WARNING WARNING! THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER! IT'S PROBABLY

THE SECOND TO LAST, BUT NOT THE LAST! DON'T KILL ME FOR THIS!

THANK YOU!

Thump

I was suddenly aware of the world around me again as I came out of my trance. Cold air blew past my face and I inhaled slowly, trying to revive my dead body. There was a tiny prick in my chest, but I had no idea what it could be. My mind caught up with my nerves and my eyes sprang open.

The lid to the coffin was gone.

The pain in my chest increased as I tried to move, so I stopped moving and let my eyes adjust to the darkness. A dark human form was standing over me, and my first instinct was to lung for the throat. Then a voice hissed, "Where is she?"

The small prick of pain increased, and I glanced down at it. A thick wooden spike was puncturing my skin. A stake. I tried to say something but couldn't. Even when I was freed from one doom I was sentenced to another. I finally saw my attacker. Two green eyes shown out of the darkness.

"Where is she!?" Daniel yelled again. I tried to move my hands towards the spike to push it away, but I couldn't.

"Who?" I tried to ask. My voice wouldn't cooperate though, so I tried again. "Who?"

Daniel seemed a little surprised, but he instantly became angry again. "Jazz. What did you do to her? Tell me where she is or I'll kill you. And this time you won't come back."

I closed my eyes. "Jasmine was the one who locked me up in this coffin. I don't know where she went or where she is." I waited for the intense pain that I assumed went with being stabbed by a stake, but it never came. Someone else was in the cave.

Suddenly Daniel yelled loudly and dropped the wooden spike. I opened my eyes and managed to sit up just in time to see him be thrown across the cave into a wall. Seven pairs of red eyes were all glaring at him. Apparently Jasmine had been busy. They surrounded Daniel in an instant. I tried to move more than I had but I was still too weak.

"What should we do with the intruder Master?" One of the new vampires said.

"Let's drink his blood!"

"No, can't you smell him? His blood would taste worse than sewer water."

"Let's just kill him for fun then."

"We should put the stake through his heart just to show him how much it would hurt."

"Or burn him alive so he knows what it's like to be caught in the sun."

Jasmine was silent as her minions argued around her. "Enough." She said, waving her hand to stop them. They froze and stared at her, waiting to hear what she had to say. "My brother is beginning to wake up, and I wish to talk to him." Disbelieving murmurs went through the others. "Leave us alone for now. You might scare him."

"Jazz?" said Daniel, slowly pushing himself upright. "Is that you?" The six other vampires melted away into the shadows, leaving the two siblings alone. Everyone seemed to have forgotten about me, and I was still too weak to attempt moving much.

"Yes Danny." She helped him up. "Welcome to my new home." Her voice sounded strange, and I realized that she was pretending to be normal. She was going to trick Daniel somehow.

He looked down. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you Jazz." His hand balled into a fist. "I was positive that Vlad was going to die in the sun. If I hadn't turned away then you would be back to normal by now. Don't worry though. I'm going to finish him off." Daniel began to turn towards me when Jasmine grabbed his arm and made him face her.

She began hypnotizing him.

"You will do everything I say." She whispered. Daniel nodded slowly. "From this day on you are my servant; a nameless ghost without feelings. You have no family, no friends, just me." I could tell that Daniel was trying to resist. His fist was shaking, and he tried to break away from her stare. Jasmine used one hand to hold his arm down and the other to hold his head still.

Finally his will broke. He opened his hand and nodded again. Jasmine stepped back, looking pleased with herself. Then she turned to face me. A wicked grin spread over her face as she said "Thank you again, uncle Vlad. Without you none of this would be possible."

The other vampires appeared again. "Thank you uncle Vlad" They said, grinning. I looked at them all, and realized with a jolt that two of them were younger than Daniel. How many families had Jasmine torn apart?

All of the vampires looked towards the entrance to the cave. I heard footsteps approaching and realized that they all heard them too. Maddie unsuspectingly walked into the cave. She had a stake in her hands, and she saw me before she saw anything else.

"Vlad-" was all that she managed to say. Suddenly the six vampires lunged themselves at her. I closed my eyes but my other senses gave me a clear enough picture of what was happening.

She screamed loudly as they fell on her, and I could hear them ripping into her with their fangs. I could smell her fear, the vampires' poison, and her blood all mixing together. Daniel never said a word, not knowing or not caring that his mother was being turned into a vampire. And Jasmine…I heard her laughter rise up above everything else. It echoed through the cave and never seemed to stop.

It wasn't Jasmine who had torn apart the lives of innocent people. It was me. I couldn't stand to listen anymore, and I wrapped my hand around something that had been dropped inside the box I was in. I hadn't cared about anyone else, and because I had started the chain of vampires it would just keep spreading and spreading whether I wanted it to or not. It was my fault…

I looked down at what I held in my hands. Now I could finally end the curse. I was going to stop the line of vampires from causing any more pain. My eyes left my hands and I took one last glance around the cave. Jasmine turned and saw me and a look of panic crossed her face. I smiled evilly at her and turned away.

Then I plunged the stake into my chest.