Shane's POV

The vampire knew we were following it.

Frank had told us that an official warning had been sent out, and that the vamps had been told not to go out by themselves, and stay close to Founder's Square, but this one had strayed a little too far into our territory, by themself. And now we had him, and he knew it.

I'd been doing raids like this for days now. Sometimes, it was just recon work; following vamps, learning how they reacted to different situations, their strengths, weaknesses. Sometimes, like this time, it was for real.

Despite the excitement from the rest of the group, I wasn't looking forward to the kill. The trouble with having a girlfriend who got herself in with the vamps is that you knew half of them, and that made it harder. Not much, but enough to take the fun out of it. To me, this wasn't fun. This was a means of getting Claire safe, getting her out of Morganville, and on her way to MIT or wherever she wants to go, and go with her. Its one thing leaving to do something, and then have to come back, it's another entirely to leave, and never have to think about this place again. That's what I wanted, for Claire.

We watched the vamp disappear down the alley, the way we let it escape from us before. It was sad that it was playing right into our hands and I almost wished I hadn't been as good at this as I was. I'd set this trap, and that would make this my responsibility.

I wouldn't lose.

The first day had been spent in a gym. Jack had made be run as fast as I could, for as long as I could, timing me. When I couldn't go any more, he attacked me. I fought him off, but only just. If he'd tried any harder, I wouldn't have been able to. This assessment of me was harsh. I mean, I'm a generally fit guy; I work out, and I've had more than my fair share of experience fighting. But that…that nearly killed me. But I was fighting for Claire- I couldn't lose.

I'd been given a small cot in the corner of one of the men's rooms. The residential part of the cell was set up almost like a hospital ward, an assortment of beds and mattresses and sleeping bags, all spaced out evenly within their box. I got an old suitcase with a lock to put my stuff in, but other than that, there was nothing. The room was damp and cold, and it reminded me way to much of the draug, but I was used to being uncomfortable- we'd lived rough a couple of times when we'd been on the run, my dad and me.

My dad. On the second day I'd gotten weird texts from an unknown number on my cell, telling me stuff about the outside world, what the vamps were doing about us, all the stuff that even Claire wouldn't know. I didn't know who it was at first, but then my dad had called me, and told me he had to speak with the Captain. I just walked straight in and chucked him the phone, and my dad had barked orders down it, saying how they were going wrong, and demanding that I be given a chance to prove myself. Then he refused to talk to anyone but me, making sure that they kept me in the loop. It was weird, trusting my dad, working with him. I wished I could tell Claire, that he was trying, but I already knew how that would go down.

"If you call your girl, I'll personally haul her in to talk to you face to face, Collins. And she won't be leaving again if I do, you get me?" Jack had said, flashing that creepy smile that told me exactly what he was thinking. I wanted to punch him every time he even said Claire's name, because he'd made no secret of what he wanted with her. That was another reason I had to stay- I couldn't let Jack anywhere near Claire, or Eve for that matter, and the only way to do that was to keep an eye on him, personally.

So when Frank told me about what Myrnin did to Claire, I nearly went straight there and staked him myself. All I could think about was him stood there, holding her still while she screamed, forcing himself into her mind, and that made me want nothing more than to kill him.

The only thing stopping me was Claire. Because I knew that if I lost this fight, she'd never leave Morganville, and the wacky stuff that Myrnin was teaching her was the only reason she'd wanted to stay in the first place. It made me burn inside, knowing how much she liked him, and how often he betrayed her. I'd put a stop to it, if we won.

The vamp in the alley was cornered now. We'd blocked it off at the other end, and there were operatives waiting just in case. We had him now; there was no escape. One by one, we crossed over and followed him down the alley, to make sure that no one noticed we were here. We were in the seedier part of Morganville, there weren't going to be many have-a-go heroes here, but I didn't want to take the chance.

I was the last to go, after two Frat types and an older man. I didn't know any of their names. The frat guys had spent the most part of the hunt jabbering on about how many vamps they'd killed, trying to impress me. I wasn't impressed. The older guy was okay. He didn't say much and he did what needed doing. I liked that.

I was glad I got there when I did.

One of the frat guys was down, his leg sticking out at an awkward angle. The older guy was fighting with the vamp, but he was flagging. I didn't have time to think before I jumped in, pulling my stake out of my pocket.

The vamp turned around, cracking the other guy's head against a wall, knocking him out. I felt a flash of recognition. It was one of the guys who'd guarded the armoury at Founder's Square. Disco Inferno.

"You! You're with the girl…Claire?" he asked, obviously confused. I didn't want to do this, but I had to. I shut off the part of my brain that saw him as a person, an identity. He was just another vampire, one that had already hurt two of my comrades. I could do this.

"Sorry, dude." I whispered as I slid the silver stake into his heart.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, another text from my dad.

Don't kill anyone. They're on to you.

There you go. And here's to MyrninsBitch for once again spurring me into typing this up. And if you haven't read any of her stories yet, go do that right now, because they are all brilliant.

And leave a review, please? Danke.