Who's ready for some more action? I know I am.

Chapter 5

Just a Misunderstanding

Mr. Melville was still alive, but just barely, and he was tied up in his own basement while the vampires that corrupted his daughter made themselves at home upstairs. He was able to sit up on the old couch he was laying on, but that was all he could do, and there was a massive gauze pad stuck to his neck to keep him from bleeding out completely. He couldn't tell how long he had been down there, but he guessed that it had to have been a day or two. It was difficult to be sure, considering how many times he had lost consciousness, but all he knew for sure was that each of the four vampires had taken a sip or two out of him since moving in. It was a disturbing thought, but they seemed to be rationing him like a piece of meat during a food shortage.

He sat up with a groan, and looked around, wondering what time it was. Luckily, Jodi came down the stairs right then, so he figured he wouldn't have to wait long to find out. "Jodi?"

She sat down on a nearby folding chair and looked like she was on the verge of tears. "I'm glad you're awake, Dad."

Mr. Melville blinked his eyes a few times as he started to feel tired again. "Jodi, you have to stop this… What they turned you into… It's unnatural."

"I know," Jodi said quietly. "But I don't know what to do."

"You can fight them, Jodi. Resist."

She shook her head. "It's too late for me. Lisa thinks the hunters got Sean, so they're probably coming for us next."

Mr. Melville felt his eyes start to close as his consciousness began to fade again. Lisa descended the basement stairs at that time and found them down there.

"Dad, don't go to sleep!" Jodi begged.

Lisa laughed when she got to the bottom of the steps. "He won't last much longer, newbie. I'm surprised he's even still alive."

Jodi looked back at the leader of the nest with tears in her eyes but said nothing.

Lisa's smile faded as she stared down at Mr. Melville. "But we need to save him for Pete. He'll be thirsty after you turn him."

Jodi looked back at her father, whose eyes were still opening and closing. His mouth was hanging open and he slowly shook his head at her, letting Jodi know that she couldn't keep doing this. At that moment, it seemed like the right thing to do was hand herself over to the guys that were hunting them and let them do their worst.

Off to the side of the Melville house, John and Daniel were out in the woods with their machetes and crossbow and they had a clear view of the greenhouse out back. They also stunk to high heaven from the scent blocking mixture they had used while they watched the house itself.

"I didn't want to have to do this at night," John said as he looked up at the setting sun. "But if we wait another day, they might relocate again."

Daniel looked up at the house with a pair of binoculars, but the vamps inside had covered all of the windows with blackout curtains, preventing him from seeing anything. "We could've gotten to them sooner, if it wasn't for Sean going rogue and trying to kill that girl."

John used the scope on his crossbow to get a good look at the house himself, before glancing at his partner. "I wish she would've told us who else was in that shack. Either it was a local hunter or another vamp."

"The poor thing didn't want to talk about it," Daniel said. "She was too shaken up."

"Either way, this ends tonight," John whispered. "I'm gonna go around to the front and get a better look."

Then John crept through the woods as quietly as he could, to avoid drawing attention to himself, and Daniel looked back up at the house through the binoculars again. He caught a small glimpse of someone taking a peek from behind one of the curtains on the second floor and he quickly realized that it was Dustin. He didn't seem to notice the hunter, but he still ducked back out of sight anyway.

"I see you up there," Daniel whispered to himself, just as he felt a strong gust of wind hit him in the back, causing dead leaves to swirl around him.

Then he heard a voice. "I know you guys aren't feds. We need to talk."

Daniel turned back and saw a dark-haired teenager in a blue jacket that was open at the front, revealing his red t-shirt, and he was also wearing worn out blue jeans and work boots. His expression wasn't angry or threatening in any way, just concerned, but the veteran hunter was not willing to take any chances. He charged at the young man with his machete in the air, but the unexpected visitor grabbed his wrist, stopping his attack.

"I'm not here to hurt you," he said. "My name's Clark and I just want to talk."

"Like hell you do!" Daniel cried, as he used his free hand to retrieve a knife that was dipped in dead man's blood from a sheath on his waist.

He attempted to stab Clark, but with lightning speed, the guy he was attacking grabbed his other wrist, putting a stop to it. "Don't waste your knife. It won't do any good."

Then Daniel glanced past him and saw John sneaking up on the attacker with his machete raised. Now alarmed, Clark pushed the old man against a tree and turned just in time to see John bring the blade down on the base of his neck.

