Okay, seriously, thanks guys. Those reviews pretty much brought this fic back from the grave… I think I may actually get to Huntress V.

Replies to reviews:

Guest – Keep in mind that she's only 12 and her entire world has changed. She's the type of person who is more negative. Glass half empty and all that. But I do agree; she's a bit selfish. I have a love-hate relationship with her. Thanks for the review :)

Im EunJung – She will. I have something pretty cool planned for her. But not yet. I think it would be a bit weird if she discovered her soulmate at 12 years old. Thanks for the review :)

I don't own Night World.

Chapter 10

I got halfway down the road before I stopped and looked back.

Was I actually doing this? Was I so unsure of how much dad loved me that I would skip out, without telling anyone? I was pretty sure mum couldn't love me anymore (not after I told her that I hated her) but dad wouldn't be the same?

I shook my head and dug my hands into my pockets, wrapping my hands tight around my iPod. I wasn't sure how long the battery would last, but there was no way I could have left it.

The thing was, dad wasn't the same. He had been disconnected before, and now he was so quick to everything, as if his emotions were close to the surface. For a few weeks he'd walked around in that happy cloud, but now that we… no, they, were resuming pretty normal lives, he just seemed more volatile. I touched my shoulder and bit my lip, swallowing down the lump in my throat that threatened to choke me with tears. He had hurt me. Not much; the pain was completely gone now, but what about the next time?

Stupid, he didn't mean to. You said you hated her. Go back. Go back.

No.

I set my jaw, my gaze steady on the house. Nothing of it seemed out of the ordinary. It was any house in the outskirts with Vegas. Maybe if I went back now it would all have been some sort of bizarre dream; mum wasn't back. She'd died just as she should have.

"He was completely broken without her." Raven's words ran through my head and I sighed slightly. Maybe he was happier with her. So maybe I should just get out of the way.

No looking back, Adenah, I thought to myself. It's you and you alone.

…nw…nw…nw…

"So are you feeling better?" Morgead asked.

Jez narrowed her eyes slightly. "Just let it go." But she stayed on the bed, her arms still wrapped tightly around her legs. Morgead sighed and kissed the top of her head.

"She'll talk to you soon. Just… let her stay in there for a little bit more. Maybe she'll feel a bit guilty."

"I don't want her to feel guilty. It's a perfectly natural reaction–"

"How, exactly?"

"–and I don't blame her," she continued, ignoring him. Turning away, she bit her lip. It was true, she didn't blame Adenah. After weeks of carrying it around with her, it was bound to come out at some point. But did it have to be me? The thought was childish, but comforting, somehow.

"If only you could have stayed," Morgead said wistfully.

She looked at him. He was still hurting. Even though she was back, the remembrances of what he'd been through were still in his eyes. No matter what she did, that pain would always be there, because she would never be how she was before. She would never be as strong, as powerful. The way he treated her was fundamentally different; he held her as if she would break.

Sometimes she felt like she might.

She let her arms drop and stretched her legs out in front of her. "If she wants to talk to me," she started.

Morgead frowned. "I don't care whether she wants to or not. She has to."

"She shouldn't have to do anything."

He swore under his breath and glowered at her. "Yes she should. She's twelve. She needs boundaries."

"Since when did we know anything about boundaries? What would you have been doing at her age?"

He smiled ruefully. "Staying the hell away from my mother."

She was slightly surprised, but gave a short laugh. "Exactly."

"But she's more like you."

"I don't know about that."

"She's stubborn."

Jez crossed her arms. "So are you."

"Hot-headed," he added.

"I'm not hot-headed," Jez retorted, getting ready to hit him (gently, though), until she saw the smile playing around his lips and she couldn't help grinning back.

"Feeling better now?" he asked, pushing her hair back over her shoulder. His fingers brushed lightly over her neck and she shivered before leaning forwards and kissing him.

Of course. He always knew exactly what to do.

…nw..nw…nw…

She went downstairs when she started feeling hungry and looked blankly through the cupboards. Human food was just so boring. She sighed to herself before getting the ingredients together for some sort of salad. It was times like this that it was most difficult to resist the lure of human blood. Her vampire nature was gently pushing at her to just find one person. No need to even kill. And anyway, some humans deserved it.

She shook her head, trying to focus on something other than the dull ache in her incisors. No human deserved it. Anyway, logically she should kill herself if that were the case. She had killed and hurt so many humans over the years; whether they had been what the gang deemed 'innocent' or not.

Tapping her fingers on the wood of the counter, her gaze fell on the cat.

The story had been quite amusing. Morgead had told her that when Adenah was nine she'd brought the wounded kitten home and looked after it on the sly, hiding it in her closet and letting it out if ever the rest of the guys from Circle Daybreak forced him to go on some kind of outing to lift his morale and such. Until the one time when she didn't realise the cat had gotten out and was lying contentedly on his bed, purring like some kind of machine. However many times Morgead had tried to keep it out it kept on coming back, until he gave up.

