-1Who are you and what are you doing in my best friend's body!

Clink... Clink... Clink... Clink...

"Mmm... what?" Hannah whined groggily, forcing herself to open her eyes as something clinked against the window again.

Clink!

Hannah groaned and got out of the bed to open the window. Something small and hard hit her on the forehead. A pebble.

"Ow! Ashton!" she said angrily, rubbing her forehead. She scowled down at the messy-haired teenage boy on the lawn.

At the sight of him, a heavy gust of wind whipped against her cheek, sending a dark chill down her spine.

"Ashton...? What d'ya want?" Hannah called down to him, puzzled and slightly unnerved.

"I need to talk to you," he called back, hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his pants. "Please?"

Hannah could never turn down a friend in need, especially Ashton. "Okay," she answered at last. "Meet me at Edward's in ten minutes."

She saw him give a small nod and she turned back into the small bedroom. She grabbed her black converse sneakers and slid into them and pulled her leather jacket on over her black nightdress before climbing out the window. Looking over the edge of the roof, she took a deep breath, muttered "here goes nothing", and then she jumped.

She landed flat on her behind in the soft grass, which, thankfully, had not been mowed in a long while.

"I'm going to kill Ash," she hissed, rubbing her bottom. "This is definitely going to leave a bruise."

Ashton stood waiting by the swings. Walking up to him, she looked into his dark brown eyes. They were so cold, so empty. For a minute, she was so taken-aback by their iciness that she couldn't speak.

"What's up?" she asked finally, concerned.

He shrugged and looked away.

"Did you and Kenny break up again?"

She swore she saw him smile slightly, but when he looked back at her, his face was a mask of ice.

"And if we did?" he said quietly, carelessly.

The feeling of uneasiness in the pit of her stomach grew. "What's the reason this time?" she replied, sounding more calm than she felt.

What was wrong with him? She had never felt so uncomfortable around him, so... frightened.

This time he did smile, a cruel twisting of his mouth. "My interest reside in another woman."

"Okay..."

"Don't you want to know who?" Ash moved closer, invading her territory, trapping her. His lips were inches from hers and she could feel his cool breath as he said, "It's you, my love."

You're not Ash. The realization hit her like a cold shower and her body tensed in awareness. Ash would never call he his love. Ash was never so cold or callous. You're not Ash!

"How did you know I was at Nic's house?" she asked quietly.

"You told me," he answered instantly. "Ages ago. Have you forgotten?"

Hannah straightened up and faced the Ash-double stubbornly. "I never told anyone. Who are you? You're not Ash. What have you done with him?"

His laugh was as sharp and cold as a dagger. "Don't you worry your pretty, little head over that. The boy's fast asleep in his bed, no doubt."

Hannah shoved hard against his chest, terrified. He laughed again and grabbed a hold of her upper arms. No matter how much she struggled, she couldn't break free. His grip was like a vise.

"Who are you?" she demanded, giving up her struggles and looking up into that stony face.

"I am Death," he said arrogantly. "I am Fear. I am a nightmare's nightmare, a devil incarnate. I am the purest of all evils."

He stepped away from her, releasing her arms at last. There was a bright flash and Ashton disappeared. In his place stood a tall man with eyes like liquid silver and hair as white as snow slicked back into a long ponytail. He was dressed in black robes of fine silk and his skin was the color of moonlight. Hannah couldn't help but note that he was beautiful. In a sinister type of way.

She felt every ounce of evil and power radiating from him. He'd let his shields down long enough to show her what he truly was and the aftermath left her skin prickling, as if it was being stuck by thousands of needles at a time. So much evil it made her sick.

"What are you?" she choked out.

"I am a warlock. A very powerful warlock. But I'm sure your psychic senses can already tell you that." His voice was deep and rumbling, cruel and cutting and glacial. "I am Marcellus."

"What do you want with me?"

"I want to know where the vampire is," he hissed. "You conjured both of us, and only one of us can be here without destroying the balance. Only one of us can exist on this plane, and that will be me. Where is he? If you tell me now, I promise to make your death quick and painless. I just want to know where the half-breed bastard is."

