"Get the hell away from her," someone shouted, as they rushed to put themselves between the two women. The newcomer turned back to face the young woman behind him. The word run was on the tip of his tongue, but he froze when he recognized the person being attacked. "Emma?"

Emma didn't have time to respond. The vampire was practically on top of them now. She gave the guy a firm shove to push him out of her way before lifting her leg to deliver a crushing blow to the vampire's sternum.

Her adrenaline was pumping now, triggering that fighting instinct inside of her that Emma hoped would keep her alive that evening – that would keep them both alive that evening – as the vampire regained her footing.

"It looks like the Slayer finally showed up to the party," she taunted.

"Yeah, well… I gotta keep you on your toes somehow."

The vampire reached for her again and Emma reared back to land a solid punch to one side of her ugly face before dealing another to the other side. If she could keep herself between the man on the ground and the vampire trying to kill them both, maybe he would stand a chance of escaping with his life.

Only, that plan didn't seem to be working, as he was rapidly recovering from his initial shock and pulling himself back up to his feet to plant himself behind Emma. She made the mistake of letting him distract her and the punch to her gut came as a surprise, stealing her breath as it forced her to double over into the knee that was waiting for her.

"Emma!" he protested, sounding completely horrified by what he was seeing.

"I'm… fine," she panted out, struggling to pull herself back up to her full height. "Go! Get to the library. They'll help you."

While she was winded, the vampire seemed to turn her attention to the other man on the street, and Emma's eyes widened in horror as her hand shot out to wrap around his neck.

"Dad!" she yelled, before she could stop the word from spilling out.

The vampire's smile widened into something truly horrific at that one small word. "Dad, huh?" she taunted. "Well, this night just got more interesting. Shall I make you watch as I rip daddy dearest's throat out, or should I make him watch as I gut you?"

Emma found her second wind as the threat against her father's life spilled easily from the vampire's lips, and she charged at the other woman, knocking all three of them to the floor in the process.

The vampire was on top of her before she could even blink, her hands wrapped tightly around Emma's throat as she began to push down on her windpipe.

"You first then," she declared, a manic glint lighting her eyes as Emma's hands scratched and pulled uselessly at the ones wrapped around her neck.

David scrambled around on the floor behind them for the gun that had been knocked from his holster, but before he could take aim the vampire had lashed out to send him flying across the street and into the building behind them.

"Wait your turn," she snapped playfully, before her attention drifted back down to the Slayer slowly dying at her hands.

Emma's vision was starting to darken at the edges as she fought harder and harder to draw in a breath. This was it, she thought. She hadn't even been a Slayer for a whole month yet and this was how she was going to die. With her father and her friends following soon after.

Emma used that idea to gather all the strength she had left inside of her, but it wasn't enough to push the vampire away. As she watched David sluggishly pull himself back to his feet, she knew that her father wouldn't make it to her in time either.

This was the end for Emma Swan.

Just as her eyes slid closed in defeat she felt the weight of the other woman's body wrenched from hers before an almighty roar cut through the silence of the night.

Emma drew in a couple of deep breaths, briefly wondering if she'd already died, before her eyes fluttered open again to see angry yellow ones peering down at her.

"Don't make me do this, Milah."

"Do what?" she cackled. "You're not gonna hurt me, Killian. You never have and you never could. At least… not in that way."

Killian extended a hand down to Emma without taking his eyes off the predator amongst them, but the moment the Slayer was back on her feet she rushed across the road to check on her father. There was blood on his head, and he seemed a little confused by the entire situation, but he was awake.

The vampire, Milah, took a step in their direction as she sniffed dramatically at the air, but before Emma could pull herself back to her full height Killian was already there, placing himself between them and their attacker.

"Do you honestly expect me to believe that doesn't appeal to you?" Milah asked, taking a step closer. "That the smell of fresh blood doesn't make you wanna turn back and sink your teeth into his neck… and then into hers?"

Killian's teeth snapped together audibly as a growl began to build in the back of his throat, and Milah's grotesque smile widened. The taste of her victory was almost as potent as the tang of fresh blood in the air.

"Why fight nature?" she continued, taking another step closer to him as she reached out to run a finger down his chest. "We could have so much fun together, Baby. Like we used to. Just let me kill the Slayer first."

David's hand tightened on his daughter's arm as they stared up at the male vampire stood between them and certain death. Emma could see the conflict playing out behind his gaze. His desire to help her warring with the loyalty he'd once had for Milah. But when his face morphed back into something angelically human, she knew that he'd made his choice.

Emma's sharp intake of breath sounded overly loud on the quiet street as she watched Milah step around her former partner. Some part of her had still believed that Killian would continue protecting her, even now that she knew what he was. But his stillness at that moment spoke volumes.

Milah had won.

She was going to kill them both while Killian watched on, and then she was going to kill all of Emma's friends.

"I'm sorry," he whispered quietly, catching Emma's eyes with his own.

The Slayer forced her gaze away from his face, and over to the vampire rapidly advancing on her. If she was going to die that evening, Emma was going to face her destiny head-on.

Milah's hand shot out to curl around her throat once more, but the vampire froze in shock the instant her cold fingers made contact with Emma's much warmer skin. She just had enough time to turn her head and whisper, "Killian?" before her body exploded into a cloud of dust over Emma's lap.

Thanks for reading and reviewing.

Sorry for being MIA for a while. I had to take a step back to work on improving my health and then catch up at work.