"I thought I told you to leave."

"I can't leave."

"Why not?"

"Well, I don't want to leave you."

"Heh. Sorry, but I can't come with you."

"Please. I can Turn you and we can go together."

"You know I want to stay human. I'm sorry, Marie, okay? I value my humanity."

Clive opened his arms and let Marie sink into them. He stroked her frazzled hair, pulling out the tugs and untying the knots.

"I'm sorry this had to happen, Marie."

"It's not your fault."

"But it's my pride that won't take me with you."

"Can a man be blamed for his pride?"

Clive chuckled. "I suppose not." His face fell as he looked over the hills. "Marie. I hope I'll see you again one day."

"I hope I'll see you too," Marie whispered and hugged him again.

And while he was distracted, she bit him.

"So the werewolf is gone?" Layton asked, drumming the hard oak surface of the table.

"Yeah," Clive replied, looking down at his feet. He exhaled deeply. "Professor, I don't think this was the right thing to do, even if she was a werewolf."

"I know what it feels like to lose a loved one, Clive, and I know it hurts," Layton said, surprisingly softly. "But you'll get over it."

"I hope so, because all we had was a one night stand," Clive said, shrugging his jacket off and turning. With a hiss, Layton pounced at him. Clive whirled round and slammed a punch into Layton's face. The vampire staggered back and launched himself again. Clive had been forced to leave his guns behind.

Layton's fangs shot out and Clive slammed his elbow into Layton's stomach. The elder staggered backwards while Clive rammed his knee into Layton's crotch. The vampire doubled over in pain and Clive knocked him to the ground, pressing a foot against Layton's chest, gasping.

"What the Hell was that for?" Clive asked with a glare. "Did I do somethig overly dramatic? Huh?"

"You're Bitten," Layton growled. "She bit you. You're becoming a lycanthrope. You'll have to go, too. She was pretty determined to keep you."

"What?" Clive gasped. "She... she bit me? She took my humanity?"

"Yes. We can keep you until the first time you succumb to the full moon, and then we'll have to let you go," Layton explained. "Now get out of my sight. Stay away from all the vampires. Crow and Flora are the only two who you can safely be around."

Clive kicked Layton and stormed off, fuming all the way into his room.

Clive gasped, staring at the fur sprouting on his arms. The full moon spilled through the window, and he was slowly succumbing to his newfound lycanthropy. Crow was sitting next to him, watching curiously as Clive underwent his ugly transformation til a wolf was standing in his place.

Clive bounded out of the room and leaped out of the window, leaving nothing behind but a hair. Flora burst in, staring at the shattered window.

"Where is he?" Flora screeched. "Where's Clive?"

"Sprinting through the darkness on four paws, bringing demise to any vampires he meets and searching for a pack to join up with," Crow said, almost poetically. "He's gone now, Flora. He can't come back. If he does, your father will kill him."

"Why can't he come back?" Flora whimpered. "Why does the Professor have to kill him?"

"Because vampires and werewolves are enemies, aren't they?" Crow asked softly. "If you're really desperate, we can get all our friends together and hunt for him. The werewolves live in the hills to the far north, apparently. Or so say the other vampires."

"Very well then," Flora said bravely, holding her head high. "Tomorrow morning at four thirty. Be at the gates."

True to his word, Crow found himself standing in the mansion's gardens in front of the gates at half four in the morning, accompanied by Flora, Luke, Emmy, Badger, Arianna, Wren and Socket. Crow had been forced to leave his other Black Ravens behind so the party wouldn't be too big and suspicious.

It took about three hours to trek to the first edges of lycanthrope territory, a bunch of bashed-up tents covered in mud. A wolf was curled up in front of a fire in the seeming centre of the camp. As the wolf heard their approach, it scrambled to its feet and morphed into its human form - a black girl with long brown curls and an athletic figure. She also happened to be naked. All the men in the party spluttered.

The girl folded her arms over her breasts and crossed one leg over the other. "Nothing to see here," she snapped. "Move along already, vampires."

"Well, I'm sorry, werewolf, but I'm looking for a friend of mine who came running with the full moon last night," Flora snapped back with an equally steel voice. "And you're not going to stop me from finding him."

"Hmph. I know who you're talking about, and if you're desperate, I'll take you to him," the girl said, to a series of nods. "I'm Jupiter. Now that you know my name, keep your eyes off." She edged into a tent and emerged wearing a black T-shirt and faded jeans, but nothing on her feet. "Let's go."

She led them through the werewolf camp, inhabited by wolves and people with bare feet. They arrived fifteen minutes later in a small tent where a wolf was lying on its side, completely unconscious. A girl with blonde hair was crouching over the wolf, speaking to it softly and injecting it with all kinds of strange things.

"Sara, these are his friends," Jupiter said. Sara looked up and gave them a warm smile.

"Hello. I'm Sara. I'm taking care of your friend," she explained. "See, every werewolf after their first Moon Run, which is running around as a wolf from the influence of the full moon, is in a fragile state. They are still trying to cope with the morph from human to animal. So they are weak. By the time their second Moon Run comes around, they can run around safely without worrying about fragility. That's how long it takes."

"But what do we do after he's recovered?" Badger asked. "We can't go back to the mansion, they'll kick us out."

"I'll talk to the pack leader about this," Jupiter said. "He'll know what to do."

"Right," Crow said. "Can we come with you?"

"God no! Or, well, not all of you," she amended. She pointed at Arianna, Crow and Flora. "You three can come."

So they trekked through the wolf camp for ten minutes until they came to the fanciest tent of them all. It was grey with streaks of white, and it was tall and thin. Two men with spears stood outside and instantly let Jupiter and her companions in.

All three of the visitors gasped.

Sitting at the desk was none other than Jean Descole.

I had a horrible time with this chapter. I ended up writing some of it online, and I had to hibernate my computer overnight. So I continued writing this morning, yeah? But when I pressed Save, it turns out I'd been logged out! And I couldn't get it back!

But rewriting this gave me Descole, so I guess it's okay. And I am definitely copying all of this so I don't lose it again. Take care of yo stories, kids!