Hannah's hand came up of its own accord and slapped him, hard, across the face. She instantly knew it was a mistake, but she was instinctively defensive of Damon. "I will never tell you where Damon is. And threatening me will not work either."

"You little bitch!" he ground out, blood rising to his cheek where she'd slapped him. "You'll pay for that!"

He flicked his wrist at her and she felt a rush of magickal energy slam into her chest, sending her flying into the pavement. Marcellus lunged after her. Mid-lunge, he was knocked off course by a large black wolf. It growled furiously and tore at the fallen warlock's throat. Still growling, the wolf shifted into human form.

"Damon, no! He'll kill you!" Hannah cried out, standing up quickly.

Damon whipped his head toward her, black eyes blazing, mouth drenched in blood. "Stay out of this! You'll only get yourself hurt!" he yelled.

"No!" Unbidden, tears came to her eyes. "I can't..."

Marcellus flicked his wrist again and Damon went flying. He slammed into the brick wall beside Hannah. A stream of blood ran down his temple and he grimaced in pain. A few feet away, Marcellus stood up.

"Damon!" Hannah ran to him, but he pushed her away and stood once more.

He lunged at Marcellus again and the warlock made a slashing motion with his hand. Hannah could see the red magickal energy that burst from his fingertips and pierced through Damon's left arms, leaving a bloody hole in its wake.

"Oh, Goddess," Hannah moaned.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nic running toward the fight, still in her pajamas. Damon was on the ground just a few feet away; Marcellus towered over him, prepared to make the last devastatingly fatal blow.

"I have to do something!" she growled.

Hannah didn't even need to think. She heard Nic scream, heard Damon shout, "NO!", but she still thrust herself in front of him. She found herself immersed in a red glow as she was hit square in the chest, doing to her what it would have done to Damon. She fell back against the shell-shocked vampire, feeling her blood pool beneath her.

"Hannah," Damon whispered, though it sounded far away.

Marcellus' face twisted in anger and shock, his eyes widening in disbelief. "What have you done, you stupid girl! Why! Why would you save that monster?"

She looked up at him unflinchingly. "Because I love him," she whispered hoarsely. It was that simple.

"Well then you can join him in Hell!" Marcellus raised his hands again. "I'll kill you both!"

"NO!" Hannah cried, forcing herself into a sitting position. "Not if I can help it!

'I am protected by your might
O gracious Goddess, day and night
Thrice around the circle's bound
Evil sink into the ground!"

Marcellus paused, as if he were stuck to the ground, but with a slight effort, took one step toward her. "It seems the little witchlet is weakened. Can't even cast a simple protection spell? Pity." He threw his head back and laughed.

Damon's fingers laced through hers and she felt wave after wave of his power course into her.

"I SAID SINK, GOD DAMNIT!" she thundered.

And that he did; just disappeared into the cement so fast he didn't even realize it himself.

"Bastard," she murmured, suddenly feeling very tired.

Damon was cradling her gently in his arms, the lines of pain evident on his face. "You are so stupid," he whispered.

She smiled slightly. It was all she could manage; she hurt too much. And everything was becoming so dark.

"Nic, go call 9-1-1," Damon commanded. "And get some towels to stop the bleeding."

Hannah looked up into Damon's eyes. Despite his hopeful words, she saw that he knew. She would die before help came. "Damon..." she croaked, so softly it was almost inaudible, but he heard her.

Those ebony eyes met hers, intense and determined and desperate. "I can save you," he said, his voice uncharacteristically husky. "But I don't know if that's what you want."

A few tears leaked out of her eyes and onto his shirt where her face met his chest. "I don't want to die," she pleaded.

He ran his fingers tenderly through her hair. "I won't let you, then," he promised.

He bent his head and kissed her softly of the lips before pulling back to remove his shirt. A small cut on the base of his throat welled up with blood. He leaned over her and she pressed her lips to the cut. As she sucked, she felt herself grow weaker, her life ebbing.

Distantly, she heard sirens and then her heart slowed to a stop and the world faded away.

a/n: so what do you think? should i continue? please review!