Longest chapter yet I'm afraid! Again, nowhere to split it in the middle. Hope that everyone enjoys it.

Chapter 21

Another few days passed. Everyone was very cautious if they needed to leave the house at all, spying out the surrounding area before they went outside, looking up and down the street. Zoe didn't go out on her own at all, both Hal and Tom had forbidden it and she certainly had no wish to argue with them.

Every shift that she worked one of them marched her down to the beach hut and then sat at one of the tables nearby until it was time to walk her home again. Alex, left in charge at Honolulu Heights was under strict orders to rentaghost down to either the beach hut or the café if any unsavoury types tried to make an univited entrance again.

But nothing happened. A full week had dragged by since Connor and his team had attacked the house and there hadn't been sight nor sound of anything out of the ordinary. Zoe had a day off at last – both Hal and Tom had gone to work, leaving the girls in the house. Alex was snooping about up in the attic, there were piles of boxes and suitcases up there – she'd been itching to have a good old rummage since she moved in. Zoe had been up there as well but had come down to make a cup of tea, it was while she was waiting for the kettle to boil that the doorbell rang.

She jumped, her heart beginning to pound in her chest, and crept towards the kitchen door where she could see down the hall. In an instant everything changed. The outline of the person leaning up against the glass was unmistakable to her, the dear voice calling gently "Hey, people!" was instantly recognisable. She flew down the corridor, tore open the inner door, then the outer one and flung her arms around Danny.

He held her so tightly in return, squashing her against himself, burying his face in her hair. He was mumbling, stammering – he didn't know what he was saying, incomprehensible words just came tumbling out.

Zoe could feel tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes – she turned her face into her brother's chest, he loosened his grip on her a little and for a long few minutes they just stood in silence with their arms around each other.

"I didn't realise how much I'd missed you, Zo," said Danny eventually, releasing her from his bear hug and holding her away from himself. "How have you been? I didn't even know if you'd still be here."

His sister smiled, wiping her face with the palms of her hands.

"Yeah, I'm still here. So much has happened since you went, I don't know where to begin." She paused and squeezed the tops of his muscled arms. "You're looking good though."

Danny laughed.

"Well, I think this life agrees with me," he chuckled, then added soberly, "I mean all the outdoors stuff, the walking cross country and that kind of stuff. Not the…you know…the rest of it."

The killing you mean, thought Zoe but was interrupted as Alex suddenly rentaghosted in beside them, making both of the twins jump. Then Danny was hugging the ghost as well, and Alex was laughing – suddenly he realised that Zoe could see the ghost – flabberghasted, his expression made the girls' laugh even more.

Eventually they made their way into the sitting room and spread themselves over the sofas – the forgotten cup of tea was remade, two cups now and Danny began to fill them in on what had happened to him since he last saw them.

"Well, we crossed the Channel," he began, "we went on the ferry, Jack likes it better than the tunnel, and we hung around in Paris for a bit. That's such a cool city!" His face was animated, his eyes sparkling and he waved his arms around excitedly as he spoke. Zoe laughed and he grinned back, his old, natural, friendly smile. She hadn't seen that for a while.

"We did all the tourist stuff," he went on. "The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame – guess what? Jack says that the story of the Hunchback of Notre Dame is based on a real vampire who lived in the bell tower!"

"No way!" "Never!" Alex and Zoe were both amazed.

"You're kidding us, sugar," added the ghost.

"Nope!" Danny had a cheeky, triumphant look on his face and his eyes were twinkling. "And Esmeralda was a real girl who fell in love with him, except really he wasn't a hunchback – a bit like Richard the Third – and they lived in the bell tower until she died and then he was heartbroken, he was old too and he'd had enough so he got someone to stake him!"

He finished excitedly, chuffed with both his slightly muddled re-telling of the story and the impressed look on his audience's faces'.

"So anyway…" he continued.

"Wait!" His sister interrupted. She looked across at Alex, who raised her eyebrows. Zoe could feel her heart thumping again, the sound of it was banging in her ears – suddenly she felt hot and shaky and full of apprehension. "Just wait a minute."

Danny looked at her quizzically.

"Did you send me a parcel?" she blurted out.

"Parcel?" he pursed his lips. "No, I wrote to you – did you get it? It was just a letter."

The girls' looked at each other.

"You didn't send me a parcel then?" continued Zoe. She swallowed, her voice stuck in her throat. " With…with…a photoframe in?"

"No." Danny was looking at her intently. "No, I didn't. Why?"

His sister shook her head, unable to speak. In her mind's eye she was back upstairs a few weeks ago, looking down at her friend lying sick and unmoving in a rumpled, sweat soaked bed, fighting for his life.

"Someone tried to curse us," said Alex, succinctly, and straight to the point. "They addressed a parcel to Zoe and inside was a present that they'd taped a curse on to."

Silence. Danny looked from one to the other of them, his mind having trouble taking in what had just been said.

"Were you – cursed?" he took hold of his sister's hand. She shook her head again.

"No." her voice was a whisper. "But Hal was."

"Is he…" the boy couldn't finish his question.

"No." Alex spoke firmly. "Because those of us with the sense to see that curses are all in the mind managed to prove to him that he was acting like an idiot. He's fine now."

