The dark, dank water swirled around her as she swam farther and farther away. She stayed underwater for over an hour but she'd have to swim farther to get back home. The sun was rising, lighting the water.

"What's the Matter, Child? Are you afraid of me, or the prospect of dying?"

She ducked Drake's attempt at grabbing her and ran to the doors of the room. She looked back panting and grew her nails longer than 2 inches. Fitting her nails between the thin line and pried the doors open enough to slip through. She backed up against the table and ran for a nearby stair case. She climbed the stairs as Drake's doors opened, releasing him easily.

His hand shot up, between a couple stairs, and grabbed her ankle. "I don't believe I dismissed you."

She growled at him like an animal. "You didn't but I don't do well with being told what to do!" She slashed his wrist, forcing him to let go. "It's not nice to grab a girl, Suck-Head!"

Drake growled to himself and followed her up the stairs. She ran higher and higher until…

"No more stairs to run up and no where else to run, period." Drake told her walking closer to her as she glanced out the window. The river…she could escape in the river…that was dozens of feet down and away. "What? Are you going to jump out the window to get to the street? Your legs will be ripped apart upon impact."

"With a normal vamp, that would be true but I'm not a normal vampire." She ran towards the window at full throttle and launched herself through the glass at high speed. The glass shattered around her as she soared towards the river. She swan dove in to the water, speeding to the bottom. She pushed off the bottom and swam beneath the surface.

Her lungs burned as she surfaced under a dock. Taking a few grateful deep breaths, she saw the base just off into the distance. She took a deep breath as she slipped underwater. When she surfaced again, she hauled herself on to the walk way and shakily got to her feet. She was drenched and tracked puddles into the base. Her sister would slice her wide open when her watery path was discovered. It didn't matter.

"Abby? King? Hedges? Dex? Summerfield? Zoey?" She called out as she walked deeper into the dark, cold base. "It's okay, it's me-It's Annie…Hello? Sis? You here?"

"Just to let you know, they left a long time ago." Annie wheeled around to see Drake standing behind her, leaning against a desk. "After they defeated me, they cleared out. It's been about 5 or 6 hours since I broke out of the morgue. I didn't know when or how long I was there so it has probably been close to 8 hours."

"Why do you care? You've never been human like I was. You don't have ties to family like I do." Annie growled at him. Drake laughed at her, making her even more furious. "I don't like being laughed at, Suck-Head."

Drake smiled as he got off the desk and walked over to her. "I was laughing at the lie you just uttered. You were never human either." He brushed strands of wet hair out of her face. Annie slapped his hand away with a fang baring growl. "I'm not going to hurt you like Tallos was. I have no reason. You and I are alike, you see. You have honor like Blade and I but your honor is more wild, less merciful. I like it." He walked around her, lightly dragging his hand over her exposed stomach. He touched her right side, making her snarl at him. "Oh, that's right. I bit you there while you tried to escape. Remember? I grabbed your leg when you tried to kick my head off my shoulders. Then I grabbed your arm the moment you tried elbow me in the face. That's when I sunk my fangs in to your side." Drake put his hands on her waist then dug his nails into her flesh, his right set digging into her wound. Annie let out a harsh growl of pain. He put his lips next to her ear. "Your blood saved my life. That immunity to that virus released a few years back protected me from the Daystar Virus. And I've got another bonus for you-" A smile spilt his lips. "-your blood no longer burns."

Annie's eye grew wide as Drake opened his mouth, his fangs hovering over her neck.

"Just to let you know, Annie-I'm going to enjoy this."

Drake bit through her flesh and muscle of her neck. Annie let out a scream that mixed her human terror with her Vampire pain, creating a wild, blood-chilling cry that echoed through out the abandoned Nightstalker Headquarters.