I wasn't ready to be alone again, I wouldn't ever be ready, but this was unfair. I made my way through the streets, people were staring at me curiously as I hurried by and although I probably looked a state nobody asked me if they could help. I turned off into the alley behind the bakery and the Italian restaurant. By this time the sobs were shaking my body so much that I could barely walk. I staggered to the end of the alley and collapsed there, curling up into the corner and pulling the hood of my top over my face. I cried myself into an uneasy sleep, my night haunted by the terrible memories of the past few days.

I had been so exhausted from the walk back to Kushborough that I slept through until five o'clock the next evening. I was woken by the gorgeous smells coming from the Italian restaurant, I sniffed the air half-heartedly and then reluctantly got to my feet. Everything seemed suddenly like a chore, I wasn't hungry, I wasn't thirsty, I wasn't hot, I wasn't cold, the only thing I felt was a deep emptiness There was nothing left in my life except for me, walking through a never ending thick white fog, where nothing lived any more. Everybody and everything was dead, grey smudges in the distance that couldn't quite penetrate the bubble of monotonous nothingness around me. I didn't know what to do, where to go, so I stood on the corner of the street, watching the busy shoppers bustle by. I wandered into the nearby newsagents to see what day it was, the heating warmed me up but I couldn't stand the looks people were giving me. I picked up the first newspaper that came to hand… Saturday, then I walked over to the chill cabinets, hid a sausage roll up my sleeve for lunch, put a bar of chocolate in my pocket and walked out of the newsagents, back into the street. I went into the public toilets and washed my face, it was just like old times.

I had lived on the streets for a few months before and I soon got back into the swing of things, the begging, the stealing, the new label 'homeless person' that went with the subheadings 'drug addict', 'alcoholic' or 'thief'. The last one was only true of me because I had to steal to survive. Last time had never been as bad as this. Have you ever heard that saying, 'It's best not to know what you're missing'? That's what summed up my situation. I was fine on my own, without love, without comfort, but now… well, things seemed a lot more miserable. I went back to the alley and sat there, thinking, remembering, and hurting. I had only one thing with me, my diary. I hadn't written in it for a few days, what with everything that had happened it was the last thing on my mind, now I looked through it, from the first day I got it. I flicked past the pages about my everyday life on the streets and then stopped at the place where my real adventure had started.

I'm not entirely sure whether what happened was good or not, I might have just gone from bad to worse. I was asleep in the bus shelter and a young man came and sat at the end of the bench. I opened one eye and looked at him, noticing his pale face and untidy light brown hair, I also noticed the wallet poking out of the pocket of his light blue coat. The man seemed to be daydreaming, whistling softly in no particular tune. I couldn't believe my luck and slowly I lifted my arm, he didn't notice, I took the wallet out of the pocket gently and then hid it up my shirt. He didn't see a thing, so I lay in the dark bus shelter, smiling to myself as I watched the traffic rush by. A large red bus stopped and the young man stood up, he turned and looked at me, smiling.

"I'll need five pounds from my wallet to pay for the bus fare," he said calmly.

"Err… Excuse me?" I said immediately. I sat up on the bench trying my best to look innocent.

"Five pounds, from the wallet you stole from me, you can keep the rest," the man said. I didn't know what to say. I pulled the wallet out from under my shirt and stared at it, the man bent and took it gently from me. He took out a five-pound note and handed the wallet back to me, then he turned and got onto the bus. I looked inside the wallet, there were a heck of a lot of notes in there! Before I knew what I was doing I stood up and hopped onto the bus, shoving another five-pound note from the wallet into the bus driver's hands and saying quickly that she could keep the change. The man was sitting at the back of the bus and he watched me curiously as I started towards him.

"Can I help you?" he asked with a grin as I sat down next to him.

"Why would you do that?" I asked quietly.

"Do what?" he said innocently.

"Give me all that money for no reason," I replied.

"I can get money easily, you looked like you needed it," he said warmly.

"But I stole it from you," I persisted.

"I know, which proves to me that you were desperate," the man said.

"Thank you," I whispered and looked into the man's deep green eyes, they were full of kindness.

By this time the bus had begun to rumble along the road, we were the only passengers.

"My name is Cyrus," the man said, offering me his hand.

"I'm Ember," I replied uncertainly, shaking it.

"Where are you going Ember?" Cyrus asked.

"Nowhere," I said honestly. "How about you?"

"I'm staying in a hotel at the moment, I travel." Cyrus replied.

"That must be exciting, I bet you see a lot of interesting things," I smiled.

"You have no idea," Cyrus said, grimacing, " But you know, the hotel gave me a two bedroom room, I've got a spare bed for a few nights."

"Oh… no, no I'm sorry I couldn't" I murmured. The man might have been kind but that didn't mean he was trustworthy, there were a lot of dangerous people around.

"Ok then," Cyrus, said gently. The bus slowed down and he stood up. "If you want my advice Ember, find a phone box and ring this number, they'll know what to do," he said handing me a piece of paper with a phone number scrawled on it.

"Thank you," I said again and Cyrus got off of the bus. The bus doors hissed shut and I stared out of the window at the gloomy street outside. A light drizzle was running down the glass and I saw Cyrus crossing the road to a hotel opposite, his coat pulled over his head so he didn't get wet. The bus started to roll along again and, making a split decision, I jumped up and told the bus driver to stop. She frowned at me and then smiled as I jumped off of the bus, thanking her for the ride and apologising for making her stop so suddenly. I ran across the road and yelled at the top of my voice.

"Cyrus! Cyrus wait a minute!" I called. Cyrus stopped and turned to me.

"Yes?" he asked, grinning. I sighed, knowing I was breaking every rule ever created about stranger danger.

"You still got that free room you were talking about?" I asked.

