'How do you deal with it?' was the first thing Mitchell heard when he answered the phone.

'Who is this?' Mitchell asked, before lowering his voice and asking, 'Adam? Is that you?'

'Yes.' The younger vampire responded, and Mitchell could hear the hunger in his voice.

'Umm, deal with what?' Mitchell wondered.

'The need. Hearing the blood rushing through their veins. Wanting to rip their throats out, needing to touch, to feel, to taste the blood.' Adam said, breaking off at the end.

'Adam! Mitchell said urgently. 'How long has it been for you since you last fed?'

'Nearly three weeks.' Adam said weakly.

'Have you tried, has the vampire nature taken over, to try to feed?' Mitchell stumbled over what to say, fortunately Adam knew what he was asking.

'Yes. We were asking Brandy questions, and all I could hear was the blood.' Adam's voice took on a desperate tone, 'Christa stopped me, pushed me way from her, but she's not there all the time, and her werewolf pheromones won't work on me for much longer.'

'You found yourself a werewolf?' Mitchell asked, smiling, distracted for a moment.

'Yeah, and a ghost. Matt.' Adam said softly in his soft welsh tones.

'Adam,' Mitchell started sadly, 'There isn't really anything you can do to stop it.'

'How do you do it?' he said quietly.

'I surrounded myself with good people.' Mitchell reminded him. 'They make you want to succeed. Not just for yourself, but for them as well.'

'They don't even like me Mitchell!' Adam argued, 'Christa thinks I should die, and Matt.. .god he just wants to move on.'

'But you phoned me.' Mitchell argued back, gripping the table top until his knuckles turned white. You don't want to kill. You want to be good, for them.'

'I don't know them!' Mitchell heard the torture in the younger man's voice, and closed his eyes in despair.

'Adam. Nina's pregnant.' Mitchell said slowly.

'Really?'

'Yeah, the baby survived the transformation.' Mitchell told him.

'You're my reason.' Adam said after a minute. You, Annie, Nina and George. Nina and George especially, they saved me.'

'And now you need to save yourself.' Mitchell encouraged slowly.

'Okay.'

Mitchell broke into a smile.

'See you later.' Adam said before hanging up.

Mitchell put the phone down, still smiling, when George walked in with a cup of tea in his hands.

'Who was it?' George asked, sitting down at the kitchen table.

'Just a friend.' Mitchell grinned. 'I'll tell you all about it,' he said, as he sat down opposite his best friend. His reason for fighting the bloodlust.