Thank you to everyone that still followed this, much love and greatly appreciated! I've been through a tough year and after a lot of self dicovery, I found my love of writing again. I hope I can hold onto my muse for a while! I have another chapter after this that I'm checking, I'm also fixing posted chapters. I never realized how many mistakes were in this (or I did but never posted the chapters I'd updated so I will be fixing them over the next few days.) For now, Chapter 19, enjoy.

(Sammy's POV)

I gasp, feeling the fingers tighten around my throat again. Jacob had gone mad, a crazed look in his eyes and a smile too wide to be humanly possible.

"Jac…ob" I gasp out, feeling spots dance before my eyes

"Where's the book Sammy?!" he pants, sweat pours down his face like he's fighting himself "She needs it! So I need it!"

"You'll… never… get… it…" I barely spit out, already accepting my fate. Everyone was gone. My friends were gone, my family was gone and I was all alone in this town. I shut my eyes, my head falling back.

Thunk!

I fall back against the wall, feeling a heavy weight on my body before it's pulled off. I feel my head fall forwards as a set of hands grasps my face.

"Samantha, breathe!" A male voice snaps, shaking me. The metal baseball bat hits the ground with a clang.

I gasp, forcing air into my lungs and cough, hacking broken bits of air and gasps into the ground. I glance up, expecting to see Jackson and stop when I see grey faded hair and a brown blazer, the familiar smile on his face. I lie on the ground, struggling to breathe as I take in the fading image of our old history teacher.

Mr. Smith?

"Drink" he states, handing me a cup of hot chocolate "It will help with the shock."

Mr. Smith had carried me out of the alley, too his car and drove in silence back to his house. Carrying me once again into the house before he pulls down a large medical kit from the bathroom. He checks my neck, bandaging a few scrapes and cuts on my palms and face before heading into the kitchen to take the kettle off the stove. I hear the clinking of cups and the rip of paper packages.

"How…" I find myself whispering, clearly in shock that someone else stood before me, clear and lucid, feeling the brief shine of happiness before the anger took over "HOW! HOW ARE YOU NOT EFFECTED?!" throwing the cup across the room.

The cup shatters against the wall, making a large stain in the white carpet. I feel a flash of guilt hit me, having just wreaked something that was obviously a family heirloom as most of this house seemed to be out of date, but the faded curtains didn't have a string out of place. Old trinkets littered the walls and mantels of the fireplace and the paint was remarkably intact. I guess not having children really did wonders on furniture. But, Instead of anger or any perfectly natural response for my actions Mr. Smith simply stands, walking over to the mess.

"I'm not sure." He says calmly, picking up a broken piece of the cup before throwing a towel over the mess "Maybe I left before whatever Mrs. Jones did could take effect."

"But you're still here. Why haven't you left?" I ask again, shifting in slight pain and look at him again "being one of the few people in a hoard of mindless zombies must be pretty lonely..."

"I could ask you the same thing." He chuckles, looking to the left, looking at me "It may be a mindless hoard for me but she seems to have a personal grudge against you." His head flicks to my wrists, the tender flesh already bruising "And to answer your earlier question, my family has been here for twenty generations. If I left because of this I couldn't face them when I died."

I sat there quietly, taking in his words and pursed my mouth, adjusting to the old couch "It's not Sophia causing this mess."

"Are you sure?" he says, sipping his tea "I don't want to ruffle feathers as you are one of the few people I can converse with, but what do you really know about Mrs. Jones? Or Miss Bachman (Nathalie) for that matter? All three of them travelled to this town in a time span of three months. Now Sophia rules the town with Nathalie at her side, and her caretaker, Mrs. Duepar (Daphne), is more mysterious than both of them and the only person now missing in this chaos."

My eyes narrow "Are you suggesting they planned this?"

"I'm not trying to pick a fight but look at the facts, Mrs. Johnson."

"No! I refuse to believe that the person I know, the person I love would do this."

"Even in the animal kingdom animals will send one to attract its prey and lead the weakest member of the pack into a trap." He sighs "In all my time as a teacher I have never seen a person amass so much power so quickly. It's like people themselves would just gravitate towards her." I wanted to argue with him, to give some shred of proof to defend her when he smiles, a soft knowing smile "See? Even in the midst of all this hell all you want to do is help her. To be near her once again. Am I wrong."

"…."

"I had a feeling that miss Jones was hiding something. Everything was off about her. Moving here. To one of the remotest towns in the US. Sophia is clearly rich money, city raised. Her beauty and glamour were beyond anything I've ever seen before" he sighs, moving forward to take my hands "I'm not saying she moved here to do this, but if you can save her, you should find out who she really is."

"If I can save her?" I ask annoyed, pulling my hands out of his

"Yes. I have been here for three days and all the Zombies as you so eloquently put them have left me alone. You go outside for five minutes and you get attacked" I look at him carefully "Samantha. Animals only attack something their afraid of."