"Sure," Cyrus replied and pulled the hood of my top up over my head.

The hotel was nice, there was a TV and a big table and a cooker. The microwave didn't work but there was a new kettle that had just been fitted apparently and an Ironing board, not that Cyrus did any ironing, I don't think he had any luggage at all! I got up late that morning, I was enjoying being in a proper bed so much, but when I did get up there was a note on the kitchen table for me from Cyrus.

Ember,

I work during the night so I need to sleep in the daytime, please don't wake me. My bedroom is off limits, the hotel key is in the plant pot by the door if you want to go out but be back by eight o'clock tonight. Take care

Cyrus

I smiled, feeling looked after and took the key out of the plant pot, closing the door behind me quietly so as not o wake Cyrus up. I went out into town with some of Cyrus' money and bought him a box of chocolates with it to thank him for being so kind to me. I then went to the cinema and got some fast food afterwards. When I came back at about half past seven that evening, Cyrus was awake, only just, and was at the kitchen table sipping coffee absentmindedly. The curtains were pulled shut so I went to open them.

"No, no, leave it," Cyrus groaned.

"Why? It's still light outside, it might wake you up a bit," I said.

"I don't do well in sunlight," Cyrus muttered.

"What are you a vampire?" I laughed.

"Well… I need to talk to you about something," Cyrus said, he sat up, looking more alert and then dropped his gaze.

"If you want me to leave, I'll go," I sighed.

"No, no!" Cyrus cried, "No I don't want you to leave, don't be silly! But I'm not sure you'll want to stay when you hear what I have to say,"

"Well, I have got another idea as to what you have to say," I said, grinning, "It sounds crazy, but are you really a vampire?"

"… yes," Cyrus said quietly, he looked up at me questioningly, my eyes were wide and I was truly shocked. I was also a little scared and he must have seen this because he started to explain, "But I don't drain people's blood and turn them into bats…"

"Yeah, I know, " I sighed, "You make small cuts with your fingernails and drink small amounts of blood, you can't fly or turn into anything else but your senses are ten times sharper and you live ten times longer than humans. You don't have fangs, you'll die if exposed to sunlight for more than a few hours and you can be killed In pretty much the same way as humans,"

Cyrus gaped at me open mouthed.

"How do you know these things?" he asked, amazed.

"I had a pen friend on the Internet, I thought he was crazy but in the back of my head I knew what he said made sense. I met him on a chat room once and we e-mailed each other for two years until… well, until I had to leave home. Steve-the-vampire-slayer, he was great, a bit too serious but he was one of my best friends," I explained. "I miss him."

"Well, there's a library down the road, couldn't you try to e-mail him from one of their computers?" Cyrus suggested.

"I suppose I could, but shall we get back to the problem of you being a vampire?" I grinned uncertainly.

"Is it a problem then?" Cyrus asked.

"You wouldn't have told me if you thought it wasn't," I replied.

"The real problem is that I'm leaving for vampire mountain in three days and I'll be chucking you back on the streets again," Cyrus sighed.

"Mmm," I said sadly.

"Unless you want to come with me," Cyrus suggested, this was what he'd been getting at the whole time of course.

"But I can't go to Vampire Mountain, I'm not a vampire, I'm food!" I cried, shaking my head.

"Well… that was the other thing, life as a vampire is really not all that bad and…"

"No!" I interrupted, "No way, I know how people become vampires, the whole cutting the fingers and transferring the blood, and I know the risks involved. I can't even stand the sight of blood when I fall and cut myself who knows what I'd do if I was being blooded!" I screeched.

"It was just a suggestion," Cyrus said defensively.

"Well, can't you… can't I come with you anyway, you can carry me up the mountain if I get tired, I mean you're extra strong aren't you and I can just pretend I'm a half-vampire," I suggested.

"Don't be stupid!" Cyrus laughed, "They'd know instantly you weren't a vampire, you don't smell like a vampire, you don't act like a vampire, the vampaneze would suck you dry and eat you for dinner!"

"I thought we were talking about vampires," I said, raising an eyebrow.

"We are but… well… it's complicated, things have been happening between the two clans recently and… well… I'm assisting my friend Kurda trying to make peace with the vampaneze to save the vampires… it's complicated," Cyrus said awkwardly.

"Sounds it," I said, my head spinning.

"At least think about the vampire thing yeah? You've got three days but there's no going back if you decide to do it," Cyrus said and then we changed the subject and spent the night laughing and talking about random things.

This morning I went to the library, leaving Cyrus to get some sleep. I sat at one of the computers and tried to remember my e-mail address and password, it had been a long time. I had a cold and kept sniffing and having to blow my nose and the librarian was giving me a nasty look. I just smiled at her and thought what a miserable old bat she was. That jogged my memory and I typed in my password. I didn't have any new messages surprisingly but I checked on my instant messenger to see who was online and as luck would have it the only name that flashed was Steve-the-vampire-slayer. I smiled to myself thinking what a great idea this was of Cyrus', I hadn't spoken to a friend my own age for a long time, it would do me good.

ChatGal: Hey Steve! Long time no see

Steve-the-vampire-slayer: Oh hello, I haven't heard from you in a long time, how have you been?

ChatGal: Yeah, I'm sorry I haven't been in touch but a lot of things have been happening in my life. I'm staying with a real vampire at the moment, sorry for having doubted you, I thought you made it up!

There was a long pause before Steve replied.

Steve-the-vampire-slayer: Really? Are you alright?

ChatGal: Yes, he's very kind to me, he wants me to join the vampire clan! What do I do?

Steve-the-vampire-slayer: Don't! If I was you I'd get out of there as soon as possible, the vampire's probably using you as an easy blood source, he'll drain you dry if you're not careful. I consider you a friend, I don't want anything to happen to you.