Jez crouched next to the cat and stroked the soft fur on his head. She'd never liked animals much in general, but Adenah seemed to. Morgead had mentioned in passing at one point that Adenah could ride horses and had asked on several occasions if they could get a dog. Not to mention her musical skill. She'd been in a state of shock when she'd heard Adenah playing guitar.

Her heart was filled with so much pride for the wonderful person Adenah obviously was (when she wasn't terrified about her future) that tears started obscuring her vision. She sighed and shook her head. She loved Adenah, as powerfully as she loved Morgead. She'd been the first one to hold Adenah, the first one to love her and to know that she was there. And she would be damned if she didn't try her hardest to get the relationship back to how it was when Adenah had been a toddler.

She straightened and distractedly picked through the salad. Starting small was always good. She could ask what she wanted for dinner and hope that she didn't answer with some sarcastic remark.

"It's show time," she muttered, looking down at where the cat was rubbing against her legs.

But she froze when she opened the door to Adenah's room and she wasn't there. She started to back out – being found in her room when she wasn't there wouldn't make their relationship any sweeter.

But at that moment, a car passed by, headlights on, and the slight illumination of the room let Jez see what was on the bed and she was struck by the familiarity. She stepped forwards slowly, feeling as if she were in a dream and picked up the leather jacket. Adenah had taken it? She ran her fingers over the bullet hole.

This was familiar. Too familiar. She had left the jacket behind all those years ago when she'd left the gang, and now… Adenah wasn't here.

The panic that shot through her had Morgead at the door in seconds. "What's wrong?" he asked. But then he tensed. His eyes narrowed and he swore under his breath before going to the window and opening it.

"She's gone," Jez said weakly, clutching onto the jacket as if it were a life-line. Even the familiar feel of the leather wasn't enough to stop her from settling back against the wall, her hand covering her face. "This is my fault."

"Jez…" he shook his head. "Don't even. I'm calling Thierry. She goes there a lot anyway." He left the room and started down the stairs.

Jez sank down to the floor, still holding the jacket. As well as everything else, she felt powerless. What could she do?

After collecting herself a bit more she stood up and brushed off her jeans. If anything, she could go with Morgead to see whether Adenah was at Thierry's mansion and just hadn't felt up to saying that she was going. Following Morgead's voice, she found him in the kitchen, tensely gripping the wooden countertop. He caught Jez's eye and shook his head slightly before hanging up the phone.

"Nothing," he said. "He's getting a few agents out to look for her. I'm going to call Raven and Val."

Jez nodded and looked out of the window. They had no idea even which direction she'd gone in.

There was no luck with Raven and Val. Morgead put the phone down, shaking his head, then looked up sharply. Jez followed his gaze and her breath caught in her throat. Werewolves. Some kind of ambush attack, there were four of them.

How did they find us? Jez asked herself, but there was no way she could think about it too much. It had been a long time since she'd fought properly, but she was surprised by how easily her body was flowing from one movement to the next, as if she were still a vampire hunter. Everything seemed clearer, as if she'd woken up from a long sleep. She noticed everything; the moves the werewolves were about to make, Morgead's familiar fighting style next to her, the slight ache in muscles that proved that she was truly alive. She flashed a smile to the werewolf when he bared his teeth at her.

But then someone else rounded the corner and she faltered slightly. Obviously a vampire – his fangs were out – and he had Adenah in front of him, a hand at her throat.

…nw…nw…nw…

It got easier the further away I got from the house. I didn't really know where I was going; probably somewhere in the desert where I could hunt easily. I still couldn't help shooting looks over my shoulder. Had they realised I was gone? Now had they realised?

I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead. What now? I was twelve years old. I had no money, and unless I drank human blood and learnt very quickly how to influence people I had no way of getting any.

Maybe you should turn back and try again.

No. That was the last thing I could do. I could handle being on my own.

Funny how I was thinking that when it happened.

"Adenah Blackthorn."

I looked up in shock at my name. The man standing in front of me had a slight silvery sheen to his eyes which suggested he was a vampire. I stopped and shifted backwards. I hadn't been taught how to fight, but I was a fast runner.

"What are you doing here on your own?" he said, a slight macabre glee to his voice.

It could just be my imagination. Maybe I just didn't recognise him and he was an old friend of mum and dad's or something.

Still…

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said, turning to dart over to the other side of the road. He followed me easily, which set up warning alarm bells in my head.

"Oh no, no need for that. I just need a way to talk to your mother."

"My mother's dead," I said automatically, bluntly.

