Now that it was time to play the game, Kyle was starting to regret agreeing to it. As he stood down by the bench at the base of the bleachers, kids were starting to stream in and fill up the seats. They had set him up with some Salvatore School athletic gear, so he was now in a somewhat tight fitting jersey and some shorts.

He had seen some of the vampires practicing…or more accurately he had seen blurred streaks of color that he could barely keep track of flitting across the field. Only when they stopped for a second could he see who they were.

The werewolves weren't as fast as the vampires, as far as Kyle could tell, but they were damn sure faster than him. And a lot stronger, too. What the hell had he been thinking?

I thought it would take my mind off of…In his mind he could see his dad wreathed in flames. His mother's body pinned to the wall. Mom…!

"Hey, Kyyyyyyyyyle…!" He heard a girl's voice in a sing-song manner calling him. Spinning quickly and looking up he could see Lizzie and her sister in the bleachers above him.

"Hi, Lizzie. Hi Josie." He said. "You guys aren't playing?"

"HA!" Lizzie barked. Her and Josie burst out laughing. "We only play sports when we're forced to!" Lizzie said, smiling ear to ear.

Kyle had to admit that with the sunlight behind her, it made a kind of 'halo/rim-light' effect on her blond hair. Combine that with the sleeveless yellow sundress she was wearing, which showed off the smooth skin of her arms and long legs, Kyle couldn't help but stare.

"God, she's so beautiful." He said. And then immediately froze. Oh, shit! He thought. I said that out loud!

He frantically tried to remember which ones had the super-hearing. Landon had said both the werewolves and the vampires…but not the witches? He really hoped they didn't…

"What did you say Kyle?" Lizzie yelled. She was leaning forward, and looked confused.

Whew! Kyle thought. She didn't hear.

"I said thanks for coming!" Lizzie narrowed her eyes as if she didn't believe him, and the two continued to stare at each other…until Josie finally pushed Lizzie.

"Come on, Lizzie!" She said, laughing. "You can stare at Kyle from up there."

Even though she was being propelled away from him by her sister, Lizzie continued to lock eyes with Kyle, and he in turn could not keep his eyes off of her.

Until he was jarred away from her by the arrival of Landon and Rafael, the latter of which clapped Kyle on the back in a friendly - but still too forceful - greeting.

"This is it, man!" Rafael said. He was really excited. "I've been waiting for this!"

"Yeah, me too." Landon said, without even attempting to infuse any enthusiasm into his statement.

Kyle thought now was a good time to ask an important question. "So how are those of us who are merely human supposed to actually survive this game?"

Rafael got serious for a second. "It's like this, man - stick close to me…both of you, and I'll block the hardest hits."

Kyle shook his head. "But those vampires…I couldn't even see them. How are we supposed to keep up with that?"

Another voice broke in. "Aw, come on man, we'll take it easy on you!"

If Kyle wouldn't have remembered the boy's name was 'MG', the chorus of shouts of 'MG! MG!" would have reminded him.

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Kyle said, smiling ruefully.

MG smiled a wide smile. "Let just have fun out there. And you guys just watch, after Lizzie sees my moves out there today…she's gonna be aaaaaaallllll over me. That's my personal MG guarantee!"

No one said anything. MG's smile started to fade. "She really will! I've got it all figured out, for real!"

Rafael looked away, then Landon pretended someone had called his name and turned around. Kyle followed suit and became suddenly interested in a spot on the ground.

"Oh, I see how it is…" MG said, his confidence shaken.

"GOOD NEWS, BOYS!" Came a booming voice. It was Jed, of course. Sauntering up with a big grin on his face. "We're playing 'shirts and skins', and I volunteered our team to be skins!"

"W-what?" Landon said.

Jed laughed at the stricken look on Landon's face. "That means off with those shirts, boys!"

"But I'm not really in the greatest shape right now, so maybe I could just sit on the bench…with my shirt on…?"

Jed was no longer amused. He moved close to Landon. "You either take your shirt off or I rip it off you, and don't embarrass my team." It was said quietly, but there was an air of menace.

Rafael got between them. "There gonna be a problem, Jed?" He asked, and Kyle thought he saw Rafael's eyes flash yellow for a moment. Jed looked away.

"Hey Raf…skins…no problem!" Landon mumbled as he pulled the jersey over his head. Kyle could tell he was trying to forestall trouble.

Rafael had ripped off his jersey just as soon as Jed had made the statement. MG followed suit without even a hint of self-consciousness.

Someone said "What about the girls!? Let's see some skin!" And one of the girls immediately responded with an amused "You wish!"

Kyle had no problem with this one way or the other. He knew he was a bit tall and lanky, but he was in decent shape. The only thing is he was so pale too much sun could be a problem for him, but he didn't want to appear weak after Landon's showing. So off went the jersey.

He heard a scream from the bleachers which he was sure was Lizzie yelling "TAKE IT OFF!" He saw MG's deflated face and he knew it had to be her. He felt for the guy. He seemed nice…for a vampire.

Then a preliminary whistle was blown, and the team captains ran out to the field.

Rafael was barely containing his excitement. "It's about to be ON!" He yelled.

Kyle and Landon looked at each other. "Good luck." They said, almost in unison.

Then they boys ran out onto the field.

Kyle was not being especially observant this day. If he had been, he would have noticed a girl standing off to the side of the bleachers all by herself, watching him.

Hope didn't really care for sports, especially the testosterone-fest of vamps vs. wolves. Despite the school trying to diversify the teams, it was still really vamps vs. wolves.

No, Hope had come strictly for Kyle. She wasn't sure she should approach him, especially after Alaric had told her she was off the 'case'. After seeing the friendly sexual tension between him and Lizzie she was glad she didn't approach. She didn't want to see the fear in his eyes or hear it in his heartbeat.

Unfortunately she had been listening, though. Listening when Kyle had exclaimed that Lizzie was 'so beautiful.' Ugh! Really? She had to admit it had stung her a little bit. She didn't really want Kyle, but she didn't want Lizzie to have him. She was going to disrupt that no matter what it took.

She knew exactly how she was going to do it, too. It couldn't be now, though. There was no point sticking around here for this game. She had preparations to make. She would be back for Kyle later.

Hope turned and left, without anyone realizing she had been there…except for one person.

Phineas Carter stood nearby, cloaked in invisibility. Neither the acute senses of the vampires and werewolves, nor the trifling magic of these inexperienced witches could detect him.

Certainly the magic of that odd girl who had twice now opposed him had failed to see him. She was something different. Something dangerous. But only if she ever learned to really use her power. For now he had nothing to fear from her.

Kyle however…that girl had been staring a hole in Kyle. She clearly had some plan for him. He suspected it was mere teenage lust, however. Kyle did not exactly resemble him as he should, but he still had the Carter genes. Of course she was attracted to him, it was only right. Women just found Carters irresistible.

He was oddly proud of his young doppelgänger. The boy could see in Elizabeth Saltzman what Phineas himself saw…exquisite, graceful beauty that deserved to be admired.

Alas, Kyle would likely never get to experience the pleasures of that flesh. By Phineas's reckoning, Kyle had about 1 week left to live. The next full moon would bring power enough for him to complete his ritual.

But I need a few items first. He thought. To be strictly honest, he had all he needed, but this school's Library and it's trophy rooms were littered with powerful objects, some which had not been classified yet by the schools' instructors.

Some of those items, while not necessary, would make his work a good deal easier, so he would go and retrieve them now while most of the school was out here at this ridiculous sporting event.

Phineas turned his back on the mass of teeming adolescents and strode confidently back towards the main building. His plans were turning out even better than he had hoped.