Free at last, the Vampire Queen climbed from the apocalyptic fire, and stood among the chaos. Destruction everywhere, she could feel it. The world was theirs for the taking. She laughed as she heard the human screams and bodies falling as the world crumbled around them.

So many bodies, so little time. Besides, she wanted something a little more fun. She noticed five live humans near the stage she stood upon and smiled, her mouth watering. They all seemed quite in shock by what they were seeing. And why wouldn't they? There were things here that they'd never seen even in their worst nightmares. Beasts with horns, beasts with glowing red eyes and jaws of destruction, and her own minions, all crawling from the depths, ready to feed.

Two of the humans stood on one side, three on the other. One of the two appeared to be the human queen--a crown upon her head. Though that made it tempting, the Vampire Queen decided she should feed first, to gain her strength before going up against the human queen. Besides, three morsels was better than two. So she turned to the three--two boys and a girl, and strolled toward them casually, ready to leap should they try to flee. She enjoyed the fearful looks upon their faces. But which one to start with? The boy inexplicably wearing a baseball cap despite the semi-dressy clothing? Nice, but no. His fright was quite apparent, but She wanted something more challenging. Perhaps the other boy, then. No, she decided as she noticed the girl. The dark-haired girl looked afraid, yes, but more intriguing, she looked defiant. A challenge.

"Okay, so this was definitely not part of the plan," Alex mumbled, turning to Jay, who was backing away. "Jay, what the hell are you doing?" she asked, incredulous. He looked frightened and his eyes told her exactly what he was thinking as he noticed the creature's attention focusing on her. He was ditching her. She couldn't believe this! Some boyfriend.

Alex turned her frightened, angry eyes back to the creature standing before her. "What the hell do you want?" she challenged forcefully. "You think that you can scare me?" Okay, so she was a little scared, but there was no way she would ever admit that in a gym full of people that she had to see every day. It briefly struck her that she might not see any of them ever again.

Alex frantically looked around for something that she could use as a weapon. Her gaze fell upon a broken microphone stand. It must have fallen when the stage collapsed. She darted for it as fast as she could and barely managed to grab it. Her hands were trembling so tad that it was hard for her to keep her grip on it. "You wanna kill me? Well not without a fight, freak!" she managed to say, shakily.

She raised the microphone stand and pretended to prepare to strike it. Somehow she didn't think that the thing would be stupid enough to just stand there and let it hit her without reacting violently, though. So instead, she changed her trajectory and threw it as hard as she could at the glass chandelier that was hanging directly about the vampire's head.

"Perfect hit," she gloated to herself. "I guess all of those drunken nights shooting beer cans off of Jay's fence finally paid off."

The vampire queen laughed as the glass chandelier shattered around her. "Foolish girl, though she has spunk. She would make a good addition to my minion army," the Queen decided. She leapt upon the girl, grabbing her and lifting her from the ground. The Queen threw her into a wooden table and watched as it splintered around her and collapsed, broken in several pieces. Again, the queen leapt upon her, sinking her teeth into the girl's tender throat, drinking greedily from her.

Alex couldn't even scream as she felt the teeth pierce her neck. The iciest chill slowly consumed her body and she could actually feel her heart beating wildly from terror as her throat closed up. No sound could escape her lips, and she could taste her own blood as it rose in her throat. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, trying weakly...desperately to pull away. But she got no response from her limbs.

She felt her heart starting to slow and became painfully aware of her surroundings. The room started to close in and everything moved with an excruciating, painfully slow grace. Her eyes began to clos as she frantically fought the darkness that was consuming her sight. A black film descended on her eyes. Though they remained open, she could see nothing.

Meanwhile, Dylan cried out as he saw Marco flying through the air and landing hard on a table. He started toward Marco, but then saw a movement from the corner of his eye. Out of instinct, he turned toward it.

One of the queen's minions watched as his mistress headed toward what he had planned as his first meal. He changed directions, heading instead for the two humans on the other side, disappointed that there were only two treats, but his queen always got first choice. So he'd make do. Besides, the crown upon the girl's head was enticing. He leapt at the pair, grabbing the girl and sinking his teeth into her soft neck before she could escape.

"Oh my GOD! Like who does this?" Paige had heard of necking, but she didn't think that this was what they meant! She slapped at the creep-o boy trying to bite her neck. And what was he thinking when he put on all that makeup, she wondered. "Get off me, you freak!"

She screamed as she felt the guy's teeth actually biting into her neck. Not like a cute little love nip, either. It HURT!

What was going on?!

She tried to pull away from the guy, but couldn't. Soon she started feeling really weak.

"This can't be real!" Dylan thought, still in shock. "I've seen way too many horror movies and they're all coming back to haunt me." On the other hand, perhaps it was a good thing that he'd seen so many of the movies. In a weird sort of way it prepared him for this. He grabbed the vampire(!) that was attacking his sister. He gripped its jaw and tried to force the mouth open so it would release Paige without tearing out her neck.

