Ok, I'm back! I know I haven't updated in weeks, but I'm so busy these days. Such is the life of a college freshman *sighs*.

And since I forgot last update: This story has gotten over 100 reviews! Thank you to everyone for reviewing, faving, or alerting! *throws gooey cookies into the air as a gift*

Chapter 19:

Dallas

He rubbed the back of his hand across his face, effectively wiping off the remnants of blood that had been smeared across his mouth. He gave the red liquid a fleeting glance before flicking his tongue out and licking it off. That was the bad thing about these massacres, they wasted perfectly good blood

Dallas stood and dusted the dirt off of his pants. In a way, he felt like his life was a circle; humanity, no humanity, humanity, no humanity. But he stopped that circle once and for all. He wasn't going back to being a tolerant brat. That wasn't what he wanted.

Glancing down at the dead body, he sighed. He pulled the guy up from the ground and slumped him up into a sitting position against the wall. He flipped his least favorite pocket knife out and slashed the guy's left wrist, then made another gash in the man's right wrist before placing the knife in his left hand. Their killings were organized, brutal, a statement, not simple feedings. In a way, it was simpler sometimes to just create a suicide-style death rather than orchestrating a mass killing.

He began walking towards the end of the alleyway, the end not letting out on Main Street. His group knew to stick to the shadows, to not let anyone see them. Sure, the police were blaming gangs for their slaughters, but if anyone saw a vampyre or a fledgling running around with red Marks rather than blue, they would freak and his group would never have peace. For them, everything was about self preservation. And revenge.

"Dallas." His name was spoken softly, but he had the same reaction as if someone had screamed at him. He whirled around and stopped in a defensive crouch. After a moment, he recognized his companion and straightened.

"Nicole." He nodded at her and turned back around. The girl quickly caught up with him, matching her strides with his own. The red fledgling eyed him before speaking.

"So, I see I'm not the only one who went out for a little late night snack." Nicole laughed at her own joke, seeing as dawn was only an hour and a half away. Dallas didn't find it funny. He shot her a look that said "shut up". The girl immediately fell silent. They had all learned quickly what happened when someone didn't follow orders.

"Why'd you come out here? You know how dangerous it gets for you guys," Dallas said. He turned his head so that his scarlet eyes met her brown ones. That was something else that set him apart. As a Changed vamp, his eyes had turned basically completely red with just a hint of his original brown behind them while his fledglings' eyes were their original colors with a slight red tint to them.

"I was hungry, so I left."

"There's food at the school."

"You know what I meant," Nicole stated flatly. Her eyes flashed red for a moment out of irritation.

"I still don't see the reasoning," Dallas said, turning his eyes back to the deserted road. They were almost back to the school where they lived. "I told you guys to stay hidden since a team was going out tomorrow night."

"And you know that what we'll do tomorrow won't feed us for long, Dallas." The two reached the school and the vampyre placed his hand to the wall next to the door. He felt the currents in the automatic lock and alarm system and manipulated them. Once the system was shut down, he opened the door and followed Nicole inside.

"We'll eat after we're done," he said as he reset the system. They kept everything locked up tight and no one knew that they lived in the basement. It was really something. So much better than the tunnels.

"And by eat, I hope you mean a real meal and not that little snack I had tonight," Nicole pouted. Dallas nodded and she grinned.

"Plus, don't forget that by the end of the week…" Dallas paused for dramatic effect. "We'll have full reign over this city!" Nicole began to laugh and he joined her.

Zoey

Eventually, Aphrodite stopped thrashing around and fell unconscious. I honestly felt bad for her. Ever since she became human, her visions were getting worse and worse. I wasn't sure how much more of this she could take.

We were sitting around the kitchen talking and strategizing for a few hours. Fledglings came in and out to get food or ask us questions. Most were about homework, so we sent Damien off to do some tutoring rounds. As for the rest, some we could answer, some we couldn't.

"When will it be safe to leave again?" ShannonCompton asked at one point. I sighed and shrugged.

"As soon as we get this whole thing resolved," Stevie Rae said with a reassuring, yet strained smile. The red fledgling left the room.

Soon after ShannonCompton left, a soft groan erupted from Aphrodite. We all glanced at each other before crowding around the human girl.

"Can someone get me a freakin' wet rag? My head hurts and I can't see a dang thing!" were the first words out of Aphrodite's mouth. I shook my head while Stevie Rae soaked and wrang out a rag. Of course, the girl has a vision and complains before spilling the beans. Classic Aphrodite.

"So, what'd you see this time?" I asked her. I hoped that her vision was pretty straight forward; I was getting tired of translating cryptic prophecies.

Aphrodite sighed. "Oh, I'm fine Zoey, thanks for asking!" Her voice was laced with sarcasm. I just remained quiet and stood my ground. She sighed again before speaking. "It was Dallas and one of his kids, Natalie, Natasha…"

"Nicole?" Rephaim suggested. Aphrodite nodded.

"Yeah, her. So anyway, I only saw a few hours ahead from now, I think. It wasn't much really, they were just talking mainly. But it's what they were talking about that was disturbing."

"Ok, hag, what'd they say?" Erin asked. I shot her a glare for the "hag" comment, but she ignored me.

"Yeah, girl, spill," Shaunee ordered, arms crossed.

"They were talking about the attacks," Aphrodite said.

"Well, that confirms that suspiscion," Stark mumbled. I elbowed his ribs.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" I exclaimed. He grinned.

"Anyway," Aphrodite started again. We shut up and listened. "I don't know specific details about how they do it, or why, but I do know how long they're planning on continuing this…monstrosity."

"And how long is that?" Rephaim asked.

"Dallas said that they'd have control of the city by the end of the week."

"I sense an ulterior motive other than just travestying us," Damien said, scratching his chin.

"English, Damien," Stark said, just as confused as the rest of us.

"Travestying means mocking," Damien explained with a sigh. " You people really should study up on your vocabulary more."

"Can we get back on topic please?" I asked. Everyone fell silent again. "This situation just got more drastic. We have no choice now."

"No choice against what, Z?" Stevie Rae asked.

"Against fighting back. We have to take the fight to them. Tomorrow."

So, we're nearing the end of this story. I think there will only be a few more chapters, but not sure exactly how many. I don't really plan out stories, I write what comes to me.

Also, I'm thinking about writing character background stories after my other stories are done. I put a poll on my profile so you guys can vote on which character you want to see done first. I want your opinions, I like hearing what you guys think! The poll is currently open and will be open through Halloween. I'll close the poll on November 1st, so that gives you over a month to vote. Only one vote per person.

Speaking of opinions...review please!