Disclaimer: I do not own the Night World creation or any of its rules (soulmate principle, black irises, etc.). I do not own any of the characters in this story if they had appeared in the books. I've now read 'Soulmate' and 'Huntress.' I am only borrowing the creation of 'The Night World' from L.J. Smith and making a story of my own.

Summary: It was the night before the biggest wedding of the year. It was the wedding between Samuel Folan and Evangeline Yerken, two of the main descendants of the Maya. They had already had a son, Carter, who was three months old. But then fate turned. Vampire hunters charged in and started attacking. Many were wounded including Samuel's father, Xavier. Evangeline lost grip on her son and the vampire hunters took him. After a few minutes, the vampire hunters were satisfied and left. Samuel and Evangeline were two of the few that survived. As Samuel was the eldest Folan son, he was then the head of the family. Years after the tragedy, Samuel and Evangeline tried having another son to replace the one they lost but they had twin daughters and another daughter. But then another vampire hunter had gashed Samuel and now he is going to die. He can't pass his title back to his daughters as they hadn't married. Evangeline is trying to make her daughters marry or find out if somehow Carter had survived. If she doesn't succeed in one of the two, the title would be given to Samuel's younger brother, Alfonso. The vampire hunter that took Carter couldn't kill such an innocent baby so she put him up for adoption. He was then adopted by the Dereks and was then named Zach…

Author's Note: Sorry the summary was so long! i have 2 admit Ella in this chapter is realli not quite right. i appologise but i couldn't think of anything else. :(

Feedback to Reviews: yer sorry Becca! I realised wen i was sleepin the other nite that u wer also Polished Gem. sorry! its realli embarrassin. and thanks 4 alwais reviwein!

Chapter Nine - Confrontation

Ella felt like someone had whacked a sledgehammer across her head. The pain was unbearable. Slowly, she forced her eyes open. All she saw was a concerned looking stranger.

Suddenly, Ella remembered everything that happened. This guy had attacked her in the middle of the night and then told her Zach was a vampire!

"What are you still doing here?" Ella shrieked getting up. It didn't make her look menacing like she hoped since he was about a foot taller than her.

"I…you fainted. I couldn't get you to wake up!" the guy said nervously.

"Get out of my house or I'm going to scream," Ella threatened. She was feeling angry and fearful of the man. And screaming would make her parents come and drive him away.

"You need to talk to Zach for me," the guy pleaded. "Just tell him that Sean said that if Zach didn't trust him, he may die."

"Listen, punk, did you come here for the number for the mental hospital? You told me Zach was a vampire and now you're telling me that Zach will die. What kind of freak are you?" Ella spat disgusted.

She glanced at her clock. 7: 03. It was Monday, a school day, and instead of making sure she looked perfect she was talking to a complete crazy stranger.

"Please, you're like the only person Zach talks too. Can you just tell Zach to meet me outside KFC at 4?" the guy asked.

Ella was losing her patience. This guy had it bad for Zach, even worse than her! She knew she should be feeling scared but she was more angry.

"Four things, buddy. One, Zach talks to everyone but me. Two, I don't even know your name. Who do I tell Zach he's meeting? A whacko that attacked me at night? Four, why don't you tell him yourself? And last, LEAVE ME ALONE!" Ella yelled.

"My name's Way—Sean. If you promise to talk to Zach for me I'll leave. Zach has this…grudge against me right now. He won't listen to me," Sean pressed.

"Whatever, dude. Just get out. I'll talk to Zach the Man then," Ella said grumpily. Under her breath she muttered, "And I promised myself I would never talk to him again."

"Thanks," Sean said shooting her a grateful smile. "Remember KFC at 4."

"Yeah, yeah!" Ella said waving him off. "Just go away. The window's that way. I mean, you can go downstairs and get busted by my parents if you want."

Sean paled and then nodded. He then climbed through the window. Ella watched him go. Finally. As if she was going to break her promise. She wasn't going to talk to Zach. Ever again.

………………………

"Why didn't you guys tell me!" Zach roared at his parents.

It was Monday, a relatively normal day. Or that was what his 'parents' thought. So there were in a huge shock when Zach yelled at them instead of taking a chair at the table for breakfast.