I hated to admit it, but the move more I thought about it the more it made sense. The timing. People involved. This year, the disappearance of Daphne and that gnawing ball grew and grew in my stomach. Just like before logic before romance, the stupid schoolgirl was still in love with Sophia but the new broken girl, the one lying here on this couch had to face the facts. Love or no love Sophia wasn't Sophia and I had to find a way to bring her back.

(Daphne's POV)

I walked down the steps, eyeing up the blonde standing by the doorway, a folder in her hands. I could sigh. The poor thing seemed so out of place. The two large guards standing behind her weren't helping. Her face falls when she sees me, relief obvious.

"Agent Duepar."

"Please, Daphne." I smile and take the folder from her, flipping over the content of the meeting and sigh "Is everyone here?"

"Yes, Miss- Daphne. Everyone here."

I nod, tucking the folder into my arm and sigh, pulling my badge out. I flip the black leather front open. They glance at it, pausing for a brief second and step aside, pulling the door open I walk into the large meeting room. I take in the long oval table, the seven leather chairs were full, monitors lined the walls, six of them showed different parts of the world, others were hooked to satellites and the largest screen was filled with names of monsters and the agents assigned to protect them. My eyes fell on the bottom left corner of the screen, were six names had been added in black.

Every year people leave New Salem and every year we lose people. It was getting worse and worse. But how could I blame them? I'd spent two days in New Salem and I was ready to leave, I couldn't imagine the hell they endure on a daily basis. I swallow the lump in my throat and walk to the table, setting my papers before me.

Instantly I feel all eyes on me "Agent Duepar."

"Director."

"We're here to discuss your recent trip to New Salem." He flips a booklet open "A trip that resulted in the injuries of six high schoolers and a Town-wide hunt that almost got three teenage monsters killed."

"That was an unfortunate scene of events Director."

"You sent the girls to new Salem dispute the risks." Agent Clark snaps, clearly annoyed I had wandered into his territory without asking him first.

"I had assessed the risks and deemed it alright."

"We have six injured kids! You deem that alright?!"

"I have been with Sophia for nine years Agent Clark. I have taught her how to defend herself from anyone and everyone that could hurt her. I taught her to trust her judgement and stand up for the innocent. If Sophia put six people in the hospital she didn't start that fight and I will stand by her on that!" My eyes snap to him "What I would like to know is why we weren't briefed on the severity of the issue beforehand. I have seen videos, Agent Clark, so don't try to deny it." He looks away "you said you had this handled. Would the council please explain what part of rape, assault and attempted murder on a weekly basis classifies as handled?"

"Daphne, we are not required to disclose every piece of information with you." Calrk tries, turning his head up at me like I was to blame for this failure.

"Oh drop the bullshit, Ryan!" I slam my hands into the table "this had gotten out of control."

"What would you have us do Leah? We're the biggest secret in history, wrapped in a conspiracy and tucked in a paranoid story!" his fists clench tightly, his knuckles white as he forces himself to calm down "We're going up against the church and their REAL. We can't play this by the books and they know that. And I get it! Okay! I get it! I'm more pissed than anyone but going in there guns fired will only put innocent lives in danger. You know that."

I lean back angrily. As much as I hated to admit it his words held some truth.

"So what are we supposed to do? Just sit back and wait while they pick off these monsters one by one? We took this job because we understood that the real monsters weren't the ones that had claws or fangs."

The room falls in eerie silence and I sigh, taking my head in my hands. The silence cut deeper than any knife ever could. We weren't protecting anyone anymore. We were simply trying to survive the night with as many lives as possible.

"fucking hell…"

"I hate to bring up more pain but we also have the power surge to talk about. Daphne."

I sigh, standing up "I've been undercover for nine years, watching over my operative Sophia. After I found traces that the church was following us I moved us to a small town off the grid. Rock-vile (I really gave up on the name XD) seemed safe but it seems I've thrown us into a problem." I tap on my tablet, flicking my fingers up and watch as a picture comes on the screen "This is the book of souls. It was made by the devil himself, they say it's the original book of hell and the first source of magic on earth." I slide through my pictures "throughout time we have found references of the book but after the witch hunt in New Salem, the book vanished. The church theorizes that after losing so many of his people Satan pulled the book back into hell."

A skinny male steps forward "Three days ago a large power source was sent out, the ratings are off the charts" he shows up states of old missions and this one, "we think it may be the book."

"You think?"

"Unfortunately we've lost contact with every operative we've sent in, so we can only assume the same has happened for the church." I pull up a picture of the world and push a button, causing part of it to blacken "as of now we can only assume the town is lost."

The Director sighs "okay, I'm pulling rank. I want to all operatives from the surrounding area moved to a secondary location. I don't want to lose more people."

