Previously:

The car slowed infinitesimally and before I could think it through I grabbed the door handle. Maybe I could jump? Maybe the open door would get someone's attention? And then, from the corner of my eye, I saw Malcolm reach back towards me. I felt him grab my hair and my forehead slammed into the glass. My grip released the door handle before I'd even had a chance to tug it open. And then sharp pain, then swirling darkness, then nothing.

"Oh fuck." The words roused me from my slumber, my head felt groggy, thick. My forehead ached. I was vaguely aware of a hot, burning sensation at the base of my neck. Something hard rubbed at my thigh. There was a sound of something wet, like a milkshake being slurped through a straw. Somewhere nearby there was the tinny noise of some local radio station, and then, from somewhere further, muffled laughter. The same voice spoke and then, moments later moaned.

I swam gradually to the surface of my consciousness, then retreated. There was a deeper moaning, closer this time. Whoever it was sounded like they were in pain.

"What the fuck Malcolm?" Diane's cold, feminine voice roused me.

The heat at my neck disappeared with a sharp sting and I slid downwards, landing with a thump and a jolt of pain to my hip. My eyelids felt heavy, sticky. I forced them open. I was lying on the floor, my blonde hair over my face, my left side pressed against rough carpet. The room was dimly lit, and softly glowing lights were illuminated through the sheet of my hair. I could see a pair of flared pants before me, stilettos poking out the bottom.

"I was hungry." Malcolm drawled from somewhere above me.

"We said we would wait for Liam before we started on the blonde," Diane hissed. A cold, trickling sensation started spreading from my neck. A stark contrast to the heat I'd felt there moments before.

"She tastes even better than she smells," he said huskily.

"Really?" She sounded intrigued now. The room swam around me and I felt a little woozy.

"She'd go further between the two of us," he replied. There was a silence. I contemplated the last meal I'd had.

"I suppose Liam can have a taste of the male instead. He has a bit more to give," she purred. My mind was starting to clear, but I was still struggling to follow their conversation.

"Well if he's lucky he might get a few drops from blondie at the end," Malcolm snickered. My heart quickened, that certainly didn't sound good. "She's awake. Too bad, I liked her docile." A boot nudged into my ribs, "Oh come on now sugar. You had so much fire before. Aren't you going to try and make a run for it?"

He was right, what was I doing? I pushed myself up into a sitting position. The world tilted, swayed then righted itself. A sour taste filled my mouth, quickly followed by a rush of fluid that spilled out onto the russet carpet. A few drops hit my dress. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

"Ugh." Diane sounded disgusted. You'd think she'd never puked before. "Humans. Remind me of this next time I say I want to keep one."

"Sorry," I mumbled, before mentally kicking myself. I had manners on autopilot sometimes. My nausea was dissipating and my mind was starting to piece together my predicament. This was not good. I needed to get my bearings and then figure out a plan of attack. Stat.

I felt outside of myself as I took in the scene. The room was thoughtfully furnished with modest pieces, but it looked like it hadn't been cleaned for a good few weeks. There was a big, dark stain in the middle of the carpet. I chose not to look at that too closely. A few lamps lit the room unevenly, the shadows elongated. The tinny radio was still going, it sat on an antique sideboard next to what looked like the front door. I studied it for a second, I counted three locks. They all looked pretty standard though. The opening lyrics of a familiar song started up.

I turned towards Malcolm. He was on the sofa behind me, to my shock I saw that Dawn was sprawled beside him. She was naked from the waist up. Trails of blood ran over her chest and down her flat stomach, disappearing beneath her low-cut jeans. Oh god, what had they done to her?

"Dawn," I gasped, "Are you okay?" I grabbed her knee, shaking her a little. Her brain still had that strange ringing. I turned to Malcolm, "What did you do to her?" I said angrily. Not that Dawn seemed to mind, or even be paying attention if I was honest. Her eyes were glazed and her jaw was slack. There was some sort of wound at her neck and that seemed to be where the blood was coming from.