"I…we…the time…" Kevin spluttered looking at Holly. Holly's eyes were brimming with tears and she was gripping fiercely at Kevin's arm.

"We thought if we told you, you'd leave," Holly whispered.

"Yeah and when were you going to tell me? When I'm on my death bed?" Zach sneered.

"No, of course not!" Kevin said widening his eyes. "We were going to tell you very, very soon. I'm not lying."

"Sure," Zach scoffed. "If you had told me earlier than it would've made sense that I was different."

"Different?" Holly echoed.

Zach gulped realising that he let something slip. How was he supposed to tell them he was a vampire?

"How did you find out anyway?" Kevin asked narrowing his eyes.

Zach considered if he should tell them a stranger told him. Oh yeah, a sarcastic voice inside Zach's head said. And tell them you believe what Sean told you, you were a vampire.

"None of your business," Zach said evenly.

"We raised you! We are you parents! You should show us some respect!" Kevin yelled, his voice rising.

"Kevin, don't," Holly whimpered.

"And I had the right to know that I was adopted!" Zach yelled back angrily. "I don't belong in this family and I never will!"

Zach grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. He had to get out of this place. It was driving him insane.

"Zach, don't go!" Holly yelled sounding horrified.

Zach ignored them and got into his car. Then he sped off.

………………………………

"I guess this makes my job easier," Ella smiled to herself.

It was recess and she still hadn't seen Zach. At least she could tell Sean that Zach wasn't at school.

But still, something was nagging her. Why would Zach skip school? She knew his parents wouldn't allow it. His parents were the sort of people that did everything right.

Ella nibbled on her lower lip. Was Zach okay?

……………………………

Rocky was in a terribly pissed mood. He had not fed the entire day and he couldn't find a human that wasn't accompanied by someone else.

Rocky thought he heard someone shuffling behind him. Rocky slowly moved on forward, listening hard. Yep, someone was following him.

Rocky turned and looked around. He was in an alley where there were many boxes. No doubt his follower was behind one of those.

He walked on searching. He knew he could take on anything. He was the best vampire in Sydney.

He could here a heartbeat getting louder and louder. And blood, delicious blood, was pumping through their body. Rocky etched closer knowing that the person was behind the box.

Rocky quickly grabbed the box in two hands and threw it to the side. And that was when he saw her.

It was a lady, looking almost forty, but still quite pretty. She was slim with auburn hair and large emerald eyes. She looked tired and had a few greys in her hair.

Her eyes were large with shock when he threw the box away but now they were pooling with tears.

"What do you want?" Rocky growled. He could tell she was human but somehow she seemed vaguely familiar.

"Oh, God," she gasped getting up. She placed a hand over her heart. The tears were streaming down her cheeks now, leapfrogging one after another.

Rocky raised his eyebrows. He knew he wasn't bad looking so he didn't know why this lady was bawling?

"It was nice meeting you," Rocky said and then grabbed her shoulders.

As he was about to bite her neck, she screamed no, and stabbed him in the hand with a pencil.

Rocky released her in shock and pain. How did she know that wood would hurt him? Oh no, that meant she was just a vampire hunter trying to con him. Crap.

"I'm going to kill you, you stupid vampire hunter," Rocky growled. He lunged at her but she held up the pencil.

"Touch me and this will hurt more," she said evenly although she was still crying.

Rocky smirked but didn't move. And her tears were still pissing him off. All the vampire hunters that tried to kill him didn't cry. Rocky looked behind him. And this vampire hunter didn't seem to have back-up.

"Why are you crying? It's because you have to kill a good-looking fella like me, isn't it?" Rocky smirked.

"God, don't you remember me?" she breathed.

What was she on about now? Why would he remember an old chick like her?

"Sorry love but I don't make friends with…vermin," he shot back at her. "If you want to kill me, do it already."

"Tony, it's me. Edith!" the lady cried.

Rocky blinked. He hadn't heard of that name for so long. Tony. That was who he used to be. A stupid freak who was always in the shadows. Someone that he wanted to forget and now this stupid 'Edith' had just reminded him. Who on earth was Edith!

