Surprise! I'm alive! And it's summer vacation! I'm aware of how much you all must hate me. I know it's been months, but I've been very, very busy. I only hope I haven't lost too many readers. You all know you're the best right? Anyways, what I have for you here is a new chapter. Not a filler or some jumble of words I threw together just to update. Chapter 24 is a VERY IMPORTANT chapter. It's so important that I had to "very important" in bold. This is the one chapter that I knew was definately, one hundred percent going to happen way back when this story only existed in my head. I've been waiting to get to this chapter since I first began. One more thing before you read on, I feel I should remind you guys that no matter how awful I can be with my updates I WILL FINISH THIS STORY. See? That was in bold too. I would never post something here that I didn't fully intend on finishing, I promise. Anyway, happy reading! Your reviews are always appreciated. I hope you all enjoy! :)

I sat in a silence for a minute processing what Emily had just said to me. "Juana changed you into a vampire? How do you know?"

From what I understood, a vampire's memory of the change was often hazy at best, nonexistent at worst.

"You know how when a hunter is changed into a vampire, the hunter loses her powers?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, so?" I said not entirely sure where she was going with this.

"I think I know why that is," she said.

I frowned at this. It was rare that a hunter ever turned into a vampire. They were always killed immediately after the hunters found out – them and the vamp who turned them. That meant that we didn't know very much about them. Why they lost their powers after the change was still a mystery.

"Well?" I prodded.

"I think Juana has my power."

"What?!" I half shrieked. Emily had the power to clone herself. It was a rare power, and in a vampire's hands…

"I think I saw her clone herself, but I'm not sure. That's the problem. It's why I'm so messed up. I think she can mess with my head. But I don't know anything about what a vampire can do to another vamp they turned." Emily sounded frantic.

"Wait, if you're right that means that Juana could have cloned herself before Anthony and his brothers found him, which means that they really captured a clone." This was just not my day.

Emily gasped. "I didn't even think about that."

"Wait. How certain are you that Juana has your power?" I asked. I wanted to know exactly how much I needed to freak out.

"Almost a hundred percent," she answered.

"I can go tell Eric now, I'm sure they can take care of it," Emily said.

"No," I stopped her. "I don't think you should, especially if Emily really is screwing with your mind. I'll take care of it okay?"

"Are you sure Evy? You've been doing a lot, and I know you're in tons of trouble right now…"

"Look, don't worry about it," I assured her. "This could help me find my mom."

I ran downstairs to find Nicole. "Nicky! Nicky!" I called.

I was forced to stop when I crashed into Cheryl. "Whoa, what's the rush? Anything I can help you with?" she asked.

"No, it's nothing," I said, rushed. "I just need to see Nicole."

Cheryl frowned at me. "Did you talk to Ethan?"

"Yeah, he's gonna call me later to tell me if he can help," I said as I ran past her.

"Nicole!" I called. "Nicky!"

"What? What's the big 911?" she asked when I nearly ran into her. I recounted Emily's theories about Juana, glancing over my shoulder every so often to make sure Cheryl or Olivia didn't walk in.

Nicole groaned when I was done. "Evelyn, what did you get me into? I'm supposed to go hunting with Cheryl and Olivia. Now, I have to find a way out of it…"

"This could help us find Mom, though. I'm sure Juana knows something. And you don't have to go. I could go. I'm not doing anything until Ethan actually calls me," I said, not even bothering to have an inkling of hope.

Her reaction to my suggestion was just as I expected. "Ha ha, I don't think so. You should come, though. I don't want to go there by myself, but you're not going anywhere near that boyfriend of yours."

"Okay, that's fine," I said, figuring this would be the best offer I would get.

Cheryl and Olivia came into the room then. "Are you ready Nicky?" Cheryl asked.

"Actually, Evelyn doesn't have anything to do until Ethan calls her. So I thought I should go with her and catch up with you guys later," Nicole replied smoothly. I had to hand it to her; she came up with that excuse fast.

They shrugged. "I guess we'll see you later then," Olivia said and immediately teleported out of the house.

Cheryl lingered, seeming to feel that it was necessary to give a final word of warning. "Be careful."

"I need to go get a few knives," Nicole said. "I'll be ready to go in a little bit."

I decided to make myself something to eat before we left. It already felt like such a long day, and it was only going to get longer. I needed some sugar I my system. I was in the process of making a turkey sandwich when Ethan teleported into my house.

"Ethan!" I threw myself at him and gave him a hug. I think he was almost as surprised by actions as I was, but I was glad to see him. I hadn't expected to see him so soon, and I was sick of fighting.

"Are you okay there?" he asked.