ChatGal: If he was using me as a blood source why ask me to join the clan? Vampire blood is poisonous to them isn't it? That's what you told me.

Steve-the-vampire-slayer: Yes, but maybe it just doesn't want you to become suspicious.

ChatGal: So what should I do?

Steve-the-vampire-slayer: Kill it, it can't be trusted. None of them can, I told you when we chatted before that they're' nasty creatures, they're' clever too. Drive a stake through its heart while its sleeping.

ChatGal: But he hasn't done anything to me!

Steve-the-vampire-slayer: not yet, but has it been hunting recently? Has it gone out during the night?

ChatGal: No. Why?

Steve-the-vampire-slayer: Then what has it been drinking?

ChatGal: I've only been there two nights.

Steve-the-vampire-slayer: All the same I don't think you should risk it, better safe then sorry. If you want I can come and kill it for you, give me the address, I think I know how. I suppose I'd better get some practise in sometime if I want to become a vampire slayer.

ChatGal: Why do you hate vampire's so much? What have you got against them?

Steve-the-vampire-slayer: A pair of them has ruined my life. They're all dishonest, vile, filthy creatures. I don't want to talk about it before you ask.

ChatGal: ok

Steve-the-vampire-slayer: So what are you going to do?

ChatGal: I'm still not sure.

Steve-the-vampire-slayer: Well, if you do decide to become a vampire, here's a picture of the person who'll be standing over you with a bloody stake in one hand as you take your last breaths!

A picture of a dark haired, dark eyed, pale faced teenager appeared below the last message.

ChatGal: Steve don't be like that!

Steve-the-vampire-slayer: This vampire, is it asleep now?

ChatGal: Please don't refer to him as an 'it', he's not an animal.

Steve-the-vampire-slayer: Of course it is! I can't believe you don't see past its act!

ChatGal: Shut up! I think that you're the animal, Steve, not Cyrus!

Steve-the-vampire-slayer: Yeah, well, if the vampire doesn't kill you first then it means I will. I hope for your sake that our paths don't cross. I thought we were friends.

ChatGal: So did I. If our paths do cross I'll take pleasure in scratching your ratty little face off you evil killer!

With that I logged off of the messenger and walked out of the library feeling upset and confused.

Later on I was watching TV when Cyrus came out of his room yawning and stretching.

"Are the curtains shut?" he groaned.

"Yes, I just shut them when I heard you get up and there's a mug of strong, black coffee on the table," I replied.

"Thank you!" Cyrus said, he sounded thoroughly pleased. "Have you eaten?"

"Yes!" I laughed, he sounded like my mother!

"And you've drunk plenty of water?"

"Yes, don't worry, and I had a glass of that cranberry juice from the jug in the fridge," I sighed.

"Oh dear, one problem," Cyrus said, stopping in his tracks and taking a deep breath.

"What?"

"Well that wasn't cranberry juice,"

"What was it then… oh no! No way!" I cried, feeling suddenly very sick.

"I bottled some at the beginning of the week so I wouldn't have to go hunting! Couldn't you taste that it wasn't cranberry juice?" he said, astonished.

"I've got a cold!" I shrieked.

"Well it doesn't exactly look like juice!"

"I didn't look at it, I never thought…" I trailed off helplessly.

"I can't believe you did that!" Cyrus said, he looked as if he was in pain but then I realised that he was trying to stop himself from laughing. He couldn't hold it in for long and burst into fits of uncontrollable laughter! I didn't really see what was funny but then I suppose I wouldn't.

"It's not funny, it's wrong!" I growled.

"Aww, I'm sorry. Did you talk to your friend?" Cyrus asked when he'd stopped laughing.

"Yeah," I sighed.

"And?"

"It didn't go too well,"

"How come?"

"Apart from the fact that he wanted me to kill you, he just wasn't how I remembered him," I said sadly.

"Kill me?" Cyrus said, feigning shock "Now why would anybody want to do that? I'm only a blood sucking vampire!"

"Maybe he heard you snoring from where he is, I know that everyone else did!" I laughed.

"You cheeky cow, I don't snore!" Cyrus said.

"No you don't really," I said, grinning, "It's more like an elephant trumpeting away in there!"

"Ooh, you're getting a bit big for your boots eh? If you're coming with me I'll have to bring some tape and stick your mouth shut!" Cyrus laughed and then stopped. We were silent for a few minutes, thinking about what we were going to say. Cyrus took a deep breath and sighed.

"I'm leaving tomorrow night, Ember, will you be coming with me?"

"I don't know," I said quietly. I had a big decision to make, I could either keep my only friend, or I could keep my humanity.

"Ember I don't want to leave you alone again, I know you can look after yourself but sometimes to survive you have to live. Is there really anything left for you here?" Cyrus reasoned.

"…No," I sighed slowly, " And I'd come with you without a second thought but I don't think I'm ready to become a vampire, maybe when I'm older if I meet a vampire I'll choose to then, because I wouldn't mind being one. But I don't think I'm strong enough to cope with the fighting and survive among the toughened. I don't think I could make it for the rest of my life without my humanity, there are so many things that I haven't been able to experience yet and if I become a vampire now I'll never experience them,"

"I understand," Cyrus said and smiled warmly. And that smile ripped me to pieces and I knew that if I lost Cyrus now I'd regret it for the rest of my life. I burst into tears, the first time I had done so in many, many months.

"Cyrus, please! Let me come with you anyway, I can learn. If I drag you down you can leave me, but I don't think I'll be able to survive now I've had a taste of what it would be like to be cared for!"

I howled and rested my head in my arms, covering my face with my hair, ashamed of admitting that I needed someone.

