Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Moonlight, anything that occurs in this fanfic from the show, or any of its characters. Believe me, if I did…I'd be a Jason Alexandwich right now. I do, however, own this plot and any characters I decide to throw in. Yayz!

AN: Sorry all for the delay…Damn infernal exams and such. Blame the school system. Anyway, here's the (I hope) much anticipated, long-delayed 18th chapter. Enjoy!

After several silent moments, Rory finally pulled away from Jeff, a satisfied smile on her face. She licked her lips, savouring the other vamp's blood on them.

Mick sat silently and watched in horror as the whole scene unfolded. What the hell was she doing?! When they had discussed their plan of action, this definitely hadn't been in there. He began to grow scared as he realized that his only ally here, the only one who could possibly help him stop Jeff…wasn't his ally.

Rory looked Jeff in the eyes, her evil grin growing wider.

"Don't you see?" She repeated quietly, tracing her finger seductively down his chest. "I never deserted you. Yes, I admit that I was rather confused that night in the apartment building, when you came to find me. I didn't realize what was happening. I wasn't sure who to trust. But after that night…after that, I realized my mistake. Realized where I went wrong. I realized the bond that existed between us, and I realized where my true place was. With you. After all," She paused, turning and walking slightly away from Jeff, "you are my sire."

With a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Mick realized that he could sense that Rory was being sincere. She had played them all, betrayed them. She had betrayed him, and after all that he had done for her. He let out a ferocious growl.

Hearing the growl come from Mick, Rory looked venomously over at him, walked over to him and, grabbing a handful of his hair, pulled his head viciously back, so that he was looking up at her from his place on the ground.

"Oh, do shut up, won't you!" She snapped, giving his hair a further painful jerk. "You're ruining the moment!"

Mick looked up at her, hatred he had never before felt blazing in his eyes.

"When I get out of this, I swear to God I'll tear your head from your body myself!" He said quietly. Rory glared at him furiously, gave his hair a final tug, and threw him face-first into the concrete floor of the building. Turning back to Jeff, she continued her speech.

"I tried to find you. I've spent the last two years trying to find you. After failing miserably in my attempts, all I could do was hope and pray that you would find me. And in the meantime, I thought that I would prepare a gift for you."

She gestured around the room at Beth, Dante, and Mick. All eyes were trained on her, and all were silent. Beth looked furious and appalled; Dante just looked shocked and hurt.

"I befriended the vampire and the mortals, knowing that if I managed to get close enough to them, I could hand them over to you if you ever managed to come find me. I wanted to show my devotion to you…and what better way than to give you the scum that kept us apart all this time." Rory concluded. She smiled.

"Although…" She walked over to Dante. "This one has made a sufficient playmate…" She kissed his lips, then his jaw, then finally made her way to his neck. She licked the spot where his jugular vein lay pulsing under his skin, preparing to bite. All the while, Dante struggled to turn away from her, but couldn't due to his bindings.

"That's enough!" Growled Jeff, as Rory as just about to sink her teeth into Dante's neck. Clearly, he was jealous of her interest in the mortal. Rory smiled apologetically at him and sauntered over to his side.

"Are you pleased?" Rory asked, searching his eyes.

"Very much so." Jeff smiled, calming immediately. "I knew I'd made the right decision turning you…" He leaned in for a kiss, but was interrupted almost immediately by Beth's outraged yell.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH! I TRUSTED YOU! MICK TRUSTED YOU! DANTE LOVED YOU! AND ALL ALONG THIS IS WHAT YOU WERE PLANNING? I THOUGHT WE WERE FAMILY?!"

Jeff gave a weary sigh and was about to motion to one of the guards, when Rory put a hand up to stop him.

"I'll handle this." She said quietly. She approached the pillar that Beth was chained to and looked Beth straight in the eye, a distasteful look on her face. "I know no such word. I played you all like a harp, and each and every one of you fell obediently into place. It's your own faults."

She turned and sauntered back over to Jeff, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"Now…" She said seductively, reaching up to pull his face toward her. "I think we were about here…"

She kissed him, nipping playfully at his bottom lip. He nipped back, just hard enough to draw blood. Rory bit even harder, and so began the savage, passionate kiss that ensued.

Mick and Beth watched disgustedly. Seth turned pointedly away, hurt and confusion etched clearly on his face.

As the kiss wore on, Rory began to walk forward, forcing Jeff backward. Jeff was so caught up in the kiss that he obeyed Rory's silent command.

