I grunted quietly as I picked at the flooring beneath me. My fingernails dug into the wood – which was a disgusting feeling, if I'm being honest – as I tried to pull the flooring up. I could hear that there was a space between the ground and this flooring, though I didn't know if there was enough space to get me out. I truly didn't know how long I had been here as I didn't know how long I had slept beforehand, but the sun had already risen and then fallen since I'd been awake.

Oliver had only come in one more time since our fight, and that was only to hand me a plate of food and a glass of what looked like water before walking back out. The food looked absolutely delicious, and it smelled wonderful, but I couldn't be sure he hadn't poisoned it.

I tried to pull at the flooring again to no avail, crying out as I felt one of my fingernails bend in a way it was no supposed to. I clutched my hand to my chest and silently cried, leaning against a wall as I did so. I had done an awful lot of crying recently, and I was tired of it, but I didn't know what else to do. I closed my eyes, willing myself to go to sleep, but my body wouldn't let me.

And then, my mouth began to hurt, and it hurt an incredible amount. It hurt so much that I lunged forward as if it might help, but it didn't. I cupped my mouth before pressing my fingers against my teeth. I could feel some of my front teeth growing, changing, and it felt incredibly strange. They were growing sharper and longer. They were changing into vampire teeth. How long I had waited for the experience to happen, but of all moments, now? Now?

I clutched my hand against my mouth and leaned back onto the wall again. Why now? I missed my boys. I missed David. I missed Paul and Dwayne and Marko. I missed the cave and the sound of Dwayne's skateboard on the rocks. There were so many little noises in that cave that I missed, noises that made it feel more like a home than any home I had ever been in. Like the sound of whatever Marko was using to make his next work of art. The sounds of old pages turning time and time again. The gentle hum of David's music when his ears started messing up. The sound of someone taking a drag from a cig. The clinking of metal when someone moved in their seat. The fluttering of birds wings. There were so many little sounds I missed. In here, it was silent. Even Peter didn't make a sound.

But then, then, I could hear a faint voice in the back of my head. It was so faint, I figured I might as well be hallucinating it. Maybe the hunger was getting to me, I thought. Maybe I was truly becoming insane. But it was real. Ivy, the voice said, questioning at first, but then it repeated, and this time it was frantic. Ivy? Ivy, can you hear me? I knew that voice, I realized as I focused on it. It was becoming clearer. Oh my god, Ivy! Can you respond? Just think of an answer! I'll hear it! That's David, I finally realized, so I responded.

'David? Are you real?'

There were a few minutes of silence before I heard him again. 'Yes! Yes, I'm real! How are – What happened? Where are you?'

I sniffled a bit, wiping my nose with my arm. Maybe, I really had gone clinically insane. They would have to take me to a psych ward before I even got out of here. 'David, how can I hear you? How do I know you're real?'

'The vampire in you must have set in.' His voice faded out for a few seconds before coming back. 'Baby, can I add the other boys to this wave?'

I didn't even question what that could possibly mean before I was responding. 'Yes, yes, please.' And then there were three other voices in my mind, loud and frantic, and I winced as the sounds hit me full-force. I could barely make out what they were saying, their questions about where I was or what had happened, if I was okay. 'Shut up,' I yelled, and they fell quiet. 'I'm sorry,' I whispered, 'you're all just so loud. I can barely think for myself. It's a shock.'

'I'm sorry,' Paul said in response. 'Do you know where you are? Any clues?'

I shook my head before realizing they couldn't see me. 'No, I have no clue. How can I hear you guys? What's going on?'

'It's a pack thing. If vampires all took blood from the same source or from each other, they're able to communicate through mental wavelengths. Did you drink blood? I don't understand how you're here,' Marko responded.

'I don't know. I just- I felt my fangs. They grew in for the first time, and here we are.'

'And we weren't there?!' Paul's voice was so loud I could feel a headache forming, but he quieted down right after. 'We weren't there. I'm so sorry, Ivy. I know how painful that is. We all know.'

I chuckled a bit. 'It wasn't too terrible. I've been through worse.' I don't think they took it as a joke because no one talked for a few moments. 'Do you guys have any idea of how to get out of this?'

I could hear Dwayne sigh before he spoke up. 'Ivy, I need you to take a deep breath, close your eyes, and open them as you exhale. On the count of three.' I paused, confused, but complied as he began to count down. I closed my eyes when he hit zero, and when I opened them again, I took a step back in confusion.