"Director, there are over three hundred people in that town. We have to do something." One agent objects.

"And what are we supposed to do about the agents inside? We're already spread out in New Salem as it is! We don't have the manpower to pull out more people." Another adds

"I can probably shut it down." I state "If I can figure out the source of the magic and have the right artifacts I could shut it down. I've done it before."

"Okay, I'll set you up with the analysts." Director Lucas sigh, sliding his hands over his papers. His face stuck in a permanent frown.

My eyes rise as the door opened, a young woman walks in, head down as she makes her way over to Agent Clark.

My eyes narrow and his widen, whatever she had whispered to him wasn't good.

"What," I state firmly

"It's a perimeter breach. A monster's left New Salem."

"Who?" I ask, not wanting to deal with yet another death so soon.

"Jackson Jekyll and Holt Hyde. The music shifter."

"Where is he heading?"

"If our calculations are correct, rock-vile."

(Jackson's POV)

I sat in my car, going into your into park inside, leaning my head back against the headrest. Despite my attempts to calm down little helped. I couldn't get the fear that someone would be sliding a sharp blade across the soft tissues of my throat any second and I couldn't get Frankie's voice out of my head.

"Jackson stop. Jackson please, that is crazy!" I feel her hand grab my arm, stopping me from entering my car.

It was modest, a light green and fairly new. Dad had it in the garage for years but never used it, I had to thank Clawd, he was the only reason I knew how to drive it. On a down note, we needed more monsters who could drive in case one of us got attacked and couldn't drive. Every time I took the wheel it was another reminder of how shitty our lives were.

"I know Frankie, but she was there for us when we needed her, now it's my turn."

"Jackson."

"Frankie, I'll be fine. Travel in this form, I won't bring attention to myself I swear" I sigh, placing a kiss on her knuckles

"Jackson, it's not the others I'm worried about. The church knows everything about us; you seriously think they won't recognize you in human form?" I could feel her fingers tightening on my jacket in fear.

"Frankie, I have to try…" I sigh, pulling her arms from my body and open the door.

"Jackson! People who leave this town never come back!" She exclaims, clearly frustrated with me. Yet despite her obvious anger, I could tell she was doing her best not to blow up in my face, a fact I was thankful for "Our charms only protect us in the town Jackson. If you leave, you'll be at their mercy and we can't help you…"

"Look around Frankie" I sigh "The guys are getting beaten up every day. Kids are getting pulled off the streets by their parents. Every night it's another horror story as we pray it's not us. You girls can't even walk to the bathroom by yourselves, inside the school! What part of that sounds safe?! We live under their proverbial boot for far too long with nothing to do but accept it. Sophia, Sammy and Nathalie are the only people that have ever stood up for us and they need our help!" This time it was my turn to calm down; Frankie's shocked face, my hands gripped tightly around her wrist. "The truth is I'm terrified, Frankie." I take her hands in mine, gently kissing any bruises I may have caused. "But how could I call myself her friend if I do nothing." I brush my hand through her soft hair "How could I call myself your man."

I brush a stray tear from her face and kiss her tenderly

"Come back to me."

"Always."

I jump three feet in the air when a sound echoes on my window. My head snaps up and I see Sammy standing outside, her knuckles rapping on the glass "Are you coming in or not? Because I'm not standing out here any longer. I've been calling you for five minutes."

I pull my keys from the ignition and open the door, ducking under the roof of the car as I step out and I find myself standing centimetres from her face. I'm not sure what it was but I suddenly found myself leaning forward and taking her lips in mine. Her sound of shock is understandable, thankfully instead of punching me her raised hand only wraps around my head pulling me closer to her. I wrap my arms under her legs and pick her up, placing the smaller female against the door of my car and simply kiss her. Focusing on the feel of her soft lips on mine and her tongue as it wrestles against mine. Her moan of pleasure only encourages me, my hands kneading small circles on her butt and I only pull back when I feel a few tears roll down my cheeks, Sammy littles out a shuttered gasp, placing her forehead against mine.

"Why did you do that?"

"Because your eyes were empty Sammy," I whisper "I know the feeling of holding everything inside but you can't do that… I've seen it in myself and I've seen it in Frankie. Kissing works with Frankie, it makes you feel something."

She glares at me, fully understanding me words and true to form her eyes fill with tears. She'd been pushing everything down to get things done she was now feeling nothing, I'd just knocked the damn wide open and she could do little more than ride out the pain. I look to the left with a sad smile. Leaning her head on my shoulder Sammy sobs gently. I wrap my arms around her tighter, turning to walk into the only house with lights on. My hand turn the doorknob with ease, many nights of carrying Frankie though the bedroom door and walk over to the couch, sitting on a pile of clothes. The basket was tipped over; a few pieces were lying on the floor like they'd been abandoned suddenly. I run my hands down Sammy's back as the small female lets out the pain of the last three days. The bits I'd gotten over the phone were hell, so I could only imagine what she'd been through. I could feel Holt's twinge of pain, the other male wanting to comfort her as well but I pushed him back, not wanting to scare the female with a sudden change. Thankfully my rambunctious brother listened and I was left alone again, simply burying my nose in her hair.

