I couldn't help but scoff as I took in the old, derelict factory. Most of the windows were cracked, bordered up or missing completely. Vines grew in mass over the old brickwork, and weeds seeped out of the cracks in the cement. The sky was overcast, grey and cloudy and a light layer of drizzle fell from the sky, instantly soaking the three of us. I ran my hand through my hair, tugging it away from my face as I looked up at the building. The place was a ramshackle mess. One whoosh of wind and the whole building would have probably tumbled to the ground like brittle bones, instantly turning to ash in the atmosphere.

The whole situation was slightly too clichéd for my liking. It was as if we had walked onto a movie set; the strigoi layer was so typical of that of a monster's in a horror film. I was half expecting Dracula in his cape to crawl down one of the walls at any moment. The strigoi in Russia seemed to have a lot more taste than this lot. The strigoi in Russia obviously were a more material bunch compared to their American cousins, seeing as they lived in a nice, big house with its manicured gardens.

But maybe these strigoi were smarter. Maybe the whole haunted house thing was working for them. When I had phoned Sydney up, demanding that she give me an address of some strigoi, she had mentioned that some of their victims had actually walked into the property just to have a look around. Places like these intrigued people. They liked the idea of ghosts and haunting and things that they couldn't fully understand. The strigoi hadn't even needed to go hunting; their prey had been stupid enough to walk into their layer and offer themselves as meals. Maybe calling them stupid was a little harsh though. Not only were they dead, but if I had been a normal teenager – human, not dhampir – then I'd have probably been the type of person to go into one of these houses. It was an adventure; a fun risk. The skewed sign stating 'No Trespassing' was more of a lure than a deterrent.

Stepping over the fallen fence that was supposed to stand tall and stop people like us from entering, I accidently kicked a small rock, causing to trundle across the long, thick grass. It hit one of the metal poles that were supposed to be keeping the fence up, and Eddie shot me an annoyed look. He raised one his fingers to his lips, signalling me to be quiet. I rolled my eyes and gestured towards the house. "They probably know we're out here," I informed him, but I hushed my voice, nonetheless.

"What about the plan?" Eddie asked, probably hoping that I wasn't planning on going all ninja on them and running straight into the building and killing as many of those sons of bitches I could find. Although I was known for my reckless behaviour, I felt kind of disappointed that he didn't trust me. After all, I had killed quite a few strigoi. I knew what I was doing. And my main priority was keeping him and Mia safe. I wasn't going to do anything stupid which might get them into trouble or worse – get them hurt.

"I'm sticking to the plan," I mocked whispered back to him, grinding my teeth together. Personally, I thought the plan was a stupid idea. The idea of planning a plan was a stupid idea. We didn't particularly need it. Once we got in there, the plan would be meaningless. The strigoi wouldn't wait around for us to arrange ourselves. Once we got in there, then we would have to kill whatever we could get our hands onto.

But Eddie needed a plan. He needed something which he could think about; something he could get his head around. Eddie loved his rules and guidelines, and he needed a sense of structure in what could only be described as a massive mess. And so, after Mia and Eddie had stopped blushing like two little twelve year olds, we had gotten a plan together. Well, Eddie had put a plan together. I, on the other hand, had figured out an excuse as to why we were hunting strigoi. The guardians were bound to frown upon our actions, and so we needed an excuse, and who better to come up with an excuse than Rose Hathaway? I practically had an answer for anything and everything, and this situation was no different. When we phoned the guardians back at Court to report the attack, we would claim that the three of us had been hanging out – shopping – when we stumbled across the strigoi layer. It wasn't the most spectacular lie, but it was believable. Sort of.

The plan was quite simple, to be honest. Being able to detect where the strigoi were, I was going to stay close to Mia, making sure that sure wasn't in too much danger. That said, Mia was going to be in danger; possibly mortal danger. We were using her as bait. Or, I was going to use her as bait. Eddie had tried to argue that my idea was stupid and reckless and dangerous, but he quickly shut up once I reminded him that he was the one to bring her with us in the first place. I think he was starting to realise what a mistake it had been, especially as he watched in concern as the small blonde clutched at her stake, a fierce glint burning in her eyes.