He managed to free her, but gasped as he saw the blood flowing from the puncture wounds in her neck. "Paige, run!" he cried out, not even sure if she was able. He wanted to help her, but first he had to deal with the vampire.

As soon as Marco was able to catch his breath and move again, he realized that everyone really needed to get out of there. There were far too many creatures bursting forth and there was no way the students could fight them all and win. So they had to get out. He remembered seeing Ellie drop. He needed to get to her, then maybe he and Jesse could get her out together.

Trying not to draw any attention to himself, he crawled through the debris to get to where Ellie and Jesse were huddled. He gave Jesse what little smile he could offer, silently thanking her for helping his best friend. He hated to think what would have happened if Ellie'd been left unconscious and unprotected as the beasts began to swarm.

"We need to get out," he stated the obvious to Jesse before turning his attention to Ellie. He was relieved to see Ellie's eyes open, but she didn't look well at all. "Ellie, can you hear me?" he asked, peering down at her worriedly.

Ellie looked around frantically, still not quite sure what was going on. "Marco?" she asked with a tremor in her voice. She had the most terrible feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. She looked around at the wreckage of the gym. She tried to sit up, but her back was sore from the fall and she couldn't quite. She struggled to see Marco's face better from her twisted angle, courtesy of her vain attempts at rising from the floor. "What is happening?" she looked deep into Marco's eyes, knowing that he knew the answer. She had the strangest feeling of clarity, but she wanted him to tell her that her feeling was wrong.

Marco didn't know what to tell her. It was too chaotic to try and explain everything as his Nana had explained it to him. He gave her a tired smile. "A whole new world beginning," he answered her question, his voice shaking a little. "I'll explain later, but we need to get out. Jesse and I can help you. Do you think you can walk if you lean on us?" He looked worriedly back at the stage where there were still creatures of all sorts emerging from the fiery hole.

Ellie looked around again, and then back to Marco. "Yeah...whatever. Let's just get out of here. Now."

Marco nodded quickly and took Ellie's arm, wrapping it around his neck to use as support. He looked at Jesse and gave her a hopeful look, asking for help.

Jesse helped Ellie up, letting half the other girl's body weight lean on her. Something told her that she needed to help Ellie. She stood, trying to help Marco get Ellie and themselves to safety. Through the fallen ceiling, she saw that the moon was black, like coal. The wind was blowing furiously, causing the debris in the gym to stir.

She couldn't help but wonder what would happen if she didn't make it through the night. If she wasn't able to tell her deceased father that she forgave him. Forgave him for leaving her and her mother in the world. If she wasn't able to thank her mother for everything, giving her life, supporting her decisions.

The Queen felt stronger as she felt the girl's strength fading. She stopped close of killing the girl and carefully slit her wrist. She pressed the wrist to her prey's mouth and forced her to drink, lest she drown in blood. As the girl drank, the Queen begins looking for the two boys that had been the girl's companion. She had not yet fed enough.

She let the girl fall from her grasp and fall in a heap on the ground before her.

Alex became aware of the sounds around her. She could hear every wisp of noise that took place. She slowly opened her eyes and placed her hand upon her neck. She drew it back to find it covered in blood. She stared at her hand in terror. She should not be bleeding that much from the neck. This couldn't be good. She recoiled from it and looked around for a rag or something.

She stood up, but the dizziness that overcame her was so powerful that she began to gag. Her senses were reeling. She leaned over and threw up lightly, not knowing how to control anything that she was feeling. "What is happening to me?" she wondered desperately. "God, somebody help!" She was so confused. Where were Jay and Sean?

She stumbled over to a table and sat down, putting her head between her legs to fight off the nausea that was fighting to take over again. She had never felt so powerless in her life. She had never let anyone make her feel powerless. She hated the new feelings. She hated being able to see...and hear...and smell everything a million times more powerful than ever before.

The Vampire Queen laughed as she watched her newest minion struggle. The girl was hers, she could feel it. Her death was imminent, but she would rise again, to become one of the Queen's faithful servants. The Queen could sense that she would be powerful one day. Very powerful. She would be molded by the Queen herself, perhaps. And groomed to do great things. "Die well, my childe," the Queen sneered cruelly at her, stepping over her as she continued to look for new prey. Or perhaps she would save those two males for her new minion. She might like a familiar friend or two to...play with when she woke up.

"What the hell did you do to me, you evil bitch," Alex gasped sickly, grasping desperately to her consciousness. "Tell me what is happening to me," she ordered.

But the Queen doesn't even do her the honor of telling her. She'd figure it out soon enough. The Queen planted her foot in the middle of Alex's chest and pressed, as if squeezing the last of the blood from her.

Then she turned to find the cowards who had run away. The one with the baseball cap, she found fallen, pinned beneath a chunk of the ceiling. Crying for his mama, no less. The Queen took great pleasure as she stepped atop the ceiling crushing him to the ground with an even greater weight. He screamed only once before he couldn't breathe. The Queen laughed as she watched him turn first red, then a nice shade of blue as he struggled unsuccessfully for air. The moment he stopped struggling, she let up, however. She wanted him unconscious, but not dead. He would make a fine plaything for her pet.