"I don't know any Edith," Rocky snarled. "And don't you ever call me Tony again!"

Edith's whole body was trembling now. She looked like she was going to collapse.

"Don't you remember me? I'm Edith, we use to go to the same school together. We grew up together, we hunted together," she sobbed.

Rocky couldn't help but search his mind for someone called Edith. And that's when he remembered. Edith. His girlfriend. She was the most beautiful girl and she was interested in him. But most importantly because of her, she made him Rocky.

Rocky grinned although it felt pained. It was so hard to look at her when those old feelings rose again. If his maths were correct, she would be thirty-seven. And she still looked stunning.

"I didn't thank you, Edith for making me who I am now. If I hadn't listened to you, I'd still be Tony—a complete nobody," Rocky said.

"No!" Edith yelled. "You weren't a nobody! You were the nicest, sweetest boy I ever met. God, Tony, why are you killing people?"

"Don't call me Tony!" Rocky growled.

"So you're a vampire now? You go and kill people for their blood?" Edith screeched incredulously.

Edith may have been the sexiest chick alive, and still is, but she was more annoying than she was eighteen years ago.

"It's the only way I survive, sweetcheeks. What? Do you want me to die?" Rocky asked trying to control his anger.

"Of course not!" Edith gasped, her eyes wide with shock.

"Don't lie, Edith. You left me there that night. The stupid house was falling apart and you run off with a God damned baby! What about me? You didn't give a rat's a if I survived or not. And I was dying in there. The only reason I'm alive right now is because of a vampire not because of you," Rocky snarled.

His anger was now released. He remembered that night now. He had thought Edith loved him but she had ran off with a baby. She didn't even look back to see if he was okay or not. She didn't care. And she didn't care now.

He knew those tears trailing down her cheeks were fake. She probably wanted to con him to trust her again so she could kill him.

"It's not like that!" she protested. "The baby was Carter. I had to kill him. It was my orders!"

"Uh huh," Rocky said dully. "If you left Carter there he would've died. Do you think a baby would survive when I couldn't? I was trapped under all the rubble!"

"If I had left Carter there, his parents would've saved him," Edith pressed on. "God, do you know how much pain I've gone through not knowing if you were alive or not?"

Rocky gave her a disbelieving look. He had thought for the first few years of his vampire life if Edith cared about him or not. He then realised she didn't. She would've dragged him under the debris and she would've searched for him. And now eighteen years later, she decides to look for him? There was something not quite right about that…

"What do you want?" Rocky growled baring his teeth. "Do you want me to turn myself in? Why are you here?"

"I just want to see you again!" Edith yelled. She was bawling now and Rocky tried not to think of the way his insides twisted. "I miss you, Tony!"

"DON'T CALL ME TONY!" Rocky roared. He hated that name. When he was Tony he feared everybody, now that he was Rocky it was the other way around.

Edith flinched and then sadly shook her head. Her red hair circled her shoulders and Rocky recalled how soft it was.

"Don't lie, Edith," Rocky said in a low voice. "You didn't come here to see me. If you did, you would've came eighteen years ago. So come on! Try and kill me! Lets see who wins: A human or a vampire."

Edith had her arms wrapped tightly around her and she was rocking back and forth. Rocky waited for her to move but she never did. He knew he shouldn't come any closer, since she had wood.

"What are you waiting for?" Rocky snapped.

"Don't you get it?" Edith asked raising her red-rimmed eyes at him. "I can't kill you. I could never hurt you."

"Then you failed," Rocky stated simply. "You had hurt me eighteen years ago when you didn't bother to save me. So come and fight me now."

Edith once again shook her head. She also looked like she was hyperventilating.

"I'm gonna kill you, Edith," Rocky said in a low voice. "You should make an attempt to defend yourself."

He didn't want to kill Edith. After all, even though she didn't care about him, she did make him Rocky. But if he didn't get rid of Edith soon, he was going to be her slave again. Like Tony was.

"Then kill me, Tony. Only one of us can win. We belong in two different places now. I can't kill you so I guess you have to kill me," Edith said. She may have been crying before but now her voice was even.

Rocky paused for a moment; memorising every detail of her face. Then he lunged.