To be fair to her, Mia barely seemed fazed by the whole thing. But that made me even more cautious. Ever since her mother had been killed, Mia had been thirsty for blood, and that thirst made me worry that she was going to do something stupid. But I couldn't give it too much thought. Thinking over things would slow me down, and being slow would get me killed. I needed to wipe everything away from my mind. I needed to focus and I needed to let instinct take over.

Slowly, we had been edging ourselves closer and closer to the factory, until the building loomed over us, casting a shadow over our forms. "Ready?" I breathed silently into the air. Next to me, Eddie and Mia nodded, and, taking that as my queue, I took a deep breath, tried to relax and before grabbing hold of my stake that had been previously tucked neatly away in the inside pocket of my jacket.

And that's when I kicked down the door, grinning in satisfaction as the wood shattered and splintered, falling to the floor with a hard thud.

There was really no point in trying to be quiet about it. It was impossible to kill a bunch of strigoi quietly. As soon as we attacked, the strigoi would know we were there and devise their own plan in an attempt to kill us all. Being quiet was pointless. It was still daylight outside, so it wasn't like they could run away and hide. They had to stay put. They had to fight us. They probably weren't even expecting it. They wouldn't expect us to go in hard and fast; hell, they probably didn't even expect us to attack them at all. After all, most guardians didn't exactly go purposely looking for a fight. Most guardians tried to keep their distance away from the strigoi. But we weren't most guardians.

"Hey bitches!" I shouted loudly, announcing our presence to the empty corridor as I stepped over the threshold, carefully keeping an eye on the darkness that loomed from every corner. Beside my Eddie rolled his eyes at my antics whilst Mia just smirked, dutifully following me into the dilapidated ruins.

Cautiously we walked further and further into the factory, listening to the sounds around us. The nausea in my stomach felt like I was being hit repeatedly, so I guessed that there were strigoi nearby. And my guess was right, because the next thing I knew, a figure hurtled towards me, causing me to go flying across the room. The strigoi – a red-headed woman who reminded me a little of my mother with her petite features – landed on top of me, it's hands wrapping hold of my neck, about to squeeze the life out of me.

But I wasn't going to let the bitch kill me that easily. I thrust my knee up into her stomach, causing her to stiffen. Her breath was momentarily knocked out of her, and using her distraction to my advantage, I managed to roll on top of her, straddling her tiny form. I curved my hand into a tight fist and punched her face repeatedly, watching the blood bubble and form at the corner of her taut lips and she gurgled and screamed in protest. All the anger and worry and darkness that I had bundled inside of me was now gushing out with every punch I landed on her face. All the knots that had tied my muscles together were becoming looser and looser as I let everything I had previously locked up fuel my attack. I leant down onto her, using one arm to pin her to the ground whilst the other hand grabbed hold of my stake, before penetrating her chest in one swift movement.

The kill was pretty straight forward, and as soon as the strigoi had stopped struggling and I knew for sure that my aim had been accurate, I was back onto my feet. Both Eddie and Mia were busy dealing with their own strigoi and hadn't noticed the next one advancing towards them. I leapt across the room towards it. My movements were graceless though, and the strigoi saw me coming, rising its arm high above its head before slapping me round the cheek hard, grabbing me in a headlock and throwing me into a heap on the floor. The sharp movement caused my head to jolt to the left, my neck straining as my teeth clamped down into the inside of my gums, my incisors piercing the flesh. The taste of blood instantly filled my mouth, and I couldn't help but spit a clump of blood out as I struggled not to drown in my own blood. I struggled to get up, gagging slightly as I watched the strigoi like his lips where a trial of my blood had landed on him, hearing him sigh gently in ecstasy as he tasted me blood.

Watching that strigoi – that monster – get so much enjoyment from my injury only fuelled me on. I kicked him in the stomach, watching him quickly regain his balance. He stepped forward, as if to hit me, but I ducked and swiftly moved to the side, thinking that I had outsmarted him. But my movement only led me into the path of another strigoi, thirsty for my blood. I swore loudly, hoping that Eddie and Mia had already killed their strigoi and would come and help me, but as I desperately dodged more hits, I realised that I had to deal with the pair of them on my own.

I managed to land a couple of punches, and as one of the strigoi stumbled forward, I nimbly stuck out my foot, tripping him over towards the ground. The problem was that I couldn't get a clean shot at his chest whilst the other strigoi was tearing at my hair, trying to claw my face off. I turned to face the second strigoi, cursing loudly as it landed yet another punch, this time to the side of my stomach. I groaned, but managed to stand up straight, deftly ducking as he tried to repeatedly punch my guts out.