"Yeah," I answered. "Well actually, no. Things haven't been too great lately."

"You know, I'm sure most of your problems would be solved if you'd stop seeing the vamp," he said. He didn't sound angry or jealous. He just looked concerned, which was fine. I could use a concerned friend.

I went back to making my sandwich. "Do you want one?" I asked, pointing to the turkey.

He shook his head. "I'm good. Are you just going to ignore what I just said?"

"No, I was actually planning on leading up to it." I took a deep breath. "I really, really like Anthony, and I'm really, really sorry about what you heard me say to Olivia."

He didn't say anything for awhile, and I wasn't sure if I should keep talking. "You really think I'm a love sick puppy?" he finally asked, talk about being blunt.

"No, of course not. Things have just been so bad and –"

"Don't lie Evelyn," he cut me off. "I've had a crush on you since we were five, and I know everyone knows it."

I really didn't know what to say to that, so I just stared stupidly.

"But, since you've made it very clear that you'd rather be friends, I can do that."

I continued to stare stupidly.

"If that vamp tries anything though…" at that Ethan had a mean glint in his eye.

I finally snapped out of it. He was telling me that he'd be my friend. He would go back to the way things were. He'd tolerate Anthony.

I hugged him again. "You are the bestest, best friend ever," I told him. This time he hugged me back.

"So do you want to leave when you finish eating?" he asked me, getting back to business.

I hesitated. I felt like I should go with him, but… "I'm supposed to go with Nicole…" I began.

"I can manage without you," she said, walking into the kitchen.

I glared at her. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Don't worry about it," she answered. "But, like I said, I can manage without you. You should go with Ethan."

"You could always go with Nicole first and meet up with me later," Ethan suggested.

"That could work," Nicole agreed. "Hurry up and eat, Evy."

Ethan teleported away, telling me to meet up with him when I was ready. I smiled. At least one thing was finally working out in my life. It seemed like Ethan really was going to go back to the way things were, and he didn't seem mad at me anymore.

I practically swallowed my sandwich, while Nicole stood watching me impatiently. "Ready?" she asked when I was done.

I nodded and we teleported to Anthony's house together.

Things were not good when we got there.

"Evelyn! Nicole! You're finally here," Emily looked completely frazzled when she saw us.

"What do you mean? I only got off the phone with you a little while ago," I reminded her. "Where's Juana?"

"She's gone," Mark informed me with a grim look on his face.

"Gone?" Nicole repeated. "You let her go?"

"Of course not!" Emily almost shouted.

Nicole and I both looked at her before exchanging a look. I wondered briefly if Juana did mess with Emily's mind. Emily was not a panicky person. At least she hadn't been, when she was a hunter.

"So what happened then?" I asked, calmly.

"I was right. Juana was the one who changed me, and she does have my power. What we really had here was a clone. I don't think she wanted us to find out she had my power yet, but she's only had my power for a little while so she can't control it. She can only keep a clone for so long before she loses it," Emily explained in a rush.

I tried comprehending what she said. Now that I thought about it, Juana did show up right after Jack died and Emily went missing. It seemed like such a long time ago.

"My brothers went looking for her," Mark pitched in. "We decided that someone should stay here with Emily." He glanced at her worried face briefly.

"I told them I could take care of myself, but they wouldn't listen," Emily complained.

Mark shook his head at her. "You're too young a vampire to be left alone, especially if Juana came back for you. Since she was the one who changed you, she'd be able to control your mind. Trust me; you wouldn't be able to fight her off."

I looked at Nicole. "What should we do?"

She took a deep breath. "This is getting a lot messier than I expected. Go back to the house and coat your knives in the strongest poison we have."

I noticed Mark flinch a little at that. Nicole either didn't see, or didn't care. My guess was that she didn't care.

"Call Ethan and tell him what's going on," she continued.

"But he doesn't know anything about Emily," I said.

"Well, he's about to find out isn't he? Tell him you guys should go find this Juana. Meet up with him and stay together. I'm going to find Cheryl and Olivia. We can't forget about Lucas."

To tell the truth, I'd already forgotten about Lucas. With all my problems with Emily, Anthony, Ethan, and Juana, Lucas was actually the very last thing on my mind.

"Sure," I agreed to Nicole's plan. "Emily, you'll be okay, right? We'll call you as soon as we can."

Emily was pacing around the room, restless. "Sure, I'll be fine. That's what I keep trying to tell everybody." She twisted her face into an expression that I think was supposed to be a smile.