Mick watched as Rory backed Jeff into the wall. As she and Jeff were nearing the wall, Mick's disgust and hatred turned to confusion as…

A yelp erupted from Jeff, while a barely audible hiss escaped Rory's mouth. Jeff looked down in confusion and pain at the copper plumbing pipe that stuck through his back and out his abdomen. Allowing another hiss to escape as she did so, Rory pulled herself off of the pipe with a sickening squelching sound, and twisted the end of the pipe upward, ensuring that Jeff stayed where he was.

As all of this was happening, the guards stationed around the room all pointed their guns at Rory's turned back. Mick wasn't sure what had just happened, but he was no fool. Seeing an opportunity, he took it without question.

Seeing that the guards behind him had their sights trained on Rory, Mick reached up, grabbing the arm of the guard directly behind him. Using his vampire speed, Mick twirled the guard (who was still holding desperately onto the gun) around, pointing the gun at each guard's forehead in turn and wrapped his finger around the guard's, which was still resting on the trigger. After pulling the trigger six times and taking out the other six guards, Mick let go of the arm of the guard he was holding and quickly twisted he man's head, breaking his neck with a sickening snap. Breathless, he broke the chains binding Beth before he turned back to where Rory was standing. He, Beth, and Dante watched the confusing scene unfold. He had half a mind to grab one of the guns filled with silver bullets and pump her full of them, but he was frozen in place as he listened to the exchange between the two other vampires.

Whirling around to see Mick taking out the guards, Rory looked down at her abdomen with a pained expression on her face. She brought her hands up to gingerly touch the gaping wound just above her belly button…the wound that went all the way through to her back. If she hadn't been a vampire, she would surely have been dead by now. She winced as the wound throbbed at the touch of her fingers, pulling them away quickly. She had lost a significant amount of blood…she would need to feed soon. But for now, she had to focus on the task at hand.

She whirled back around to face Jeff. Jeff just stared at her with a shocked expression. Rory felt the hatred well up inside of her.

"What are you-" Jeff began, too surprised to move, or even to try to pull himself off the copper pipe. Rory cut him off.

"Oh, don't act so surprised." She said, her every syllable dripping with hatred and loathing. A wave of pain shot through her abdomen, making her jerk forward. But she regained her composure almost instantaneously. She couldn't let Jeff see her when she was weak. She would not give him that satisfaction. Not now. Not ever again. She smiled her twisted smile and continued.

"You narcissistic fucking prick." She growled, allowing herself to vamp out and bare her fangs. Her white eyes were cold, devoid of emotion. "After all you've done to me…after all you've put me through…you honestly think that I would choose you…" she uttered the word "you" as though it were something vile and disgusting, unfit to even leave her mouth, "…Over my family!"

With that, she grabbed a long, slender, pointed piece of wood debris off the floor and rammed it into his chest. He let out a scream of pain and surprise as she did so, before he became completely paralysed by the piece of wood that entered his heart. As she lodged the wood debris in his chest, she gave it an extra, jerking twist, making it all the more painful for the vampire she was staking and earning an extra agonized yelp. She smiled. His agonized cries were sweet music to her ears. When she had finished, she took a step backward to admire her handiwork. Jeff's face was frozen in a look of surprised rage.

"You were right." She said, walking over to one of the large barrels filled with flammable liquid. "I am loyal. Too bad it's not to you." With that, she tore off the metal lid and threw the contents onto the paralysed vampire before her. She tossed the barrel aside and looked back at Mick.

Mick looked at Rory as she looked back at him. He saw a sincere apology in her eyes. She pulled a gold Zippo lighter out from within her bra and held it up so he could see it.

"Care to do the honours?" She asked.

"I'd love to." Mick replied with a smile, walking over to where Rory stood in front of Jeff. He smiled and flicked open the lighter. As he lit it, he looked at Jeff with a slightly maniacal grin. "You know, Jeff. I've been waiting a long time for this moment. You broke all the rules. You killed countless innocent people. You turned Rory against her will. You messed with my family. You fucked with the wrong vamp."

"See you in hell, motherfucker." Rory spat, a grin on her lips.