But then he too, fell to the ground, a stake jutting out of his back. I watched, dumbfounded, before realising that Mia had been standing behind him, waiting for the perfect opportunity to kill the strigoi. "Thanks," I spluttered, before taking care of the other strigoi who was just about to get up from the floor before he met the sharp end of my stake.

Eddie came up to us, looking a bit battered and bruised, but then again, so was I. I could the side of my lip swelling with an ominous amount of blood, and I had a nice, large bump forming on the side of my forehead. The only one who looked like she hadn't been involved in a fight was Mia, with her perfectly coiffed hair. In fact, if it wasn't due to the fact that she was stained with the blood of several strigoi, I wouldn't have guessed she had even been present during the chaotic fight.

Eddie was studying the ground, counting the bodies that lay strewn across the floor. "That's four," he stated simply, not needing to say anymore. There were more strigoi in the building; I could feel it. Sydney had guessed maybe five or six, or even seven, but she couldn't be sure. For all we knew, the place was packed full of strigoi. Nodding to the others, I pointed towards a door in the corner. The only way to find the other strigoi was to play a game of hide and seek.

I walked ahead, my stake poised and ready to strike, Mia following me dutifully and Eddie walking cautiously behind her, making sure that the young moroi didn't come to any harm. We couldn't let anything happen to her. Even though she was strong enough to look after herself, she was still a target and we – I – couldn't let anything happen to her.

We tiptoed quietly through the derelict building, carefully listening out for the missing strigoi. But I couldn't hear anything other than Mia's shallow, heavy breaths. Obviously the fight had taken its toll on her – as well as the fact that she had been out during the day – and so I stopped abruptly, turning to face my two companions. She wasn't going to like what I had to say, but it had to be said. Someone had to stop this crazy situation turning into complete lunacy. "Take Mia back to the car," I told Eddie, praying that the pair of them wouldn't put up too much of a fight.

But fight, they did. Mia's blue eyes grew in horror. "No!" she cried, causing me to wince as the sound echoed through the empty building. The blonde crossed her arms protectively over her chest, glaring at me as her bottom lip jutted out in frustration. Eddie too, looked annoyed, but stayed silent. Neither of them moved.

Sighing, I shook my head. "I mean it. Go back to the car. You're weak, Mia. Seriously, you're pale and you're out of breath and you're going to get yourself killed. And although that's fine by me, your boyfriend," I said, gesturing wildly towards Eddie, "might not enjoy it too much."

"I helped you. I killed that strigoi. You would have died if it wasn't for me," she argued. I nodded at her statement, mainly because I couldn't deny it. She had saved me.

"And now I'm helping you by telling you to go back to the car. Hell, I'm not telling you. I'm demanding you. And if you don't go willingly, I will force you into that car myself. Got it?" I warned, hissing at her, cautious of the fact that there could be strigoi listening into our conversation. The feeling of nausea had subsided in my stomach though, so I was pretty sure we were alone. That said, I wasn't going to let my guard down.

Mia turned to face Eddie, her eyes wide and pleading. Eddie frowned, torn between Mia and myself. He bit his lip, sighed, his eyes jolting between the pair of us. "Maybe Rose is right," he muttered quietly, possibly hoping the blonde wouldn't hear him.

But she heard him alright. "What?!" she exclaimed.

"Rose is right. You're weak. You did a great job Mia, but you need to stop. You need to rest," Eddie said, taking hold of her arm and gently dragging her back down the corridor. "Are you going to be alright on your own, Rose?"

"Yes."

"Maybe you should come with us?" Eddie said, hesitantly.

I rolled my eyes and waved my stake around. "I'll be fine. Go. And make sure she stays in the car. Lock her in the trunk if you have to," I informed him, only half joking. I watched the two of them disappear, before slowly surveying my surroundings. I shuddered, running a hand through a piece of hair that had escaped my ponytail and was now hanging limply down my face. I tucked the strand behind my ear as I squinted my eyes together, trying to find the invisible strigoi.

I knew they were here, somewhere, hiding and lurking in the darkness, trying to become a shadow. They were watching me. I was sure of it. Lowering my stake in an attempt to look relaxed and off guard, I tried to prise them out. They were there. And I was here. And we had to fight. We were going to fight. And I was going to kick their butts and kill them. It was that simple.