"I don't know what to do for the best, I've got to admit that I've grown attached to you already and I don't want to leave you. But the journey to Vampire Mountain is hard enough for a vampire to take let alone a human child," Cyrus said softly and stroked my head gently. I looked up at him and brushed the tears from my face.

"At least I'd die knowing my life wasn't completely pointless, if I attempted to come with you then I would at least achieve something," I sniffed. Cyrus was silent for a long time.

"You've got me twisted round your little finger already Trouble," he sighed eventually, " You can come with me, but if you can't cope then you have to promise you'll let me blood you, I won't let you die."

"Oh Cyrus, you're brilliant! Nobody has ever been as nice to me as you," I said, smiling.

"Ok, enough of the mush, you'll make me cry!" Cyrus laughed.

"Cry then!" I yelled and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him into a hug. He stiffened as if embarrassed and then relaxed, hugging me back.

"I don't understand why we can't just take a plane all the way to this mountain!" I whined.

"Because it's traditional to walk and vampires are all about tradition, just be grateful we got a plane to the right part of the country!" Cyrus laughed. "Kurda told me that years ago we had to walk that too, he might have just been pulling my leg though."

"Who exactly is Kurda? You mentioned earlier that we're meeting him," I said.

"Kurda was the vampire who blooded me, I don't know what he'll do when he finds out about you, it might not be pretty," Cyrus sighed.

"He wouldn't… he wouldn't kill me would he?" I asked quietly. Cyrus looked at me for a moment and then started laughing, he laughed for quite a few minutes and couldn't stop.

"Kurda! Kill you! Are you kidding? He wouldn't hurt a fly!" Cyrus choked eventually when he'd stopped laughing. I smiled, glad that I'd made Cyrus laugh and then I pulled the collar of my sweater up over my face to try and block out some of the cold. I was wearing three sweaters and two pairs of jogging bottoms, Cyrus had also bought me a pair of hiking boots. Although it was tradition that vampires didn't wear shoes on the journey to Vampire Mountain I wasn't a vampire so the rules didn't matter to me. We'd been walking for about four days in the freezing cold, there wasn't a sign of any other life about and I wasn't sure how much more I could stand.

"Kurda should be meeting up with us sometime in the next few days but he might have problems finding us," Cyrus told me.

"You've never heard of mobile phones?" I asked. Cyrus just smiled.

The next day I was woken by muttering voices in the cave we were resting in. It was almost dusk so we would be leaving again shortly. I opened my eyes and watched as three strange men stood around Cyrus who was curled up asleep in the opposite corner. I wasn't scared, I knew that one of the men had to be this Kurda that Cyrus was talking about and the other two were probably just friends.

"Someone find some charcoal and we'll draw on him!" one of the men whispered, he had a cheeky, boyish face and long, dyed plum hair that was tied up in a ponytail with green ribbon. All three of them were giggling and twittering like children. I moved my hand to cover my mouth so I wouldn't be heard laughing and a loose piece of gravel went skidding across the cave floor. I didn't want the men to know that I was awake so I stretched my arms out and rolled over slightly so it would appear to them that I was just moving in my sleep. I had my eyes very slightly opened so they wouldn't see but I could watch what was going on. They were looking at me curiously.

"Hey Kurda?" the man with the ponytail asked, addressing a man with blonde hair and brilliant, sparkling blue eyes, "Who do you think that is?" he gestured at me.

"I don't know," Kurda replied, shrugging, "I'm sure Cyrus has a reason,"

"Does Cyrus have a reason for anything?" the man with the ponytail snorted.

"Hey Sparcalo?" asked the man who hadn't spoken yet, he was tall with a hedge of untidy black hair on his head and a sparkling, jewelled stud in his nose, he was smiling sweetly.

"What?" the man with the ponytail replied.

"Shut up!"

"Hey!" Sparcalo growled and tried to throw a punch at the other man who ducked. Sparcalo's fist went sailing threw the air and he tripped over a large rock, falling straight on top of Cyrus. Cyrus woke with a start, yelped, and then tried to stand up.

"You're crushing me!" he cried. Sparcalo rolled off of Cyrus and stood up, brushing himself off. By this time I was laughing so much the tears were falling down my face.

"Couldn't you just shake me?" Cyrus snapped. The three men laughed and Kurda held his hand out for Cyrus and pulled him to his feet. Cyrus pulled Kurda and Sparcalo into a strong embrace while the man with the black hair watched, smiling. Kurda pulled away from Cyrus and put an arm around the man.

"This is Oric," he said, "I blooded him last year,"

Oric and Cyrus shook hands and nodded at each other, smiling.

"And now it's your turn for the introductions," Kurda said smiling, "Who's the young lady in the corner?"

All eyes were suddenly on me, I sat and looked around at the four faces watching me, it was a bit too late to pretend that I was still asleep!

"Err… this is Ember," Cyrus said, grinning weakly.

"Oh Cyrus, you know what my views are on blooding children!" Kurda sighed.

"Yes I know," Cyrus said, looking at the floor, almost in shame.

"Then why did you do it Thicko?" Sparcalo said.

"Oh shut up Sparky!" Cyrus growled.

"I swear to the Gods Cyrus, if you call me Sparky again I'll…" Sparcalo began but Kurda interrupted.

"Will you two stop bickering! I feel like your mother!" he tutted, "But Cyrus… why?"

"I didn't blood her I swear!" Cyrus said defensively.

"She belongs to a dead friend?"

"No,"

"Well spill the beans,"

"She's not a vampire, she…tagged along," Cyrus said lamely.

"Oh for… what are you going to do with her?" Kurda sighed.

"Take her to vampire mountain, I thought maybe she could stay in the tunnels with the vampaneze and…"

"Do you even listen to yourself when you talk?" Sparcalo interrupted.

"Butt out Sparky!" Cyrus snarled.

"Oh you are really asking for it!"

