Well…I didn't get 5 reviews. Only 3 and some Story Alert/Favorite Story things which I guess I'll consider as a review…Although a review screen pops up when u do that so u might as well type something. Feedback would be nice because idk what you ppl want. So ya. Theres my rant of the day.

And because im so giving, here is another chapter. I don't even remember what chapter it is…….

CHAPTER 12 I WANNA SAY…

She grasped the knife. Moving robotically, she advanced on me, eyes glazed, weapon poised. "Marisa?" I asked fearfully. Recognition flashed behind her eyes, but she continued to progress. Despite the knife I grasped her arms and stared deep into her eyes. "Marisa!"

She shook her head. "What…?" she mumbled, before toppling over.

"No! Kill him!" commanded Steve. She straightened up and lurched at me, swinging the knife in a wide arc.

"Please!" I shouted. "Don't let him get to you!"

Again, Marisa swooned and broke the trance. "Darren…help," she mumbled weakly before Steve took control again. I couldn't fight her back, but there was someone I could. I hurled myself at Steve, knocking him over. His head smacked against the hard seat and he was knocked unconscious. Marisa carried on attacking me until I finally dodged behind her and latched her arms behind her back.

"Marisa, it's me, Darren. I'm your friend," I said soothingly despite how much I had the urge to shout and scream at her to snap out of it. Gradually, she relaxed in my arms. Gently, afraid she would faint; I spun her around to face her.

"Marisa?"

Her eyelids flickered and she leaned heavily in my arms. When she brought her head up, she smiled faintly at me, but it immediately melted as she focused on something behind me.

"No!" she cried, pushing me away. I heard a grunt of pain. I whipped around in time to see Steve crumple to the ground, holding his shoulder, his face contorted in pain. Marisa was shaking, looking at her hand as though it had done something terribly wrong.

"Come on," I said, placing my arm around her waist when she refused to move. I hustled her out the opening in the roof and was about to follow when I heard a scuffle behind me. Turning, I saw Steve standing on his feet, struggling with the pain of the knife embedded in his shoulder.

"You're such a dick," he muttered with an insane chuckle. Without warning he lunged at me, but I scrabbled out the opening in the nick of time. Marisa was already half-way down the cord, and I could just make out Lynne standing on top of the other lift, awaiting her arrival. I slipped my jacket off and was about to hook it over the cable when a hand gripped my ankle and yanked me back. I landed with a painful thud on the hard metal. Using my leg as leverage, Steve managed to heave himself out of the hatch and onto the rooftop. Instead of coming for me though, he crawled toward the cable Marisa was still on. Before I could react, he shook it violently.

Marisa let loose an ear-piercing scream as she was shaken loose, save for one hand.

Thank the vampire gods, Lynne slinked along the cable and managed to help her back on, then led her to the other gondola and slipped inside.

Steve growled audibly. He sprang at me but I rolled under him, hooked my jacket onto the cable, prayed the stitching would hold, and zip-lined all the way to the other gondola, where Lynne crouched, waiting to haul me up.

Once I was safely inside, I rushed to Marisa, who was lying on one of the longer benches with her eyes closed. As Lynne shut the hatch door, I heard Steve's calls drifting across the wind.

"You can't run, Shan! As soon as you step foot on solid ground my men will be waiting for you! Just you wait!" I chose to ignore his words, for I had more important matters to attend to.

Lynne and I kneeled beside Marisa, and I brushed the hair off her face as she opened her eyes.

I smiled softly, and she returned it. Suddenly the entire gondola lurched forward. We were moving again!

"What happened?" Marisa groaned. Lynne also gazed curiously at me.

"Steve hypnotized you," I explained. "But I seem to have the power to wake you up. While fighting, we went back and forth for a bit. That's why you must be so weak." I brushed some more hair back, and I saw the wound on her neck. I had completely forgotten it! It still leaked scarlet fluid, and it took all my will power not to feed on her.

We had no first aid, so I used my sleeve and pressed it to her neck.

As we neared the top of the mountain, I worried about Steve's words. I preferred not to be attacked with Marisa in such a feeble state.