He frowned. "I know she isn't." His hand reached out and he tried to grab hold of my arm, but I was just about able to dodge out of his way. His eyes narrowed and he jumped forwards, closer to me and managed to get a pincer-like grip on my shoulder. I let out a much too girlie screech and jumped away. Thankfully the leather of my coat was slippery so I slid out quite easily and kicked back with one foot, congratulating myself silently when it connected with heavy bone and the vampire grunted, but I didn't waste time, setting off at a sprint the only place I really wanted to be.

Home.

I managed to out-run him for a couple of blocks – he couldn't really grab me on the busier streets anyway – but then as I turned onto my road he jumped and caught my shoulders. I fell onto the ground, just about breaking the fall with my hands and arms, but as I was distracted he put his hand around my neck, tight enough that it was slightly uncomfortable to breathe.

"Let me go," I said, trying to sound firm and commanding, but my panic shone through. He dodged the backward kicks I tried to administer.

"You can go now," he suddenly said and I paused for a minute, confused, until four people ran past right in the direction of my house.

"No!" I started shouting, but the vampire put his hand roughly over my mouth. "Let me go!" I shouted into his palm, but it was muffled. We were far enough away that mum and dad never would hear.

"We just need to find out more about your mother," he said in a gentle voice. Deceptively gentle. "Not many people have returned from the dead."

"She doesn't know how," I mumbled into his palm. "None of us do."

"She must have an idea."

"No she doesn't," I said, accompanying it with an extra struggle to break out of his grip. There was a low rumble in his chest as he growled and pushed me forwards, closer to the house.

I saw mum and dad fighting (I hadn't realised how good they actually were) but mum froze when she saw me. She shook her head slightly. The expression in her eyes froze me in place and everything from before just seemed so petty and stupid. Sure, she wasn't exactly the same as people had always said, but it had been almost ten years that she was stuck in an actual dungeon. But I supposed one thing hadn't changed; she still loved me. I was still her daughter.

The relief that washed through me was so… calming. I knew my parents were good fighters.

But my heart froze to a shard of ice when the vampire shifted his hand so that it was slightly difficult for me to breathe. "Stop fighting, or I'll break her neck."

I couldn't help the tremble that ran through me and both mum and dad stopped. "Just let her go," dad said. "She's not a part of this." His voice was tense.

"It's the easiest way to make you talk," the vampire said bluntly. "Now I want to know how you managed to come back to life."

I expected mum to flinch, back away slightly and look to dad for reassurance, but instead she stepped forward. "Let go of her," she said firmly. Her eyes flashed silver. "Unless you have a death wish."

A slight panicked expression crossed dad's face and he caught hold of her wrist, yanking her backwards a couple of steps. "Let go of me," she muttered to him, shooting a glare in his direction. He just shook his head.

"How did you manage to come back to life, Jezebel? Right now, you should be dead."

Mum crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "I don't know," she answered stiffly. "Now let my daughter go." Her voice wasn't loud, but from the uncomfortable shifting of the vampire I could tell he was worried. There was something dangerous in her tone, almost as if something powerful was speaking through her.

The vampire gave a hiss and tightened his grip on my neck. My struggling and kicking out did nothing but distract me from what was happening around me, and before I had put my focus back on mum the world was enveloped in blue. I yelped as the vampire vanished from behind me and collapsed onto my knees. It was… unlike anything I'd ever experienced. Mixtures of flames jumping wildly and electricity arcing, but none of it touched me. I could do nothing but tremble and try to hold on, somehow. It made me feel as if I was about to go floating off.

And then all of it disappeared quickly. Dad was the first one I saw, and soon after I saw mum with wide eyes, staring at me. "Adenah!" she said in obvious relief. She ran forwards and ducked down next to me but made no move to touch me. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to be so powerful."

I blinked at her. "You're still a Wild Power? I thought…" I trailed off and mum shrugged.

"Maybe it comes back when I really need it."

I bit my lip and took deep breaths, trying to calm the frantic beating of my heart. "Mum…" I said. I looked away, though I could still feel her watching me steadily. "I'm sorry," I said in a small voice. "I've… I've been such an idiot."

"Of course you haven't," mum said. She touched my shoulder gently. "Anyone would have reacted the same."

"You can forgive me, then?" I hunched my shoulders. "For everything?"

She smiled at me. "There's nothing to forgive, Adenah."

My eyes started prickling and I moved forwards to lean my head on her shoulder. She hugged my tightly and stroked my hair, rocking me as if I was still a little child. It was comforting, and familiar somehow. A part of me remembered what it was before.

Dad came to sit with us after a few quiet moments. I didn't think it would be easy, adjusting to all these changes, but at least now I knew that having an actual family was worth it.

So the ending came a bit quicker than I had expected. But, anyway, Huntress IV will be around soon enough, I think. I think I'm going to plan for it, though. The reason Huntress III took so long was because I pretty much made it up as I went along. Whoops…

Thank you so much for reading.

~Jynxiii xxx