster that has you brainwashed and confused."

Oh God, was he saying the Josef was here? That he'd captured Josef? How was that possible? What about Mary and—

"Where's my son, Taylor?"

"Your son is safe, for now. How long he remains so depends on you."

"What the hell have you done?"

"The boy is my prisoner. Once this is over, he will go back where he belongs. I have already contacted his grandmother, and she will take him back with her. He will not interfere with us any longer."

Rowan ignored the hands squeezing so tightly as she bucked and struggled and kicked, trying to get free. There was no chance she would let this lunatic take her son away from her. It would not happen. Michael squeezed tighter, and she knew she would have bone deep bruises when this was over, but she didn't care.

"Stop fighting me, Rowan!"

"NO!"

He was finally forced to release her legs as she started to kick wildly, and as soon as he did, she lashed out. He managed to get her arms pinned behind her as he forced her to keep walking down the hallway, until they came to a stop in front of a large metal door. He struggled to get it open while keeping her with him, but finally succeed and shoved her in, turning on the light behind them. What she saw made her want to vomit.

"Look at him, Rowan. Take a good look at the monster you've been living with."

"Ro—" Josef barely managed to choke out her name before he pulled even harder against his restraints. The man had Rowan! His Rowan! For daring to put a hand on her, Josef would make sure to tear him limb from limb!

"Josef? What the hell have you done to him?"

"You needed to see what he is. He's not human, Rowan. He's evil. He's a monster, and he would have killed you, and your son. But I will save you from him. I will destroy this one, and then we will destroy his fellow demons, and make our world pure again. And he will tell me where to find them."

"You're insane."

Michael ignored that statement as he locked his gaze on Josef. Now, now that he had Rowan with him, the monster would tell him where to find the others. He would give his brothers all the vital information they needed to strike hard, and quickly. Thanks to his efforts, the entire city would be cleansed. They would continue their holy purpose, moving throughout the country, until all the evil ones were no more.

"Tell me, blood drinker. Tell me where to find your cohorts."

"I'll rip you apart!"

"Look at him, Rowan. See him for what he is. Look at the eyes, the fangs. Proof that he is a demon sent from Hell to tempt and destroy us all."

"If you so much as touch her, I'll—"

"I would never harm her. But you, you would kill her without a second thought, wouldn't you? That has been your plan all along, has it not?"

"You're the monster."

Rowan managed to pull herself free of Michael and backed as far away as possible. There was no sanity left in his eyes. He firmly believed in what he was doing, which made him even more dangerous. What had he done to Josef? And where was her son? If Veronica was here….

"I can see that you need some time to understand, Rowan. I'll give you the time you need to think it over, to see for yourself just what he is. But you should know, he was going to kill your son. He had the boy in his arms when we caught him."

"Lies!"

"Who are you going to believe Rowan? Me, or the demon?"

"Him."

She could see that her answer angered him. His eyes narrowed and his lips thinned, and he looked as though he would come after her. She would be ready for him if he did.

"He still has you under his control. You'll see soon enough."

He slammed the door shut behind him, turning the lights out with him and plunging Rowan back into darkness with Josef. She kept the wall behind her as she tried to make her way over to him. She had to get him out of there.

"Don't! Don't come near me!"

"Josef?"

"I mean it, Ro. I need blood. If you get too close, I wouldn't be able to stop."

"I can help you."

"No!"

She stopped moving when she heard him struggling against the chair. She'd seen so much blood, on his body and on the floor. She had to get him free somehow, but if he was going to fight it, well, she wouldn't do anything that would cause more blood loss for him.

"What can I do, Josef?"

"Just—just stay away from me. I can't—if I killed you—"

"Alright."

She sank cautiously down to the floor where she was, and she could hear Josef's struggles ease, until he was quiet himself.

"How did they get you?"

"He's a professor at Hearst. I'm so sorry, Josef. He's been—he's the one who was stalking me at the party the night we met. He threatened Cole yesterday, and I didn't say anything. It's my fault you're here right now. "

"No, Rowan. It's—listen to me. We're being hunted, by a group that came over from Europe. That's what last nights meeting was about. He must be working with them. You have to get out of here before he comes back."

"As if I'd leave you, even if there was a way out."

"You'll have to. He has your son."

"I know he does."

Mick pushed his freezer door open and sat up, stretching as he looked at the clock. Four pm. Just enough time to get dressed and feed before he went over to Josef's. He would have to swing by and pick up Beth, but he had plenty of time for that. They wanted the women together, where Josef had high level security, while they went after these Hunters. They weren't willing to take any risks, no matter the tension between the two human women.

Mick had tried to get Beth to tell him what they'd talked about last night that had Rowan near tears, and Beth pissed off. She'd refused to tell him. It was unlike either of them, and he knew something had to be wrong. Someone had said something, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it would be.

He quickly climbed out of the freezer and slipped into his robe, then padded into his bedroom. As he slipped into his jeans, he noticed that his phone was blinking at him. He had a voicemail. He put the phone on loudspeaker so that he could listen to the message as he shrugged into his shirt and started buttoning it.

"Oh, God, Mick, something happened at Josef's. Someone was murdered."

He didn't even finish the message before he called Beth's phone as he ran for the door, hopping into his shoes on the way.