"Here we go again," Kurda groaned, "But Cyrus, Sparcalo does have a point, how many seconds do you think she would last with a group of hungry vampaneze?"

"Well I thought maybe you could…"

"No! I'm not having any part of this! Don't you think I've got enough on my plate as it is?" Kurda cried.

"It's like having my stupid little brother living with me all over again!" Sparcalo muttered. They carried on bickering like this for almost twenty minutes but I lost interest and so, apparently, had Oric. He came and sat down on the floor next to me and we talked together quietly.

"Ember was it?" he asked.

"Yeah, just out of curiosity, am I invisible? I swear they're talking like I'm not even here," I said sarcastically.

"They haven't seen each other in years, I think it's their way of saying hello," Oric replied, grinning. "How old are you?"

"Fourteen, you?"

"Twenty-seven,"

"You look older,"

"Kurda's the oldest one here, he's a hundred and twenty,"

"A hundred and twenty!" I gasped.

"Yeah, and Sparcalo's getting on for eighty,"

"You're kidding?"

"No, honestly,"

"What about Cyrus?"

"I don't know, I only just met him in person but by what Kurda said I think he's about forty, maybe forty-five,"

I looked over at Cyrus who was grinding his teeth and looking furious.

"What am I supposed to do with her?" he was yelling.

"We can take her down to the nearest village, someone's bound to take her in," Sparcalo spat, throwing his arms in the air.

"And what if they don't? What if she's left all alone again, struggling to keep herself going? Don't you have any heart at all?" Cyrus asked. I sighed and stood up.

"I've had enough of this," I muttered to Oric and then strolled over to the three arguing vampires.

"Oi!" I yelled, "Oi!"

They shut up and turned to look at me.

"Yeah?" Sparcalo said rudely.

"Oh you can see me then, the way you were talking I thought I didn't exist," I snarled.

"Ember, just a bit of advice, that's not going to help," Cyrus muttered.

"I just want to inform you that if you want to stop me from coming with you, you have a problem." I said, drawing myself up to my full height, " I'm going to follow you whether you like it or not and I'm not budging!"

"That's easily solved," Sparcalo said and without warning he grabbed me round the waste, slung me over his shoulder and started to walk out of the cave.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" I screamed, slapping at his back and pulling his ponytail. I saw Cyrus running after him, and then Kurda following behind, shaking his head despairingly.

"I object!" Cyrus yelled.

"Sparcalo come on, be fair," Kurda sighed. Sparcalo ignored both of them and carried on walking quickly back the way I'd come with Cyrus. I fought and struggled but he wouldn't let go so I decided that desperate times called for desperate measures. I counted to three, took a deep breath, then threw my head backwards and bit Sparcalo's ear as hard as possible.

"Ouch," he cried and dropped me. I ran back to Cyrus and stood behind him, using his body as a shield to protect me from the steaming Sparcalo. Cyrus and Kurda were grinning at each other as Sparcalo came marching up to them, spitting on his fingers and then rubbing his bleeding ear. I risked a quick peak around Cyrus and then waved and grinned. Sparcalo growled, chewing the inside of his mouth with rage.

"That thing is an abomination!" he hissed, pointing at me.

"That's a lovely long word for you to be using Sparky," I replied feeling quite invincible.

"Watch it," Cyrus warned, ruffling my hair as I came to stand beside him. Oric stuck his head out of the cave.

"Are you ok Sparcalo? Would you like me to kiss it better?" he asked, smiling wickedly.

"Don't you start Oric," Sparcalo spat.

"Oh I'm so scared!" Oric said sarcastically. He came and stood next to me and I felt extremely pleased with myself. I decided to be brave and took a step closer to Sparcalo.

"Sorry I hurt you," I said seriously and held out my hand for him to shake. He stared at it uncertainly and then nodded and shook it.

"Ok," he sighed and I could see how painfully damaging this was to his pride, "And I'm sorry I treated you like a sack of potatoes,"

"Apology accepted," I said smiling.

"Come on Kurda, she's got spirit, she might last," Oric said pleadingly. Kurda sighed.

"We'll vote," he said eventually, " All in favour of Ember coming with us, raise your hand,"

Cyrus, Oric and, amazingly Sparcalo raised their hands.

"I don't suppose I have any choice then," Kurda laughed and then put a hand on my shoulder.

"Lucky you," he said grimly.

"You make it sound like I've just sentenced myself to execution," I said.

"It'll be hard," he replied and then smiled, "But you'll be ok."

"No, no, no!" I sighed, "its 'You can own this Earth and still, all you'll own is earth until,' now try again,"

"This is stupid," Sparcalo grumbled.

"Only because you can't do it," I snapped.

"I can and I will!" Sparcalo replied and stuck his tongue out at me. With that he took a deep breath in and started to sing Colours of the Wind at the top of his voice.

"That would have put Pocahontas herself to shame," I said sarcastically. "It was beautiful."

I ducked as Sparcalo swung at my head and then I ran at him and head butted his stomach.

"Charna's Guts!" he wheezed, clutching his stomach and gasping for breath.

"Don't be such a girl Sparcalo!" Cyrus said.

"Hey! There's nothing wrong with girls," I said, outraged, "You're a sexist, what's the difference between males and females anyway?"

"I would have thought that was obvious," Sparcalo laughed, having recovered.

"Well that problem can soon be sorted out," I growled threateningly.

"Ok, let's change the subject shall we?" Kurda said. "Everybody…"

"Ninety-nine bottles of blood on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of blood! Take one down, pass it around ninety-eight bottles of blood on the wall!" we all chorused.

A few hours later, when we were on minus-two-hundred-and-twenty-seven bottles of blood on the wall, I stopped walking and took the bag off of my back.