Malcolm smiled, revealing two long curved teeth extended down in front of his other teeth, "I can show you if you like," he grinned. I gazed back, frozen in horror. His teeth looked, well, they looked like vampire fangs. It didn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together, but even so, I was struggling to reach four.

"Hold on a second," Diane purred. Suddenly she was inches away from me, capturing my gaze. "Why don't you get out of that dress sugar? It's all dirty now." Her pupils grew and seemed to draw me in. I felt the same prickling, itching sensation that I'd felt when Malcolm had spoken to me in the parking lot.

A thrill of fear ran through me, and a touch of indignation, which I blame for what I said next. "Go to hell," I spat.

She hissed at me and as she did so two small fangs slid out of her gums. I gasped. "Be very careful human," her voice was like steel. "Go clean yourself, you smell sickening." She released my chin and stood back, watching me quietly. I pushed myself to my feet, a little shakily. Right now, getting out of this room didn't seem like a bad idea.

"I told you" muttered Malcolm from behind me.

"It was worth a try," she replied.

I turned around and made my way toward what looked like the bathroom, flipping the light switch as I stepped quickly inside. I turned the flimsy lock in the door; Diane chuckled on the other side.

I took a shaky breath and pressed my back against the door. What the H-E double hockey sticks was going on. I took another breath. Then another. I moved tentatively towards the mirror, gasping as I took in my reflection. Two small wounds were at the base of my neck. Bite marks, I thought to myself. A purplish bruise was blossoming around the marks. I prodded it gently, my finger came away with a sheen of blood.

I splashed my face and my neck, careful not to actually touch the wound. I washed my hands. The way I saw it I had two options: panic, or try to figure out how to get out of here. With a cold clarity, I realised that if I let myself panic then I wouldn't survive the night. I could consider the 'v' word later. Right now I just needed to get out of here.

I looked around the cramped room hoping something—anything—would give me an idea. The decor reminded me of Gran's friends. There was a glass bowl of potpourri on the vanity and some little porcelain animal figurines on the shelf above the bathtub. A small window was open above the toilet, but it looked too small for me to climb through. I quietly eased a cupboard open, but nothing leaped out at me. There was toilet paper, a hair dryer, hand lotions, medicine, towels—the usual stuff anyone keeps in their bathroom.

My eyes drifted to the lid on the toilet cistern. That could do. I stepped over to it before pausing. What was my plan? Attack the two of them with a piece of porcelain? I already knew they were fast and strong. Dawn was out of it, and I didn't even know where Lafayette was. I dropped my shields and felt out for him, ignoring the two cold voids. There. He was alive but still felt hazy. He was towards the front of the house. He didn't seem to be afraid or to be in pain, but then, neither did Dawn. Okay so probably best to assume it was two against one. Maybe I could escape and get help?

I stretched out my mind, searching for neighbours. There was no one in the house to the left, and the one behind felt a bit too far back to get a good read on the minds. But there was someone to the right. A man. He was watching tv somewhere close. I got a flash of one of the actors. The X-Files. I peered out the window. The house was pretty close. A curtain was shifting slightly in an open window that was about ten feet away. I could scream…but I didn't want to risk alerting Malcolm and Diane, not while they were with Lafayette and Dawn.

I could still hear the radio going, it had switched to some old rock song. Malcolm and Diane were talking, laughing, or…what was that sound? I reached out for Lafayette's mind and got a flash of his mind for a second, his thoughts had always been real visual. I felt sick, he was definitely with Diane but she wasn't biting him. I pushed his thoughts from my mind and focused on my task. This was how I could help Lafayette.

I grabbed one of the porcelain animals, a little deer with its legs folded underneath it, and climbed carefully onto the toilet, making sure it was open as much as possible. All I needed was to get the neighbour's attention so he could call 911. I put my arm out the window. It was an awkward angle but I at least had to try. I aimed for the open window, focusing on the fluttering curtain. I missed, silently cursing as it bounced off the wall about two feet from the window. Well, if at first you don't succeed…

I climbed down from the toilet, and picked up the little ceramic cat, she reminded me a bit of my kitten, Tina. "Time to come out and play sugar," Diane purred from the other side of the door.

