Natalie had never seen Nick when he was this bad. His wavy blond hair was wild around his face. Like Vachon, his clothes were clawed to shreds. Nearly-healed cuts covered his exposed skin where either his or Vachon's talons had come in contact. But his eyes. Their blank stare bore into her, as if Nick could see through her skin and could focus on the blood flowing through her veins. Natalie could not find any bit of the Nick she knew and loved in those eyes. She only saw a wild, starved, sadistic animal.

As he staggered toward her, Nat slowly backed away, trying to figure out how she would get out of this one.

In no time, he was less than five feet away. This is it, she thought. I'm done for.

Her salvation came just in time. Just as Nick was about to grab her, Vachon pushed himself off the floor and barreled into Nick.

"I saw her first!" he screamed, tearing at Nick with his sharp claws. Even though they should have been weak, their incredible hunger fueled their fighting power, and it soon became an all-out aerial battle. The two vampires flew at one another, each trying to bash the other to the ground. The whole time that they fought, they kept their eyes on the prize, Natalie--

Who had suddenly come up with an idea.

"Guys, wait! I think I know how we could get out of here." She did not expect them to listen to someone who they had planned on turning into a midnight snack, but to her surprise they stopped fighting and listened. As she spoke, she noticed one of them twitch once in a while from hunger.

"This is going to take a miracle," she told herself. "But it's the only chance we have."

======================

Santino and Andre stood upstairs, preparing for the evening's meetings of The Dark Angels. Word was that there would be several new members joining tonight, and they had to choose the tasks that the new members had to perform for initiation.

They had finally decided on several ideas when a horrible roar sounded from below. The force of the scream rattled the window, and would have broken them if Andre had not ordered they be boarded shut to keep other intruders out.

"Sounds as though Uncle Nicholai has discovered his guest. Santino, be so kind as to remove the body so that it doesn't start smelling up the place."

Santino nodded and started walking down the stairs.

======================

When he reached the bottom floor, Santino looked into the cell and saw the girl's body lying close to the back. Between the two heaps in the corners.

He opened the door and stepped in. "You two had better stay where you are. You may have been fed, but it will take more than one victim for you to be able to attack me and win. I'll tear you in half before you even get one hit off of me."

He bent down to pick up Natalie. Just as he lifted her body, Nat quickly grabbed his arms. Santino was so surprised that he did not even think about tearing his arms out of the group of the mere mortal.

"Now!" Natalie yelled. Nick and Vachon rose from the floor and rushed at Santino. The surprised vampire dropped Natalie, but failed to get his arms up fast enough to protect himself.

The momentum of their running at him sent Santino crashing into the side of the cell. Natalie turned away the moment Nick raised his claws against Santino. This might have been her idea, but she did not have to like it.

Fortunately for Santino, he could not watch even if he wanted to. Nick's slash across his face connected right with his eyes, blinding him instantly. He flailed around, trying to protect himself, but it was futile. Nick and Vachon continued their vicious attack, slashing at and into Santino, until their combined efforts succeeded in severing Santino's head from his body. Before the unlucky vampire's body hit the dirt, Nick and Vachon were running up the stairs.

Natalie stayed behind, partly because she could not run that fast and partly because she was shocked. Shocked that it had worked. Shocked of Nick and Vachon's ferocity. She looked down at Santino's lifeless body, which was rapidly turning to ashes. It reminded Natalie of Richard and his demise by a broomstick through the heart.

She turned and walked out of the cell. She carefully closed and locked the door, just in case. Natalie looked back one last time and then started up the stairs after her friends.

======================

Andre was about to open the doors to the people waiting outside for the Dark Angels meeting when he sensed that something was wrong. Other vampires around him must have sensed it too, because they all turned to face the door to the stairs. Just in time to see Nick and Vachon bolt into the room.

It was a massacre.

Fueled by a power equal to the First Hunger, the two had no trouble tearing their opponents to shreds. Though they might have tried, the other vampires could not defend themselves. Vachon had broken some of the boards off of the windows, giving them sharp points, and shoved them through the chests of any vampires advancing on him. Faces were slashed; limbs were torn off, and many died in the same fashion of Santino. Soon, Andre was the only Dark Angel still alive.

Vachon started to advance on Andre, pointed plank in hand, but Nick stopped him. It took a lot, but he stopped Vachon. After Nick was sure that Vachon would not go after him, Nick turned to face Andre.

"Why, Andre?" Nick questioned, slowly walking toward his nephew and still twitching with blood lust. "Why did you even start this damned club? These damned Dark Angels?"

Andre knew he was cornered, so he decided to tell the truth. "I was lonely. Seven centuries are a long time to be by myself. Age brings power and respect, so I knew that the younger vampires would wish to be near me. I was just tired of being alone."

"And the mortals?" Vachon asked.

"The more the merrier."

In that instant, Nick saw a shade of the young boy he had left behind so many years ago. Andre no longer looked like the hardened man/beast from before, but like the scared nephew that Nick had promised to protect.

Promised to protect.

Nick halted midstep and faced Andre. The trio of vampires just stood there in silence. Finally, Nick spoke up.

"Go," he said to Andre, pointing to the door. "Leave Toronto."

Andre looked shocked, but knew not to look a gift vampire in the mouth. He shuffled toward the door and opened it to the night. "I'm sorry," he told the people standing beyond the doors, "but The Dark Angels are no more. Get on with your lives." With that, he walked out and closed the door behind him.

======================

"You let him go?" Vachon yelled at Nick, eyes flashing. "Why the hell did you let him go?"

"We are not the ones to decide his punishment. Besides, the Enforcers will find him soon enough." Nick said this aloud, but to himself he thought, 'Hide, Andre. I can't protect you from them, only from myself."

"I guess you're right." Vachon replied. "Let's hope they find him quickly."

"Yeah," Nick mentioned disheartened. "Sure."

======================

"Nick!" Natalie called as she entered the room. She stopped short when she saw the carnage before her. Bodies were lying everywhere, some nearly dust and some just beginning to disintegrate. It was hard to tell exactly how many bodies were there because many were in several different pieces, with a limb here and a torso there. Some had wooden boards sticking through their chests. And in the middle of all of it stood Nick and Vachon covered in vampire blood. They both whipped around to face her the moment they heard her voice, eyes still blazing.

'Shit, they're still hungry,' Nat thought, and she took a couple steps back.

"Don't worry, Nat. We're going back to the loft." Nick seemed to read her mind. Both vampires walked to the now-unboarded window, and, before Natalie could blink, were gone.

"Okay, I'll just walk," Natalie told the empty room. She exited through the door and headed home. "Nice night for it."