"Wait a minute guys," I called. I rummaged in the bag and pulled out another sweater.

"Oh Ember not another one," Oric said, shaking his head.

"I'm very cold," I muttered and pulled the sweater over my head.

"Well it's nearly dawn and there's a clump of trees over there, shall we call it a night?" Kurda asked. The others agreed so we settled down to get some sleep, I was grateful because we'd been walking all night and I was exhausted.

"Which route are the Vampaneze taking?" Cyrus asked when we were lying around a fire to keep warm.

"They're coming from all over, in small groups, that way they're less likely to be seen," Kurda replied.

"What's the Vampaneze?" I asked, the vampires had discussed the Vampaneze a lot and I hadn't a clue what they were talking about.

"Kurda," Sparcalo, Oric, and Cyrus said in unison.

"Ok… fine," Kurda sighed. "I suppose you'll have to know sooner or later,"

"Well go on then," I said impatiently.

"The Vampaneze are like Vampires in all but two ways. One of these ways is their appearance, their eyes are red and their skin is purple,"

"Purple!" I gasped, not sure if I should believe him or not.

"Yes, but the thing that you need to know about is their feeding habits," Kurda said looking uncomfortable. "As you know, vampires drink small amounts of blood and never harm the humans they feed from. The Vampaneze on the other hand…" he trailed off and looked at me.

"What?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"A Vampaneze will drain every drop of blood from a human body," Kurda told me quietly. "Every time,"

"Which is why it was a ludicrous idea to take you to Vampire Mountain. You won't be allowed into the halls with the rest of us, the other vampires would smurficate us. So the only other way of keeping you in Vampire Mountain would be to set you up in the secret tunnels, which will be full of Vampaneze because of The Plan," Sparcalo said, smiling in an I-told-you-so way. My mouth fell open and I could have wet myself.

"Don't worry," Cyrus said gently.

"Oh no I wasn't worried, why should I be worried? I mean I'm only going to be left with a load of monsters that will want to eat me!" I screeched.

"I'll talk to them," Kurda assured me.

"Yeah… thanks… that makes me feel so much safer," I said sarcastically. "Just one question, why the hell didn't you tell me this before?"

"I didn't want to put you off," Cyrus said quietly.

"You didn't want to put me off? Oh I'm not put off at all now, I'm just bloody petrified! What were you thinking? I mean, you might as well just slit my throat now…"

"Somebody shut her up!" Oric sighed.

"Pleasure," Sparcalo said. He took a deep breath in, turned to me and blew a cloud of gas into my face, that's the last thing I can remember before lying back and falling into uneasy unconsciousness.

I woke up the next night. I was slung over Sparcalo's shoulder as the group was walking. I opened my eyes and then closed them again, my head was pounding, and I felt like I was going to throw up.

"She's awake," I heard Oric say. I didn't open my eyes. Sparcalo stopped and started to put me down.

"Doesn't look very awake to me," Sparcalo said. I felt a hand on my face.

"Come one sunshine, I saw you peeking," Oric laughed. "You're awake alright,"

"No I'm not," I groaned. Sparcalo dropped me on the ground and carried on walking. "I was enjoying the ride," I moaned.

"Of course you were," Oric said, dropping my bag beside me as I walked past. I stared after him for a while and then stood up and ran at him, jumping on his back and wrapping my legs around his waste.

"Piggyback!" I cried in a babyish voice.

"You've got more chance of Hell freezing over kiddo," he muttered.

"Piggyback!" I repeated.

"Oh no!" Oric said, stopping.

"What?" I asked.

"Gravity is increasing on me!" he gasped and without warning he fell backwards on top of me.

"Help!" I screamed, "you're squashing me!"

"Am I?" Oric asked innocently.

"Only slightly!" I coughed and he stood up and brushed himself down. I got to my knees and pulled my fourth sweater from my bag. I put it on and then Oric and I hurried to catch up with the others.

I'd tried to forget about the Vampaneze, Kurda seemed the sort of person you could trust, and I did trust him, but that didn't stop me from being scared. The next night I'd decided I'd almost had enough, the cold was getting to me, although I was exhausted from walking all night I could barely sleep and it made me hungry but there was little food.

"How much further," I moaned, we'd been on the trail for weeks and weeks and weeks and things had started to look the same as always.

"We're nearly there," Cyrus said, putting a comforting arm around my shoulder. "Give it another week and you'll be warm and cosy,"

"Brilliant," I said, grinning. Even the Vampaneze had to be better than this horrible cold.

A few hours later we were walking along- what's new- when suddenly all of the vampires stopped suddenly. I walked straight into Kurda who looked at me and put a finger silently to his lips.

"What's going on?" I whispered. Kurda didn't reply but got down on his haunches and pulled me down after him, the others followed, staring around uneasily. Kurda signalled for the others to stay where they were and then he crawled towards a ditch a few metres away, pulling me by the wrist.

"What are you doing?" I hissed. He put a hand over my mouth and put his mouth to my ear.

"You can't be seen," he whispered. "There's someone following us, stay in the ditch until we come back for you."

"No way, how do I know you won't leave me," I growled.

"We won't, trust me," Kurda said. I sighed, deciding I'd have to trust him, and slowly I lowered myself into the ditch. Kurda smiled at me and threw me down a knife.

" No matter what happens don't move ok? Don't even breathe, we'll be back for you I promise, look after yourself."

"Yeah, see you later," I muttered, and then Kurda disappeared and I was left, sitting in a ditch, all by myself. I heard voices a few minutes later.

"Surprise!" someone called, it was a voice I didn't recognise.

"That's not funny Jack! We thought we were being attacked!" I heard Cyrus shout.

"Sorry, sorry, just stupid old Jack, thought you'd be pleased to see him, how wrong can a guy get?" the voice, belonging to whoever Jack was, said unhappily.