Eventually the gondola slowed and the doors slid open. As we stepped out, me carrying Marisa's limp body, I fully expected to be swarmed by people. But when I looked around, all the employees were dead, strewn across the freezing ground. Steve was nowhere in sight. I didn't want to draw attention, so I set Marisa on her feet and placed my arm around her waist so I could still support her. Ducking our heads, the three of us hurried to the nearest gondola that would take us to the base of the mountain.

A while later we ended up back on the outskirts of Whistler, trudging along the freeway in the growing darkness, hoping someone would pick us up. "Shan!"

No.

I shifted Marisa over to Lynne and slowly turned around.

"Go," I whispered to them.

Lynne hastened further along the freeway, while I stood rooted to the spot, tensing for an attack.

"Oh don't worry about a fight now, Darren," snarled Steve. "You're girlfriend nearly killed me with that stab. I'll admit: she's a feisty one." His lips twitched upwards for a moment, before returning to an evil sneer.

"But just you wait. In less than an hour my army will be able to travel outside, and then we'll kill you. And your friends, too."

"Shit," I breathed. I had to protect Marisa, so I spun on my heels and dashed off down the street—at vampire speed. I slowed long enough to grab Lynne and Marisa in either of my arms, then sped off again.

"Wait," said Marisa weakly. "Take the next left." I did as I was told and we sprinted up a bumpy dirt path. Great trees loomed all around us, casting giant shadows. A minute later, Marisa ordered me to stop.

"I know how we can lose them. Up here," she motioned toward a steep path. In the oncoming twilight I could see a large bridge at the top of the hill.

Once we arrived at the top, Marisa led us across the bridge, which spanned 200 feet above a river. As we neared the middle, I saw a railing with a bunch of harnesses, gigantic ropes and other supplies.

"A…bungee jumping bridge?" Lynne asked skeptically.

Marisa straightened. "Yes. Even if Steve could find us again, he would get confused as to where to go. Hopefully we can shake him off."

As she enlightened us on this suicidal idea, I peered over the edge. It was a fairly small river, with rapids further downstream, and forested banks on either side. A battle cry drifted over the wind, and we glanced at each other in horror.

"Put this on," Marisa ordered hastily, handing Lynne and me a harness. We hastily pulled it on while Marisa did the same. Once she had tightened the straps, she fixed ours then stepped back and reached for the bungee cord. Suddenly she froze.

"What is it?" I asked, sensing something terrible.

After a thoughtful pause, she said, "You can't have more than two people bungee-jump at the same time."

Automatically, I said, "You and Lynne go. I can fight off Steve if he catches up—"

"No!" Lynne interrupted. "You're exactly who he wants. I'll stay behind."

"But he'll kill you without a second thought." I retorted.

"Wait," Marisa said. "Why can't I stay behind? It'll only be for a few minutes—"

"Don't do that, Marisa!" Lynne shouted. She looked at him, hurt. He took a deep breath. "This is life and death, and he's already hurt you once. I…" he glanced at me. "We can't let that happen again. And the longer we stand here debating, the closer Steve gets to capturing us." I couldn't argue with him, so I allowed Marisa to clip the karabiner through our harnesses, connecting us closely together. I was thankful for the darkness to hide my slight blush.

We awkwardly shuffled to the open gate and onto the edge of nothingness.

"Now Lynne, after we're off the rope, I want you to pull this—" She pointed to a bright green string. "—and that should bring the cord back up. Then clip it onto this clip with the pink tape. After that you can jump. Once you stop bouncing, just unclip it and you'll fall. Got it?" She sounded so sure of herself, so confident. But Lynne only had worry in his eyes. "The water is completely snowmelt," Marisa continued. "So it's going to be cold. About 34 degrees. Fahrenheit."

"Alright," he replied. He stepped close to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Promise me you'll make sure she stays safe?"

All I could manage was a small nod. Everything was changing so quickly!

"Be careful," Marisa said softly, giving Lynne a quick hug. He took a few steps back while Marisa and I edged closer to the periphery so we both had one foot hanging off.

"Ready?" Marisa asked. I had a flashback to when Lynne and I were just heading off to save Marisa. It seemed like a week ago!

"Ready."

Yep. There ya have it. updates will take longer, because im writing another story with Kristinaexpressive. You should check it out! It's a pretty cool idea :) so ya. Again, review while ur adding this story onto ur alert list please :)