Now where was that other boy? The one in the sweatshirt.

The Queen spotted him not too far away, unconscious already. Poor thing got hit in the head, she supposed. She laughed with glee as she scooped him up and returned for the blue one. Easily flinging the ceiling chunk off him, she pick him up and returned to her pet, depositing the newfound toys before her.

Paige was relieved when Dylan was suddenly there, pulling the creep off her. He yelled at her to run, but as she turned to go, she happened to look down and noticed that she was totally getting blood on her dress. Ew! And that was going to stain if she didn't fix it quick. Not like she was going to wear the dress again, of course, but she wanted it for her memory box. She had to try and save it. She grabbed a tablecloth from the nearest table and started trying to scrub the stain from her dress while Dylan fought the creepy guy.

"Oh my god, do you people ever stop screaming?" she grouched. "It's not like the sky is falling or something, people!"

Except then she noticed that it kind of was.

Her eyes widened as she looked around and saw what was happening around her.

"Oh. My. God! This is totally ruining Homecoming!" she thought as she felt her eyes rolling back. Her legs gave way and she fainted.

When the ceiling started coming down, Spinner had managed to crawl under a table like Principal Raditch had told them all to do. He'd even stayed there with his arms over his head as instructed. He never expected he'd actually follow Raditch's orders, but this one had seemed like a pretty good one. At least it did until he heard Paige scream. He'd know her voice anywhere.

He had to find her. He crawled out from under the table and looked for her. He spotted Dylan, fighting with some weird guy. An ex boyfriend, maybe? It seemed pretty intense. He started to look away then noticed her, lying on the ground. Covered with blood.

He rushed over to her.

"Honeybee?" He called, slapping her cheek lightly. "Paige, pumpkin? Wake up!"

He noticed several beastie things coming toward them.

"Maybe I should just carry her," he figured. He struggled to pick her up, hoisting her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.

"Yo, Dylan, you okay there?" he asked as an afterthought, looking over to Paige's brother.

Dylan forced the vampire's face away from his neck and shoved him as hard as he could. Astoundingly it turned out to be pretty hard and the vampire went flying. Dylan's eyebrows raised. "Guess I didn't know my own strength," he thought inanely, before turning toward the person talking to him.

"Just great, Spin, thanks for all your help," he smile a little too
brightly at his sister's boyfriend. He noticed the way Spinner had his sister slung over his shoulder as if she were a sack of potatoes, so he supposed he could forgive him for not helping fight the vampire off. "Come on, let's get her out of here..."

Unfortunately that was easier said than done.

As they tred to make their way out of the gym, they were set upon again. Dylan tried to block a giant wolf from attacking Spinner and Paige, but while he was dealing with that, the same vampire thing returned and grabbed Paige, trying to yank her from Spinner's hold.

Alex felt the world spinning wildly out of control as she once again began to lose focus on the things before her. She was vaguely aware of Jay's presence, though she couldn't see him quite clearly. She got up and began to stumble away, trying to find a safe place to hide until the feelings passed. She made her way out of the gym and found an empty classroom to lie down in.

The Queen watched her go, shaking her head. What was it with children never putting away their toys? Her newest had left her playthings unattended.

The Queen motioned to several more of her minions. "Pick those up," she demanded, pointing to the two prone forms on the ground. "You will need to find us a suitable home," she turned to another. "Report back here in 10. And it had better be a prime spot."

Marco looked back over at the stage again as they made their way out. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was something he needed to do. Something he'd left behind maybe? He didn't know. But the feeling in his gut said that he needed to go back there. It was hard to even look away again, but getting Ellie out was important to him. He needed to know that his friends were safe.

He realized at that thought what it was that needed to be done. He looked back again at the stage, his heart pounding with intense fear. He realized why he needed to go back. He closed his eyes for a few moments, trying to imagine if there was some way to accomplish it without putting himself at great risk. But he couldn't think of any. And it had to be done.

He looked back at Jesse and Ellie. "Can you two make it from here?" he asked, shouting to be heard over the wind. His gut was telling him that it would be the last time he saw his best friend, but there was no time to let emotion get the best of him, so he blinked back the tears that were trying to start.

Jesse nodded her head in reply. "I think." She took on more of Ellie's weight. "C'mon, we need to get out of here."

But Ellie was reluctant to move. She knew something was wrong. The way Marco was looking when he asked--as well as the horrible feeling that she had--triggered her concern. She pulled away from Jesse and shuffled carefully toward Marco. "Marco, what are you going to do?"

Marco gave her a sad smile, knowing he couldn't tell her. She'd never let him go. But someone had to do it, and he was pretty sure it was himself. "What needs to be done," he told her, hugging her and kissing her goodbye before turning and running through the school hallway, back into the building rather than away from it like everyone else. If he was going to pull this off, he was going to need supplies.

And lots of them.