"I'll just be a minute," I called out. The door jolted open, the lock snapping off unceremoniously.

"I wasn't asking, honey," she grabbed me by the wrist before pausing and looking at the little cat in my hand. "Now what are you up to?" She grinned at me. I didn't answer, honestly, I couldn't think of half a reason I'd be holding a porcelain cat right now. "My, my, you are trouble. Never mind, I like a bit of trouble once in a while."

Impossibly fast, I was zipped through the house and into a bedroom. I was flung onto a crimson bedspread, right beside Lafayette. Diane stood over us. Malcolm was sitting on a flowery armchair in the corner, watching us with a small smile and hungry eyes.

"Lafayette, are you okay?" I crawled over to him, grabbing his arm. He was in a pair of boxers and nothing else.

"Hey Sook," His thoughts were still hazy and fixated on Diane.

"Sugar, why don't you go entertain Malcolm now, I want to play with your friend." Diane purred, kneeling at the end of the bed. Lafayette pouted and started towards her on his hands and knees, reaching out to touch her bare midriff. She snarled at him, catching his hand and his gaze effortlessly. "I said, go entertain Malcolm". And just like that, I felt Lafayette's fixation waver then slide to Malcolm.

"Why hello big fella," Malcolm crooned. This situation was out of hand. Maybe I should scream now? If I was loud enough the neighbour might hear before they stopped me. I tried not to think about how they might shut me up...

"Malcolm, not too much with him." Diane murmured, "You know what the Sheriff said." Sheriff? I had a feeling they weren't talking about the Shreveport Sheriff's office.

"I don't give a fuck about the queen's edict or the fucking AVL. Besides, we have no other option." Malcolm hissed, ignoring Lafayette who had started fiddling with Malcolm's belt buckle.

From the next room I heard a song start up, I recognised this one. 'Africa' by TOTO. Despite the seriousness of the situation I had to stop myself from giggling. Okay, I was probably losing it a little.

Diane zipped up from the bed and stood before Malcolm. "The Sheriff might make an exception for one if she can't be glamoured but he won't tolerate any others. You know his reputation."

"The Sheriff doesn't need to find out."

My resolve hardened. I could glean enough from their conversation to know I wasn't getting out of here either way, not tonight at least, but maybe Lafayette and Dawn could. "Please don't hurt my friends. I'll do whatever you want, just let them go."

"If you haven't noticed blondie, we don't need your compliance to get you to do what we want." Diane snarled.

"But it would sure make it easier I bet. Especially if you don't want the Sheriff to find out." I hoped it would at least, it was all I had to bargain with. Diane looked at me with her teeth, well fangs I guess, bared. She glanced at Malcolm. "What do you think? Maybe we can have our cake and eat it too, as they say." I swallowed. I had a bad feeling that I was the cake in this scenario.

"You know me, I'm all for prolonging pleasure," Malcolm eyed me hungrily. "A bouquet as fine as this one should be savoured."

I stood and brushed myself off. "Send my friends home first. Then I'll do whatever you want." My voice wavered a little. I just needed to get them out of here, I could figure out my escape next.

Suddenly, I felt another void (oh, who was I kidding—another vampire) circling the house. Liam. I tensed, looking towards the lounge room moments before the front door slammed open.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Ice ran up my spine at the sound of the gravelly voice. The vampires hissed and crouched, turning towards the newcomer who had appeared in the doorway, before quickly straightening. I was frozen to the spot. "This seems like quite the party", there was a crunch and TOTO was cut off mid-chorus, the radio falling to the floor in pieces, "which is strange as I specifically recall asking you to restrain yourselves while in my area."

Uhh, maybe this wasn't Liam after all.