"I know you're here," I stated into the darkness, carefully watching out for a sign of life. "I know you can see me. Hear me. I know you can smell my blood," I said, watching a drop of my blood trickled down from my broken and bruised face onto the floor. "Don't you want to taste me?" I called out, hoping that the promise of my blood would lure out the missing strigoi.

Then I saw it; a shadow moving in the corner. I laughed out how predictably these monsters were, tightening my grip on my stake and tensing myself up, ready for the attack. The shadow jumped through the air, knocking me yet again the ground. The strigoi snarled and growled; its spittle landing on my face. I tried to wrestle a hand free from its iron grasp, tried to punch it, tried to loosen its grip on me, but I was trapped. I struggled, manically kicking my legs out blindly, praying I could land a shot, but every kick missed.

It was lying on top of me, both hands strangling my wrists as it tried to sink its teeth – tainted with crimson blood – into my neck. But my struggles, my jolted movements, were stopping it from achieving its goal.

I inwardly cursed myself. I should have gone with the others. I should have kept my mouth shut and wait for Eddie to return. But no, I had try and be the hero. I had to go and get myself into trouble and get myself killed.

Contorting my body against its complaints, I managed to line my elbow up towards the strigoi's face. I slammed my arm up into its nose, hearing a satisfying crunch as bone connected with bone, the strigoi letting go with one arm in an attempt to protect its face. That was all I needed. I lurched forward, punching the creature repeatedly with my free arm. The strigoi stumbled and staggered, failing to regain its balance. Unfortunately, I was still attached to it with one hand, and so I was dragged with the monster, dancing to some terribly violent tune.

I tried to wrench my hand from the strigoi's grasp, but the bone was becoming strained and warped and it felt like it was cracking under the pressure. I winced and cursed, trying to free myself, but I just couldn't get loose. I couldn't even get my stake near the strigoi's chest.

It felt like I was being torn in two. The more I was being dragged around by the strigoi, the more I was trying to pull away from him and release myself. But it was to no use. I just couldn't get free. The strigoi, realising my predicament, slammed me into a wall.

It felt like I had become instantly numb. As soon as I hit to wall, everything stopped. Everything became anaesthetized. I felt nothing, not even the feeling of my skull crumbling to ashes. I was frozen to the spot, my bones becoming concrete as the strigoi edged closer to be, bearing his fangs. I watched him – my vision blurred and hazy – as he floated closer and closer to my face, unable to fight, unable to scream, unable to run away.

He stroked my cheek, gently moving my face so he had better access to my neck. He licked his lips, as if anticipating the richness of my blood. And then he bit me, my skin burning sharply as my flesh was pierces. And then there was nothing but bliss and content.

I sighed in ecstasy, my body relaxed and leaning into the strigoi's for support. I felt weightless. I felt happy. I felt all the darkness and the crap evaporating into nothing. I felt nothing. I cared about nothing. But the satisfaction of emptiness didn't last for long. The strigoi was ripped away, his teeth shredding part of my neck, causing me to wake from my peaceful delirium. I stared in horror as two figures fought quickly and deftly, until there was only one left, looming over me. Tiredness and sleepiness haunted me; stalked me; tried to possess me. All I could do was silently stare at the eyes that were no longer red. Instead, they were warm. They were brown. But they still belonged to another type of monster.


AN: Okay. I lied. I said the next update would be at Christmas, but obviously it's not. I don't think you guys will complain too much though =D Anyway, writing the last chapter reminded me how much fun I have writing this story in general, so I'm really going to try and update as much as I can and not let myself get compltely swamped with uni work.

I'm not too sure about this chapter. It works in my head, but I'm not too sure how it works on paper (or screen). I've never written a fight scene before and I wasn't sure how to describe it, so any tips would be great.

There's nothign else to say really, other than I wasn't actually going to write the last paragraph of this chapter. But then I found myself unable to stop typing and when I read through what I had written, I realised that I finally know where I'm taking this story. And it definately isn't going in the direction I originally intended. In fact, I was planning on doing something entirely different before I wrote that paragraph. But it doesn't matter now, because I think you guys will prefer my new idea much, much more. And on that note, I'm off.

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. I love you all, and if it was legal, I'd marry all of you. But it's not legal. So I can't =]

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN VA!