I wasn't in the room anymore. I was in the woods somewhere, and I was taller than I was used to. I turned around a few times and looked down. This wasn't my body, I came to realize. This was Dwayne's. I looked up, and my boys were in front of me, staring at me.

"What's going on," I questioned. "What's happening?"

Marko was the one to come up to me, wrapping me in a hug. The others followed, and I hugged them back as I could. "You're okay," Marko said. "Dwayne's in your body for the moment. It'll only last a few moments, but we're hoping that's all he needs. Are you okay wherever you really are?"

I nodded. "I think so. I'm with Peter or Oliver. His name's Oliver."

"We're going to get you out of there," David said. "We're going to find you and get you out."

I mumbled a thank you, and then I blinked, and I was back in my body. I was standing in the middle of the room, and I looked up as the door opened. Oliver carried another plate of food, and he gave me a suspicious look as he placed it on the bed. "You didn't eat the last plate," he said, tapping on the glass before standing back up. "Are you not hungry?"

I stammered over my response for a few moments before replying. "I wasn't at the time."

He nodded, and he motioned for me to take the new plate. I sat down on the bed and gingerly took it. I stared at it for a few seconds. 'You can eat it,' Dwayne said.

Oliver's stare was scrutinizing, and I found myself picking up the fork and picking up some of the food. Mashed potatoes and ham. As I took a bite, I looked up and watched as Oliver smiled.

"You're going to need that energy for tomorrow," he said. "So, eat and rest. Time will pass faster than you think."

"What's tomorrow," I questioned, standing up as he turned to leave the room. I could faintly hear one of the boys in the back of my mind, but it wasn't loud enough to understand them.

Oliver gave me a wild grin. "The moon hits its peak tomorrow. That means the ceremony will be happening, and you need your energy for that. So, go to sleep."

"I will. Goodnight."

He opened the door then paused for a second. "Don't fucking try anything." Before I could even respond, he began again. "Don't try anything, or I swear to whatever god there is, tomorrow will not be as nice as I have planned. Try not to ruin this for me. Okay, Wendy?"

I held my breath as I responded. "Okay."

"Okay." He took another pause before stepping out and closing the door behind him. "Okay," I breathed to myself.

'Ivy? Hey, come back to us, doll,' I heard Paul say.

'We heard everything,' Marko said.

Dwayne followed him. 'We need to come up with a plan. I have a basic idea of where you are. I know the house. It was abandoned in '36 because people believed there were ghosts. Part of the urban legends around here. We're lucky we've visited the place before. It was a good place to stash a body for a few days a while back.'

'That was before we had our cave and we even thought to just throw 'em in the ocean,' David piped up.

They all took a moment to laugh before Dwayne spoke again. 'We just need to figure out how to get you out without them noticing.'

'We need to find a way to fucking ruin the ceremony,' Marko said, a growl in his voice. 'How are we supposed to get her without them trying to get her back? If we ruin the ceremony, we ruin their opportunity to take her again. I mean, didn't you say it only happens once in a fucking blue moon, Dwayne?'

'He's got a point,' Paul said. He had been quieter than normal, and his voice was almost a whisper in my head. 'If we just take her now, who's to say they won't just grab her again in the next day. Plus, you've seen how they fight. They have some fucking voodoo magic shit going on. The way Oliver disappeared when David had him. How the hell are we supposed to get passed that?'

I finally spoke up. 'Together. We'll find a way to get out of this together, and then, when we're safe, we'll leave. We'll go somewhere across the world.'

'Like Canada,' Marko said. I could practically hear the smile in his voice.

'Marko, you dope, that's only a few thousand miles away. She meant somewhere like England or fucking Iceland. Denmark. We should go to Denmark! They had Vikings!' Paul was louder this time, happier. 'We should become pirates.'

'Paul, what the fuck are you talking about,' David questioned. 'We're not going to become pirates or Vikings or whatever the fuck.'

'Denmark does sound nice, though,' Dwayne said.

I spoke up. 'None of us speak Danish, though.'

'Jeg beder om at afvige,' Marko responded.

'What the fuck,' I questioned.

'I'm full of surprises, babydoll.'

'Alright! We need to get back on track. We need a plan.' David spoke and then paused for a few moments. 'And I think I have one.'