"Don't listen to him, he's just cranky because he hasn't had much sleep," Sparcalo laughed.

" Oh dear, let's walk and talk shall we?" Jack asked.

"Well it'll be getting light soon, I was going to find somewhere to crash," Kurda said.

"Nonsense, the night's still young, come on, best foot forward!" Jack said, he sounded drunk.

"Err… alright then," Kurda sighed.

"But Kurda…" Cyrus began.

"No, he's right, the nights still young, lets get going," Kurda interrupted. My heart started to beat faster as I heard the vampires walking. I wanted to climb out of the ditch and go after them, ask them what the hell they thought they were doing, but then I remembered Kurda's words, 'no matter what happens, don't move.' So I stayed put as the footsteps faded into the distance. A few minutes later someone jumped into the ditch and landed with a bump beside me.

"Thought I'd come and keep you company," Oric said, grinning.

"Won't that Jack person realise you're not there?" I asked, relieved that I wasn't on my own.

"Nah, he doesn't know who I am, anyway he's drunk so he'll probably think he imagined me," Oric said. "Kurda sent me to look after you, he was worried about leaving you. They'll be back as soon as they figure out how to ditch Jack."

"Thanks," I said and decided to see if I could get some sleep.

The next night I was woken by yelling. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, Sparcalo, Kurda, Cyrus, and Oric were all standing up, next to the ditch. I stood up and pulled myself out.

"It bit me!" Sparcalo was crying.

"I did warn you," Kurda laughed.

"Evening all," I yawned.

"Hey ya girl, sorry we took so long," Cyrus said, smiling and ruffling my hair, "Sparcalo's missed you like crazy."

"No I haven't!" Sparcalo exclaimed, "You were the one who's been saying 'ooh it's so quiet without Ember, I hope she's all right, I hope she doesn't think I abandoned her, I hope…" Sparcalo was interrupted by Cyrus who lunged at him and knocked him to the ground.

"Come one children, play nicely!" Kurda sighed, he was holding a large, brown sack in one hand, and it was moving.

"What's in there?" I asked suspiciously, pointing at the sack.

"Jack gave it to me, it attacked him, he was going to eat it but he can't get it out of the sack, maybe you could have a go," Kurda replied. He handed the sack to me and I took it reluctantly, I didn't really want to open it, it sounded dangerous, but I also didn't want to look like a coward. I opened the sack up and held it at arms length in case whatever was inside jumped out at me. I carefully looked inside and then smiled, relieved.

"It's just a dog!" I laughed.

"It's an abomination," Sparcalo said, he had Cyrus pinned to the ground. "Just like someone else I know," he added, smiling sweetly at me. I stuck my tongue out at him and reached into the sack, the dog was very small, with smooth black and brown fur, it backed away from my hand as I reached for it and trembled as I stroked it. Gradually it started to relax and I felt confident enough to take it out of the sack. I held it close to my chest, it was warm, and it rubbed its head against my chin affectionately.

"Aww, I'm in love," I said, scratching the dog's ears.

"That's pathetic!" Sparcalo growled, standing up and snatching the dog away from me. "Look at it, I've seen more threatening things in my old Granny's sewing box!"

The dog barked and tried to snap at Sparcalo's hands, it was getting more and more wound up.

"Give him back," I said calmly.

"Want it can't have it, want it can't…" Sparcalo stopped mid-chant and stared down at the fresh wet patch on his shirt. Oric, Kurda, and Cyrus started to laugh and Sparcalo flushed scarlet. I grabbed the dog from him before he did him any damage and he snuggled close to me, I put my arms around him protectively.

"Can we keep it?" Oric asked Kurda.

"Why not? We've already got one stray another one won't do any harm," Kurda said.

"Oi! At least I don't look like a cats scratch post!" I yelled and threw a stick at Kurda's head.

We began to walk again and were a day away from the entry to the tunnels in the mountain by dawn. We stayed awake until the sun started to peep round the mountain. We talked for a long time and eventually conversation turned to Cyrus.

"Come on Cyrus, lets have your story, I haven't heard that one," Sparcalo said.

"Yeah, you've never told me about yourself," I said. Cyrus grimaced.

"There isn't really much to tell," he admitted. We all got comfortable, I made sure Dog was comfortable in my lap and then we waited for Cyrus to start his story.

"I was working late at the fish and chip shop at home," he began, " Kurda came in and we were talking while his chips were frying and I asked him were he got his three scars. God knows why but he told me the truth and I believed every word."

"I'd had a hard day and couldn't be bothered to come up with an excuse," Kurda explained. "I admired Cyrus' open-mindedness and told him about vampires, thinking that maybe he'd be good to have on my side."

"Yeah, and I thought the grass might be greener on the other side and here I am kind of humanity-less" Cyrus said, shrugging.

"So that's how I ended up with a whiney new blood-brother then?" Sparcalo grinned.

"Yeah," Kurda sighed, "But Cyrus I don't understand why you gave up Tessa and the baby to be a vampire, I've always meant to ask you."

"I didn't know Tessa was pregnant until after you blooded me," Cyrus said, looking suddenly miserable.

"I'm so sorry, I never knew," Kurda mumbled after a few moments of silence, " I feel so guilty."

"Did he blame you, Kurda? Did you see him point the finger? No!" Sparcalo said, "For God's sake lighten up and stop being so dramatic, you expect everyone to feel sorry for you!"

"Cyrus! You never told me you had a family," I said, feeling a little hurt.

"I didn't think it was important." Cyrus shrugged.

"Yeah and where's your story Shorty?" Sparcalo said, poking me.

"Hey watch it lamppost or I'll set my dog on you again!" I laughed.

"Come one Ember, what was your life like?" Oric asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," I snapped, suddenly putting my shields down.

