Viola stood up, preparing to run, but as Aubrey started advancing into the room, she remained where she was, frozen in terror. He was going to attack her. Take her back to his mansion, lock her away and torture her...

"Did you really think that I was going to let you escape?" Aubrey said, his smirk too big for his face.

Viola opened her mouth, but all that came out was a pathetic terrified whimper.

Taylor grabbed her hand. "I think we should be going now."

Aubrey grabbed him by the neck. "You're not going anywhere," he hissed.

Seeing Taylor's panic, his eyes bulging as Aubrey squeezed his neck like a sponge, blocking his air, killing him...

Her paralysis broke. With a snarl she launched herself at Aubrey like a line backer. Taken completely by surprise he let go of Taylor when Viola crashed into him.

She landed on top of him, tearing at Aubrey's face with her nails like an animal. Aubrey growled at her in anger, trying to grab her.

Taylor picked himself up off the floor, grabbed her shoulders and tore her away from him. Viola allowed him to pull her out the door, out the house.

They were running with no particular direction in mind. "This is nuts," Taylor panted. "We can't stay here."

"It's not my fault," Viola whined.

But deep down inside she knew it was. This was all because of her. Aubrey was crazy and obsessed with ruining her life. They ended up at Taylor's house. His parents' car was sat on the driveway.

"Get in," Taylor told her, opening the driver's door. Viola scrambled across the front seat. Taylor found the spare keys. "They won't mind," he said, starting the engine and backing out the drive.

"Won't they look for you?" Viola asked doubtfully. If they thought he was missing, then wouldn't Taylor's parents' call the police? The last thing they needed was the police hunting them down as well as Aubrey.

"I'll call later and make something up," Taylor said dismissively. "I'm not leaving you alone to deal with this."

Viola smiled a little. She thought of the hours she had spent dreaming of finding a soulmate. And she had finally found one. Shame it was at the same time Aubrey had found her.

"We need to find somewhere to hide," Taylor said as they stopped at a red light.


Viola frowned a little. She remembered when she had first decided to escape the witch who had helped her told her there was a Circle Daybreak safe house in the town.

"There is somewhere." She gave the directions she remembered carefully. She didn't know whether Circle Daybreak would help her or now, but they didn't have any other choice.

"What's going on?" Taylor asked as they walked up the driveway.

"I'll tell you later," Viola said with a sigh. She rang the doorbell.

"And if they won't help us?" Taylor asked, slightly icy. "Then what?"

Viola sighed again. "I don't know."

* * *

Nerissa didn't understand what was going on. A new girl had arrived and everything had gone wrong for her. It was just so unfair. All the boys were fascinated with Viola. She hardly ever spoke to them, drifted around like she was in some sort of daze.

It was probably some sort of subtle manipulation. She must know, then she could take whatever boy she wanted, *when* she wanted. And of course, she wanted Taylor. Taylor had been different ever since Viola had started.

"Don't you think you're overreacting a little?" Morpheus asked her as class ended.

Nerissa glared at him. "I wouldn't expect you to understand. You're a guy."

Morpheus snorted. "Get a new boyfriend. Taylor's *human* after all."

Nerissa opened her mouth, then closed it as Taylor appeared, walking down the hall towards them. Nerissa put on her best smile, but Taylor didn't even seem to see her. She turned and headed after him.

Morpheus frowned. "What are you *doing*?"

"Shut up," Nerissa hissed. Taylor wasn't going to his own locker...he was going to Viola's., standing there and waiting for her.

Viola came, they talked, and walked away together.

"What are *they* doing?" Camilla asked, as she and Bellona appeared, watching as Taylor and Viola walked off together.

"Don't know," Nerissa said through her teeth. "But I'm going to find out." She stalked off after them, the others following her.

"They're going to Viola's place," Morpheus said.

"How do you know?" Bellona asked.

Morpheus shrugged. "She's not very good at shielding her mind."

Bellona took out a cell phone and punched in a number. Nerissa watched her. "Tell your friend he can have Viola, but Taylor's *mine*."

"You're obsessing," Morpheus sounded rather annoyed. Nerissa ignored him. Why couldn't he get a girlfriend of his own. To think he called *her* obsessive!

"All you need to do is go home and wait," Bellona told them finishing her phone call. "Aubrey will take care of everything."

Nerissa stared at her in disbelief. Who the hell did she think she was? Camilla was smirking. "You're *just* a witch," she pointed out.

Nerissa fought to contain her temper. "I'm a *Harman*," she snapped.

"Just stay out the way," Bellona snapped back. "You don't want to get Aubrey mad, trust me on that one."

* * *

"Well *that* was a total waste of time!" The door to Nerissa's house slammed open and a furious but gorgeous vampire stalked in. Bellona and Camilla stood up. Nerissa saw the glimmer of fear in their eyes.

"So I'm guessing everything went wrong?" Morpheus said with a smirk.

The vampire - Aubrey presumably? - glared at him. "Who the hell are you?"

Nerissa sighed. "Ignore him. I'm Nerissa Harman, that's Morpheus Redfern."

Aubrey looked surprised. "You're a Redfern? And she's a Harman?" He was looking to Morpheus as if he expected that because he was the male, *he* was in charge.

Nerissa was annoyed. "Hey, look here Mr. Big Shot. In you're little world, you might be the next best thing since sliced bread, but this is *my* town and *I'm* in charge of the Night People here."

"Yeah, one big happy family," Morpheus muttered.

"Can it," she snapped at him. "What'd you mean it was a waste of time?" she asked Aubrey.

Aubrey slumped in an armchair, folding his arms and pouting like a spoiled child. "They escaped. They ran."

Nerissa wasn't really surprised at that. She had thought that Viola and break, give into torture. But she knew Taylor would hear of no such thing. He'd do whatever he could to save any person in peril. "So you're just *letting* them run?"

Aubrey glared at her. "If they had any idea where they - "

"Isn't there supposed to be a Circle Daybreak safe house somewhere in the area?" Morpheus said.



That got Aubrey's attention. He looked disgusted. "Of course. I should have known. *Where* is the safe house?"

Nerissa smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

* * *