"Thank God!" said Danny fervently, and both of the girls knew that his relief was genuine. He hadn't been involved with whoever had sent that parcel. Zoe put her arms around her brother. He looked down at her, worried, then across at the ghost.

"I think that you'd better tell me what I've been missing out on," he said soberly.

It was a good length of time before the girls' had filled Danny in completely on everything that had happened since he'd left. He was amazed, sickened and admiring in equal measures, especially when he learnt of how Alex had defended the house completely on her own.

"Seriously impressive," he acknowledged, looking at the ghost with a new respect. "Remind me never to cross you."

His friend looked smug.

"And you," he turned to Zoe. As soon as the front door had opened earlier and she'd thrown herself on top of him there had been something about her that he just couldn't put his finger on. He'd thought that it was just the fact that he hadn't seen her in a while that had diminished his desire to harm her, but he realised now that it was something else. She smelled different, she had some sort of aura around her – intangible, elusive and yet very, very strong. She returned his gaze steadily.

"I'm not sorry that it's happened," she told him. "Not if it means things are easier between us. Plus I can see Alex now too."

Danny pulled her into a hug.

"I'm not sorry either," he smiled. "I mean, I'm sorry about Hal being ill and all that, but… you know."

Alex stood up and headed for the kitchen.

"Another cup of tea?" she called back.

"Yes please," the twins spoke together, paused, then laughed. But after a minute or two of sitting quietly Danny had a concerned look on his face again.

"You said that they were after you though," he whispered. He wasn't sure why he was whispering, he just felt that 'they' included all vampires, therefore him, and he didn't really want Alex to hear him talking. It made him feel guilty.

Zoe nodded slowly, her dark eyes turned towards to him.

"I don't know why they think I can give them power though. I mean, I'm just a puny little human. Why me?" She ended on a slight wobble and had to look away.

Her brother squeezed her hand gently.

"Don't worry, Jack and I are back in the country now. He's looking for some friends' of his – I'm probably going to stay with him for a while longer." He paused, looking at his sister caringly. "I just came by to let you know that everything's alright. But I will be back, you know, it won't be for ever."

Zoe nodded. Hearing him speak about leaving again was almost as bad as the first time it had happened. She could feel herself welling up.

"Maybe you'd even be alright hanging out with me for a while," he added, hopefully. "Now that you're protected. Perhaps Hal would let us, I dunno, go down to the shops or something. Jack said that we'll be around Cardiff for a while, so I'm not rushing straight off."

His sister's face lit up.

"Really? I'm sure that Hal would be alright about it. After all, Tom could always come with us or something."

Danny pulled his mouth down a little bit. He had grown out of the habit of thinking kindly of werewolves while he had been away. He nodded though.

"Of course. Tom was so good to me. Of course."

"Come on." Zoe pulled him to his feet. "Let's find Alex and see if that tea's ready."

As they strolled towards the kitchen however another thought crossed her mind.

"Your letter, though, the one that you sent to me," she stopped, just inside the kitchen door. Alex looked up as they entered. "It was stuck to the parcel. It was definitely your letter and it was definitely stuck to that parcel."

Danny was silent, his mind turning over, thinking back.

"I posted it at Dover – wait." Suddenly his expression changed, sharpened. His eyes were intent, almost afraid, as he looked at his sister. If his heart was still beating it would have begun to race. He could feel fear creeping up on him, his spine felt as if it was made of ice. "No – no, I didn't."

His face looked awful, grey – he was trying to get the words out.

"I gave it to Jack," he whispered. "I gave it to him to post. He said, he said that he had other things to send, he said…" his voice trailed off.

All three of them stood appalled, looking at each other. Even Alex was lost for words. Eventually she stammered out:- "Those friends' that Jack said he's visiting…"

Danny shook his head. "I don't know," he whispered.

"We need Hal," said Zoe softly, trying to be brave but feeling as if her stomach had sunk down through her feet and into the floor. "We need him now."

But it was too late. A crash was heard from upstairs and instantly Alex had rentaghosted away. Half a heartbeat later the back door smashed back on it's hinges, crashing into the wall as Jack appeared from nowhere and motioned for Connor to follow him into the house. Connor grabbed Zoe and held her tightly against himself, his hand over her mouth.

Danny moved towards them, horrified, but could do nothing – his creator held his hand up, forbidding him to come closer.

Zoe was struggling, trying to free her hands. She went to bite the vampire but stopped, wondering if it would affect her bond with Hal if she drew blood. Another second and Connor swung her round towards the back door, as a new vampire appeared and fired the Taser that he was holding straight at the girl.

The pain was instantaneous, immense, tortuous. She arced back in Connor's arms, her muscles rigid, twitching and then collapsed unconscious as the vampire scooped her up and ran from the house.

Danny stumbled, almost fell – he ran after them. The last thing that Alex saw as she rentaghosted back downstairs was the boy racing from the empty kitchen. She ran to the front windows, just in time to see Connor bundle her unconscious friend into the back of a white van and drag Danny in after himself. The vehicle roared away, uphill, out of town and Alex, shaking and terrified, was left alone in Honolulu Heights.

Well, you didn't think that you'd seen the last of Danny and Jack, did you? You're about to find out what the vampires want Zoe for as well! Good luck!