"I don't blame you Ember," an unfamiliar voice said, it came from behind us and we all turned, Oric grabbed his pair of knives and held them above his head. Suddenly an old man stepped out of the fading darkness.

"Desmond Tiny," Kurda said, he sounded nervous.

"Who?" I asked.

"Ember Marvalo, I really don't blame you for not wanting to share your life with these vampires, killing your step-father is nothing to be proud of is it?" the old man said, grinning wickedly. I picked Dog up and held him close to me, standing to face the old man.

"How do you know my name? How do you know… me?" I growled.

"I know a lot of things," Desmond Tiny replied.

"Cut the crap Gramps and tell me who you are!" I snarled.

"Ember shut up," Kurda growled with uncharacteristic bluntness. I stared at him for a moment, unsure of why he was behaving so strangely and then spat at the ground.

"I'm surprised Kurda, I thought you'd be more careful with who you associated with, you know what's at stake," Desmond Tiny said.

"What do you mean?" Kurda asked. The old man tutted, shaking his head slowly.

"Now Kurda you know I can't tell you the future, but let me just say that this girl will be the death of you," he laughed and the sound sent shivers down my spine, but why?

"What are you talking about?" Cyrus asked quietly, you could cut the atmosphere with a knife.

"Why don't you tell them Ember? Why don't you tell them what an evil little girl you are? Murder before your fourteenth birthday, it's a big achievement," Desmond Tiny said, smiling.

"He's lying!" I yelled before anybody else could say anything. "It's not true!"

"That won't work either Ember, all of us here know I don't lie, isn't that right Kurda?" the old ma chuckled. Kurda didn't say anything, he was looking away from me.

"Is the guilt terrible Ember? Knowing that it's all your fault that your mother did what she did?" The old man asked softly.

"Shut up!" I screamed and suddenly the cupboards full of the hideous memories that I had kept locked away for so long just came flying out. I couldn't forget anymore, it wouldn't work, something was happening and the memories were so vivid, so real. I collapsed to my knees, sobbing, closing my eyes tightly, and trying to block everything out again.

"A word in private Kurda?" I heard Desmond Tiny ask.

"Yes," Kurda replied in a quiet voice and the two of them began to walk away out of sight. I felt an arm around my shoulders and I looked up at Cyrus who was staring at me with concern in his eyes.

"Are you ok?" he asked. I shook my head and threw my arms around him, hugging him tightly. Dog sat quietly between my feet, leaning against me, reassuring me that he was there for me.

"Was that Mr. Tiny?" Oric whispered. Cyrus nodded.

"He is one nasty piece of work," Sparcalo growled, "If I got my hands on him I'd rip him limb from limb!"

"Nothing was stopping you, Sparky" Oric pointed out innocently.

"Well… it wasn't the time or the place," Sparcalo said hesitantly. I laughed at that and pulled away from Cyrus.

"Who is he anyway?" I asked.

"Just an old meddler, an evil old git, and a seer of the future," Cyrus half-laughed.

"I've got to go," I said suddenly.

"What?" Oric and Cyrus asked in unison.

"You heard him, if he can see the future and he says I'll be the death of Kurda I have to go!" I explained.

"Don't be stupid!" Sparcalo said, "he just likes to interfere where it's none of his business."

"You all agree he doesn't lie!" I insisted, "It was my fault you've been lumbered with me anyway and I don't want anything bad to happen to any of you on account of me!"

"Is this really about that?" Cyrus said gently, "Or is this about the other thing Tiny said?" I kept silent. "We all do things we regret Ember, it's life, we have to learn from our mistakes."

"So you wouldn't hate me if I'd done something terrible?" I whispered, staring at the ground.

"No," Cyrus replied.

"Of course we wouldn't," Oric added.

"Bad things happen," Sparcalo said.

"Even if I'd… say… killed my mum and step-dad?" I sighed.

"Not even then, want to talk about it?" Oric said.

"Not really but I suppose I'd better," I replied. "I never knew my dad and my mum met a new guy when I was about seven years old. My brother and I never got on with him, he didn't want to be lumbered with somebody else's kids, he bullied us, used us as punch bags when mum went out on her weekend courses. She never noticed, she was far too loved up and we never told her, we had never seen her so happy before and we wanted her to stay like that. Two years went by and Ted, my step-dad, got worse and worse, and Christo and me hurt more and more. Then, one day, I was sent home from school early because I was sick. I was up in my room when I heard voices downstairs, I went down, and there was Ted, with this other woman. I was so angry, I'd put up with this man for two yeas to make my mum happy, and now I find out that he would eventually break her heart anyway. I went into the kitchen while this woman was in the toilet and took one of the knives from the side and then I went into the living room and stabbed him." I took a deep breath in and blinked the tears from my eyes. "I was just so angry I couldn't control myself, I couldn't stop it and suddenly Ted's body was on the floor and I was covered in blood. Realisation hit me and I was paralysed with fear, I just sat on the floor with the bloody knife in my lap and stared at the blood, paralysed with fear. This woman came In and she called the police and I can just remember her screaming and then I was screaming and common sense kicked in and suddenly I was running. I stayed on the streets, trying not to be caught, and just waited for people to forget about me."

"It wasn't your fault Ember, it was an accident," Cyrus said quietly.

"That's not the worse bit," I sighed, " I went home two months later to find that our house had been sold, Christo had been put into care and my mother had committed suicide."

"God!" Oric breathed.

"Yep," I gulped and there was a long, uneasy silence. Eventually Kurda came back looking pale and tired and as if he'd aged fifty years in the last half-hour, I noticed that he avoided looking at me.

"Kurda? You ok?" Sparcalo asked.

"Fine," Kurda said and we could all see that he was lying but we didn't press him further.