Chapter Four:

Twenty Minutes Before Sunrise

Cole had left me in the bloody apartment. He said that he was going after Bloody Mary, and since I couldn't use my powers, I was pretty much helpless. I felt stupid just standing around there, with the corpses staring at me. It felt like they were blaming me. It wasn't my fault! It wasn't me!

I felt crazy talking to the corpses. Without a second thought, I jumped out of the window and onto the roof of a building not far away. Upon further experimentation, I found that I could jump farther, but that alone probably wouldn't help against Bloody Mary.

Still, I was a stupid teenager who didn't really listen to my parents. And since Cole was only a few years older than I was, he still didn't really know how to act like a parent, or how to put his foot down.

So, there I was, leaping through the sky to the St. Ignatius cathedral. It wasn't hard to spot, considering it was huge and there was a giant lightning bolt in front of it.

Cole must already be fighting that Vampire bitch, I thought. I'd better see if I can help!

I rushed over, jumping and running at high-speed, until I came to a gigantic hole in front of the cathedral. Vampires were surging inside. I could see Cole's lightning flashing everywhere, and then I heard Zeke's voice.

That idiot! I thought angrily. He's gonna get himself killed!

I jumped into the hole, and into a pretty pissed Vampire. He hissed, so I punched him hard in the face. What can I say? I'm not a conversationalist. A few more Vamps turned on me and attack, and I suddenly felt relief as I knew that I wasn't totally helpless anymore.

"Joan!" Cole's voice echoed through the catacombs. "Help Zeke!"

I quickly ran over to cover, Zeke, who was shooting a few Vamps in the head with his gun. "What're you doing here, Zeke?"

"Plantin' some bombs," he replied, almost happily. "We're gonna bury Bloody Mary, and this time she'll stay down!"

"Well, hurry it up! That bitch has got to be put down—!"

"Before sunrise! Yeah, yeah, I got it! Just keep these bloodsuckers off my back until I set these charges!"

I nodded. "You got it, Uncle Zeke."

Zeke grinned and got back to work while I fended off the Vamps. Cole was locked in battle with Bloody Mary, one I tried my best to ignore. I didn't like her in my head, but if she knew that I was watching her, she'd probably use that to her advantage.

As if she could hear my thoughts (which, I'm pretty sure, she could), Bloody Mary spun around and pointed a pale, bony finger at me.

"You! Stop Cole!" she ordered.

I frowned. It wasn't even sunrise yet! She probably forgot. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not under your control quite yet."

Cole slammed into Mary and hit her with his AMP (which, I could see, had some kind of crazy cross on it). She screamed and went back to battling Cole.

"Zeke! If you could hurry it'd be great!" Cole yelled.

"Hold on, brother! I got this!" Zeke yelled back.

With the white phosphorus planted, Zeke bolted out of the tomb. Cole followed, holding Bloody Mary off as best he could. We only had a few minutes left until sunrise!

I came after, hitting Bloody Mary on the head for good measure. She snarled and grabbed my ankle. I'd been so convinced that I'd be faster than her that I didn't notice it until my head slammed into the stone as she jerked my leg back.

I could smell my blood immediately. I kicked violently, trying to get Bloody Mary off of me, but she had a grip tighter than iron.

I could feel the heat of the sun start to burn my skin, like my flames earlier in the night. I screamed in pain, but Bloody Mary, I noticed, could feel it too. So, I did the stupid thing and turned on my flames to the max. The pain was unbelievable, but Bloody Mary finally let me go.

"Do it!" I yelled.

Zeke bit his lip. I kicked Mary once more in the face and then scrambled to be beside my friends.

"NOW!"

Zeke pressed the button, and the white phosphorus lit up like the Fourth of July. Mary screamed as a boulder crushed her, and the rest of the catacombs caved-in. Immediately, I felt relief wash over me. She was dead. And Cole and I weren't burning in the sunlight anymore.

I laid down on the concrete for a minute, just taking it all in. We'd been so close… And then Cole offered his hand to help me up.

When I was on my feet, Cole smiled. "Let's not do that again. Ever."

"Here, here," I agreed.

Zeke tossed both me and Cole a water bottle. "You guys're probably thirsty. How 'bout we head on to my place and watch some movies? I got some beers."

"I'm out on the beers, but I'm in for the movies," I said with a grin. "And I kinda need to change. Actually, Cole and I need to change. I'm not gonna walk around like I just drank someone's lifeblood."

"Yeah, you had five," Cole said.

"Totally was not my fault."

"Right."