With that, Mick tossed the lighter onto Jeff. As he was set ablaze, he screamed loudly. Rory stood watching, entranced, unblinking. She didn't even flinch. It was done. It was all over. Never again would Jeff harm another unsuspecting human. Justice was served. As Rory watched the blazing inferno lick at the vampire she hated more than anything on earth, she felt as though a weight had been lifted off her heart. Finally tearing her eyes away from the hellfire burning in front of her, she turned to face Mick, Beth, and Dante. The people she had wronged. Her family.

Mick had returned to Beth's side to keep her standing upright. Rory looked over at Dante, who was still chained to the pillar. In his haste to ensure Beth's safety, Mick had forgotten to free Dante. Rory rushed over to him, easily breaking his chains. He fell the few inches to the ground, and his legs buckled beneath him. Rory caught him and, supporting all of his weight, dragged him to his feet. She silently thanked God for her vampire strength, without which she would never have been able to support Dante's weight. Though her own strength was gradually fading with her injuries.

Rory cast a glance around her at Mick and Beth before her gaze finally settled back on Dante. She had already made her peace with Mick, who now understood what she had been doing all that time. Beth stood looking shocked, unable to comprehend what had just happened, and Rory could sense the deep-rooted hurt in Dante. Wounds that ran far deeper than the physical agony he was currently enduring. Wounds that she had created.

"I'm so sorry." She said loudly to all of them, although her unwavering gaze was focused on Dante's face.

Beth could only stutter. "But I thought-It's just, you made us think that-"

"I know." Rory said, trying to make them understand. "I had to. I had no choice. He was going to kill you…or worse. I had to stop him. He was angry…he was using all of you to get back at me. The only way I could stop him was to make him happy, to give him what he wanted…me. As long as he was happy, you were alive."

"But you seemed so…sincere. I couldn't sense any hesitation or deception coming from you." Mick said.

"I had to make it look legitimate." Rory said. "I couldn't give you any signals to let you know what I was doing for fear that he would pick up on them. If you would have been able to sense I was lying, then so would he."

Mick gave a half-hearted laugh. "You definitely had me fooled."

Rory smiled. "I've been told I'm a good actress."

Beth just looked at Rory, a mixture of shame and embarrassment on her face. "Rory…about what I said…I'm so sorry."

"So am I" Mick added.

"I know." Rory smiled. "It's okay. It made the whole thing seem more realistic anyway."

Dante looked Rory in the eye. He looked as though he were on the verge of unconsciousness.

"I'm sorry I doubted you." He whispered. Rory gave him a squeeze.

"I know." She reassured him.

"I should put out that fire." Mick commented after about half an hour. "Jeff's burned completely by now, and with the shape this place is in, I wouldn't be surprised if it caught fire." He looked at Beth with concerned face. "Can you stand on your own long enough for me to put out that fire?"

"Yeah. I should be fine." Beth said. She leaned against a nearby pillar as Mick grabbed an old fire extinguisher mounted to the wall and extinguished the flames.

All that was left of Jeff was a pile of ash in the shape of a body, Mick touched it lightly with the tip of his finger and it fell to dust on the ground. Then he resumed his place at Beth's side.

"Let's get out of here." Mick said, picking Beth up and cradling her in his arms. He noticed that Rory was becoming weak and was beginning to struggle with Dante's weight. "Are you sure you can handle his weight right now Rory?"

"Yeah." Rory said with a weak smile. "As soon as I get out of here and get some blood into me, I should be fine."

Mick knew that she would soon be unable to support Dante's weight, but nodded and turned toward the exit. Just as he began walking, a form stepped out from the shadows.

"Leaving so soon? The party's only just begun." The man said with a grin.

"Scott?" Dante asked weakly, apparently bewildered at the sudden appearance of his best friend, half thinking he was delirious with pain and imagining it. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"What I do best." Scott replied coolly. "Hunting."

Dun Dun Dun…Sorry folks, this one's a TBC. Yes, I'm evil. Yes, everyone predicted this moment. I tried to come up with ways to throw you all a curve ball, but nothing's worked so far. Anyway, just wanted to tell you all that there's only two or three more chapters left until the end. It depends on how I end up writing this. I meant to go on a little bit before ending this chapter, but seeing as it's almost 2:00 a.m., I decided that this was a pretty good place to end this. I wanted to get it posted ASAP for all of you wonderful and loyal readers. So, I hope you enjoyed. And tune in next week (or whenever the hell I get the next chapter written and posted) for the shocking conclusion to this turn of events. (Evil Grin) Gotta love the evil cliffies!

Luvz, Cat.