The blade of John's machete snapped off at the handle and suddenly he looked horrified. "What the hell?"

Clark backed away and put his hands up in front of him. "I'm not a vampire. I'm only here because-"

Daniel pulled a flask full of holy water out of his coat pocket and flung it in Clark's face, interrupting him. "What the hell are you then?"

Surprised by the sensation of water hitting him in the face, Clark licked his lips and dried himself off with his sleeve. "What was that?"

"Holy water," Daniel replied.

Clark gave him a confused look and then he finished his explanation. "As I was saying, we have to find a way to help Jodi. My friend Pete is worried about her and he's coming to see her right now."

Suddenly realizing that Clark was not a threat, John put the handle of his broken machete into a pocket on the inside of his coat. "Your friend, Pete… He's coming here?"

Suddenly Clark looked past them, and his eyes widened. "Crap, he's here now."

The two hunters both turned and saw headlights flying up the driveway. Clark's friend squealed the tires of the truck when he came to a sudden stop and jumped out.

"Son of a bitch," John said.

Then he and Daniel turned to look at Clark, only to discover that he was no longer in the woods with them. When they looked up at the driveway again, they saw him by the truck, following his friend inside.

"Damn it!" Daniel cried.

John retrieved his crossbow and Daniel grabbed the weapons he dropped as they left the woods and made a beeline for the house.

When Clark got up to the driveway, he saw Pete disappear into the dark house and then the door on the left side of the entrance slammed shut behind him. Worried about his friend's safety, he went up to the door and tried to open it, but he heard someone lock it from the other side, preventing him from getting in easily.

"Pete!" he cried.

From inside of the house, he heard Pete's voice. "Clark?!"

Then he heard a thump and the sound of a body hitting the floor. "Pete, no!"

Clark took a step back, kicked the door open, and found Dustin standing over Pete's unconscious body by the stairwell leading up to the second floor. As soon as the door hit the wall, the stained-glass window that was embedded within the door's frame shattered, and the vampire bared his fangs at him. "You shouldn't be here, Clark!"

Clark charged at Dustin and grabbed him. Running at full speed, he pushed the vampire away from the entryway and into the Melvilles' kitchen, where he slammed him against the refrigerator, caving in the door and causing the appliance to shake violently. "I won't let you kill Pete!"

Dustin smiled at him once they had returned to normal human speed. "We just want to turn him. Jodi needs a mate."

Then the vampire grabbed Clark as well and pushed him back in the other direction. This time, instead of passing through a doorway, they crashed through drywall, into the hallway that led from the entryway to the living room, and snagged themselves on electrical wires. Sparks went flying around them as a cable inside of the wall snapped, immediately burning Dustin.

Dustin let go of Clark and backed away into the kitchen with a painful cry. The two hunters entered the house right then and one of them shot Dustin in the chest with the crossbow the moment he reached the kitchen. The vampire spun around in a circle and then fell over on the counter at the center of the room, before sliding off and slumping over on the tile floor.

"Dan, take the crossbow!" the young hunter shouted. "I'm gonna make sure Clark's friend is alright!"

Clark turned and watched as the younger man went back to the entryway to check on Pete, while the older man, who Clark now knew as Dan, went into the kitchen with the crossbow and aimed it at Dustin, who he discovered was sitting upright and groaning in pain.

"Did you poison him with dead man's blood?" Clark asked as he stepped through the hole in the wall.

Keeping his weapon pointed at the injured vampire, Daniel nodded. "That's right. How did you know?"

At first, Clark hesitated to admit the truth, but now that he knew they could be trusted, he decided to answer the question. "I saw you guys use it against Sean."

Daniel chuckled, but said nothing else about the subject. "Go find the others. We'll stay here and keep your friend safe."

Clark nodded and then he looked around with his x-ray vision for Lisa and Jodi. He discovered them sneaking out through a back door in the basement and used his super speed to catch up with them.

He sped around the side of the house from the front and came to a stop when he got to the back yard, but then he looked around until he saw them enter the dark greenhouse out back. Fearing that they may have fed recently, giving them strength that was equal to his own, he decided to proceed with caution. Using his x-ray vision again, he saw them take up defensive positions. Jodi grabbed a shovel and Lisa hid between a pair of shrubs, waiting for the chance to pounce.