I managed to give her back a smile every bit as fake as the one she showed me and teleported back to my own house. I went straight to my room and found the sharpest blade I had. Then, I went into my mom's room and rifled through her drawers until I found what I was looking for. I finally found a bottle of poison and poured it onto my dagger.

I called Ethan while I waited for the poison to set into the knife, but all I got was his voicemail. The second time I called, I got an answer, but it wasn't Ethan.

"Hello, I haven't talked to you in a while," Juana said to me.

"Where's Ethan?" I asked, instantly furious at the sound of her voice.

"He's right here. I suggest you come find him. He puts up a good fight, but it's only a matter of time before he loses," she said. I hated the gleeful ring to her voice.

I didn't even think about what I was doing. I hung up on her, grabbed my knife, and focused on Ethan to teleport to him.

I surprised to find myself in front of an average two-story house, complete with a white picket fence. This was a neighborhood parents dreamed of raising their kids in.

I didn't take my time dwelling on the setting. I made myself invisible and teleported into the house.

It was empty inside. There was no furniture and the walls were completely bare. I walked further in, only to find Ethan fighting Lucas. The shock of it made me lose my focus which made me lose my invisibility which made me lose any element of surprise I'd hoped to have to my advantage. I hadn't anticipated Lucas being here – like I'd said, I didn't think before teleporting.

"Evelyn, GET OUT OF HERE!" Ethan screamed at me.

I ignored him. I was more concerned with the fact that Juana had taken the opportunity to lunge at me. I kicked her onto her back before she could do anything and pulled out my knife.

She'd lost the smug expression on her face after that and was about to come after me again, but Lucas stopped her. "Don't do it, Juana. It'll ruin all the fun." He sounded completely at ease while he fought Ethan.

My intuition picked up his nonchalant attitude, and I got the feeling that he was only humoring Ethan. It didn't matter though. I was about to go help him, but I noticed someone come into the room.

Anthony.

I'd never been so happy to see him in my life. He barely glanced at me. He just headed toward the fight that was still taking place. He pounced and the next thing I knew, Ethan was thrown across the room.

"Anthony!" I shouted. "What're you doing?"

I ran toward Ethan, he still hadn't gotten up. Somehow, amidst my panic, I managed to take in a glance of Juana and Lucas who wore twin expressions of arrogance.

Before I could get to Ethan, Anthony slapped me across the face with enough force to throw me on the floor. After that, all I could do was stare at him stupidly.

"You did a good job with her, Anthony," Lucas said with a big grin.

"This one was too easy, Uncle," Anthony said.

I felt myself begin to start shake. The embarrassment began to sink in.

I told you so! The rational voice that had been locked up for so long screamed at me.

"Uncle?" I managed to say, my voice shaking. Lucas was Anthony's uncle?

Anthony's blue eyes were cold. The rest of his face was blank, but then he seemed to force out a twisted grin. "Of course," he answered. The evil grin seemed to settle on his face more easily now. "You didn't really think I loved you?"

Now is not the time to fall apart, the rational voice told me. For the first time in forever, I listened to it. I pushed back the pain and confusion and moved toward Ethan, but Anthony pulled me back. "I don't think so," he said with a cruel voice to match his cruel expression. I struggled against him, but he was strong.

To my relief, Ethan was starting to get up. He was barely standing up straight when Lucas leaped to attack him.

"NO!" I shrieked. I didn't even see what Lucas did, but I was aware of Ethan's scream of pain and the blood that was now gushing from his head.

I closed my eyes for a second. This was it. There was no avoiding it. I would have to fight Anthony. I elbowed Anthony in the gut, and dived for the knife that had fallen out of my hand when Anthony slapped me.

Juana had jumped for the knife at the same time and we collided into each other while the knife only slid further away from reach. I turned invisible and carefully tried to make my way to Ethan while Juana and Anthony had their senses on overdrive trying to listen for where I was.

Ethan was still putting up a fight, but it was half-hearted now. I knew he didn't have much left in him. I needed to get him to Nicole so she could heal him.

My shield of invisibility fell for the second time due to shock. I heard a gasp from Ethan before I saw him fall. The whole thing seemed surreal. This was not happening.

Nobody tried to stop me when I made my way to Ethan this time. "Ethan!"

He looked at me sadly. "Love you, Evy." And then, nothing.

I was barely aware of Juana's voice. "Aw, unrequited love is just so heartbreaking."

I teleported out with Ethan's body in my arms. I didn't stop to wonder why they let me get out so easily. I just wanted out.

At my house, I did fall apart. I fell to my knees weeping, still holding Ethan's bloody body. My mother was still missing, my boyfriend had used me in the worst way, and now Ethan was dead.

Don't worry, the next update will be SOON I promise.