"Hey, let it out. I'm here now, and I'm not leaving until we fix things."

I don't know how long we sat there, Sammy sobs were heartbreaking, the sheer amount of pain in them was enough to buckle anyone's knees and it killed me that I could do little more than wipe away the tears. Though, after a while, the sobs stopped and Sammy falls silent, her chest shuttering in broken gasps as she sleeps against my chest. I stand, picking up the smaller female and walk upstairs. I'd always assumed but Sammy really was light, standing only five foot four to my five foot nine stature. And yes, I know compared to the others I looked small but Manny and Clawd stood at six foot three and six foot four. Most monsters were six foot something, a fact that Manny teased me about relentlessly. And despite my thin frame, I was fairly strong, each time I shifted with Holt the more our bodies seemed to mould together. A fact I learned after picking up a box of weights with ease, surprising everyone in the room.

Peeking my head in the first room I saw a large bed, a dresser and a spotless floor. I keep walking, finding a bathroom in the next door, admiring the smooth white porcelain a bit longer than I should have and find a second room, only a bed in this one. I get to the last door and chuckle under my breath, seeing all the 'do not enter' signs and 'danger no liquids inside' plastered all over the white wood. I turn the handle again and enter the room. This seemed like a teenagers room. Piles of books lined the wall, a messy bed, clothes on the floor and a large computer filled with gadgets. I lay Sammy on the bed, brushing a few tresses of hair out of her face and close the curtains a bit, blocking out the street light. I pull the covers around her body and turn, cracking my fingers as I walk over to her computer. I shake the mouse, watching the monitor come to life and sigh.

"Okay, let's get to work."

(Sammy's pov)

I groan. Slowly rolling over and blink, taking in my pink fluffy pillow and squint, trying to remember anything.

"How are you feeling?" A voice asks

I jump, instantly fearing I was back with HIM but I relax when pictures of his mutilated body flash before my eyes. It was almost frightening how THAT was what calmed me down.

"Sammy?" The voice asks again, this time accompanied by the sounds of keys being hit with skilled fingers.

"Um, drained," I admit softly

He hums "that's to be expected."

"What time is it?" I push myself off my bed and stumble forwards. Landing in a pile of clothes.

"Careful, Hyde's the medic here not me." He chuckles, adjusting his glasses "and it's 5:23."

"In the morning?!" I gawk

"I didn't want to wake you." Jackson admits "you looked like you needed it."

"Are you saying I look awful?" I tease

"Well, a shower would do you some good." He shoots back. I go to fire back when I catch my reflection in the mirror. He was right. I looked awful. The dark bags were lighter now but still there, my hair was stuck to my head, not being washed for four days and I had drool on my face.

I blush "foods in the fridge if you want it."

He hums again and turns back to the keyboard. I would normally have his head but Jackson was the only tech I've met that revivals me in the country so I let him work. Instead, I work on myself, stripping as I walk down the hall and into my bathroom. I blush in embarrassment as I drop my sweater, shirt and bra on the ground. I reeked! God and Jackson held me like this! I cover my face, running my hands through my hair when I turn to the mirror.

My hands' freeze, taking in the dark bruises on my wrists and neck. I swallow, lightly touching the tender flesh and think back to Jacob. My eyes widen. I had no idea what happened to him after we left the alley. I move, going to the window and pull open the curtain slightly, peaking outside. Feeling my heart catch in my throat.

He was standing there!

Or rather sitting on the bench, legs crossed and I feel a shutter as I watch him wave. His fingers slowly rolling up and down. Despite his hand, nothing else moves. He simply sits there, like he's waiting me out.

"Sammy?" Jackson asks, his hand tapping on the door.

I hide my mouth, only my left eye was seen from the curtain "Jackson, please tell me you locked the front door."

"No, why?"

Like he was reading my mind he stands. I gasp, running to the door and rip it open, running past the confused male and bolt down the stairs. My feet pounded on the wood and I stop, grabbing onto the wooden railing as my momentum tried to take me off the step. I stood there, staring face to face with Him. The front door was wide open, Jacob stood in the middle, a sick smile on his face.

"Sammy!" Jackson yells, pounding down the steps behind me and stops, looking from me to Jacob standing at the front door. "Sammy..."

I raise my hand, watching Jacob pull out a knife, step forwards, shutting the door behind him. The ball of nerves builds in my throat as his hand moves, the deadbolt sliding shut with a sick click and I find myself looking at mad eyes once again.

"Hey, Sammy. I think we should finish that talk now..."