Clark sighed and headed for the entrance. As quietly as possible, he pushed the door back open and quickly double checked his surroundings. Lisa was still in her hiding spot, but Jodi was creeping towards him on the other side of a row of tall, leafy bushes. Still wanting to be cautious, he continued to look around until he noticed something else. Near the back of the greenhouse, he saw a row of exceptionally tall and unseasonably healthy sunflowers with green meteor fragments resting in the soil beneath them. Adjacent to those, were a couple rows of tomato plants and various other vegetables that had meteor rocks in their soil as well. Making a mental note of those danger zones, he moved in on Jodi's position.

When he finally found her, Jodi screamed angrily and swung the shovel at him. Clark grabbed the handle with both hands, trying to stop her long enough to talk some sense into her. "Jodi, stop! Pete and I want to help you!"

"I don't believe you!" Jodi cried. "You were with those hunters!"

As he tried and failed to think of a good comeback, Lisa sped around behind him and grabbed his jacket. She tossed him through the wall of the greenhouse, taking out the windows and a large section of the structure's wooden frame. He was unharmed when he landed on his back, but before he knew it, Lisa and Jodi were both on top of him.

"Bite him, Jodi!" Lisa commanded as they pinned him down with their combined strength. "He's no ordinary human! Bite him!"

Clark tried to throw them off, but together, the two vampires managed to keep him down. Jodi's fangs slowly emerged from her gums, but then she hesitated.

"What are you waiting for, Jodi?!" Lisa cried. "Bite him!"

When she still didn't go for it, Lisa bared her fangs and lowered her mouth towards his neck. Clark managed to get one hand free and put it against her forehead, preventing her from feeding, and then Jodi jumped up and made a run for it.

"Jodi, wait!" Clark cried, as he gained the upper hand and pushed his attacker off.

He jumped up and tried to follow Jodi, but Lisa grabbed him from behind again and threw him back into the greenhouse, taking out another section of the wall. Clark took out several plants and pots before he landed, but when he hit the ground, he glanced around to make sure he was still a safe distance away from the meteor rocks. Since he wasn't feeling their effects, he got back up, just as the angry vampire followed him inside.

"You have ruined everything!" Lisa cried as she tried to jump on top of him again.

Clark quickly dodged her attack with his super speed and then he looked around for a light switch. When he spotted one, he made a run for it. Lisa tried to chase after him, but she was far too slow, and he got there first.

As soon as the lights came on, they blinded Lisa, causing her to stumble and giving Clark the chance to get behind her again. As soon as he did, he grabbed a nearby garden hose with an attached sprayer on the end. He set the sprayer to 'soaker' and squeezed the trigger, immediately soaking her face and arms with it to rinse off any sunscreen she might have been wearing.

"Stop!" Lisa begged when the greenhouse lights started to burn her skin in a few places. "Don't!"

The water entered her mouth, causing her to gag as she backed away and fell over backwards, after tripping over a stack of potting soil bags. When she hit the ground, Clark threw down the garden hose and took a few steps towards her. "Give it up, Lisa. It's over!"

She got back up on her feet and bared her fangs at him one last time, before a crossbow bolt hit her in the back, dropping her to her knees. When Clark looked past her, he saw that Daniel had entered the greenhouse and watched him go for the shovel that Jodi dropped. Then he went over to Lisa and prepared to decapitate her with it.

"Dan, don't!" Clark grabbed the handle to stop him from killing her. "There has to be a way to save them!"

"They're monsters and they have to die!" Daniel argued. "Look at her!"

Clark looked back and saw Lisa crawling towards the shadows, now far too weak to do anything else. Once she got to her safe place, she looked up and snarled at them like a rabid animal, but as the poison continued doing its work, her fangs retracted and then she passed out in the dark corner she had crawled into.

Daniel set the shovel aside and looked Clark in the eyes. "Trust me kid, I've tried looking for a way to cure them. It can't be done. Anyway… Your dad is here and I think your friend is awake."

Clark sighed with relief. "I'm going to see Pete, but please promise me that you'll look for another way to save Jodi. There has to be something."

At first, Daniel said nothing, but then he nodded. "We'll look for one, I promise."

Satisfied with that reply, Clark went back to the house to check on Pete. When he got there, he found Jonathan and John Winchester hanging out in the living room with Mr. Melville (who was still alive, when they helped him up from the basement), and his best friend Pete. Clark's father was unhappy that his son had gotten involved, but he didn't feel like arguing about it right then. He was just glad that everyone but the vampires were okay.