-Maddie-

'Get inside the house.'

The words came out of Maddie's mouth, but she couldn't hear her own voice say them as she felt every muscle in her body become taught as adrenaline started to surge through her veins. The dream that she'd had a couple of weeks ago, the one she had all but forgotten about, appeared in her minds eye as the sickening feeling of déjà vu churned in her stomach.

Maddie counted the vampires and had to bite back panic when she reached the number seven, realising that they had completely surrounded them. Only one vamp was stood between them and the front door however, so the Shelby's needed to move fast if they wanted to get inside to safety. She then noticed that the Shelby's hadn't yet moved, all of them frozen in shock, and some with fear. The low growl of the vampires was slowly getting louder and she saw some of them grinning hungrily at the sight of their dinner. No, they won't make a meal out of my family, she thought defiantly.

'Get inside now!' she yelled, turning to Tommy and shoving him harshly in the direction of the house which caused him to look at her startled. 'Don't come out and don't invite them inside!'

Tommy and his family looked at her wide-eyed and began to tentatively step toward the house as the vampires watched them, not yet moving but Maddie knew that they would any second.

'Hurry up, do it!' screamed Maddie now, giving Tommy a look to signal for him to herd the rest of his family inside.

'Do as she says!' yelled Tommy, grabbing Finn by the collar and Esme by the shoulder and they all started moving hastily toward the door.

Maddie stayed where she was and was about to pick up a rock to throw at the vamp that was in between them and the front door. But just as she straightened up, she saw Polly, who was leading the group, pull out her rosary and hold it up in front of her. The crucifix was enough to cause the vamp to recoil and step back, as did the other vampires who realised what Polly was holding. This was enough for the Shelby's to get past the vamp and into the front door, the second closest vamp snatching at Arthurs coat tails as he brought up the rear of the group, the vampires looking decidedly furious once they were all past the threshold.

'What the fuck is going on?!' came Ada's voice from inside the doorway and Maddie thanked the gods that the vamps hadn't already gotten to her.

She couldn't concentrate on that for long though as there was a deadly pause before all the vampires turned to her, now stood alone in the middle of them. She could see Tommy, John and Arthur stood in the doorway of the house as well as the faces of some of the other Shelby's appearing in the windows on either side of the door.

'Don't be too disappointed guys. Slayer blood is what you want anyway,' taunted Maddie to the vamps before wondering what the hell was going through her head. 'Too bad you didn't bring anyweaponswith you.'

Maddie's emphasis on the word was enough for Tommy to shove John away into the house and she knew he'd picked up on her request. However, the taunt was also enough to rile up the vamps enough for them to begin advancing on her and she planted her feet firmly into the gravel as the nearest vamp went to grab her with its claws drawn and fangs bared.

She kicked the vamp in the chest causing it to stumble backwards before immediately having to elbow another vamp which had come up behind her in the chest followed by a jab under its chin causing that vamp to fall on its back. Then she felt her arms being held fast, pulled behind her as one vamp on each arm held her still as a third vamp approached and punched her hard in the gut. She grunted in pain but managed to sweep her leg up to kick the vamp in the head before it could punch her again. Maddie struggled to free herself from the other two vamp's grip before lifting her legs up to her chest, coiling up like a spring before whipping her legs down and backward between the two vampire's legs, putting all of her strength into her arms throw them down face first into the gravel on either side of her. Maddie cartwheeled up to standing and gained some space between her and the vampires when she heard John's voice reach her from where he was stood at the front door.

'Mads!'

She turned to look just as John threw one of her swords towards her, causing it to arch through the air almost in slow motion. She rolled towards it, dodging two of the vampires which had tried to snatch at her, and stood just in time to catch the hilt of the sword. One vampire, a woman with long blond curly hair was unlucky enough to be within swinging distance of Maddie in that moment as she cut the sword through the air as soon as it was in her hand and sliced clean through the vampire's neck. The blond vamp disintegrated into dust, and the six remaining vampires snarled furiously at the loss of their companion.

'Oh, I'm just getting started,' quipped Maddie.

She battled with the six vamps expertly, but not smoothly enough to avoid gaining the odd graze or rip of her clothes. At this rate she would have to replace her whole wardrobe in a month if she wasn't careful. She managed to decapitate another two vampires during the scuffle, leaving only four to take care of, leaving her feeling considerably more at an advantage. However, one vamp which Maddie guessed was the oldest, was proving to be more skilled than the rest and unfortunately managed to disarm her of her sword by getting her arm in a lock across his chest and bending it painfully. The sword clattered to the ground as the vamp grasped her by the back of her dress and threw her several yards across the driveway so she tumbled and rolled to halt at the foot of the front steps.

Maddie looked up to see Tommy looking down at her with what could only be described as panic and terror contorting his face. The sight made her uneasy as she usually associated him with calm and control, the two things which this situation wasn't. Then she spotted the stake he was holding and held her hand out in instruction for him to throw it to her. Despite his less than collected state, he immediately tossed the stake to her and Maddie did a kick up to stand as the older vampire made it within a couple of feet of her. She spun on the spot to gain some momentum before burying the stake in the vamp's chest, its sternum cracking as the pointed wood pierced it. She stepped forward a couple of steps, pushing the vamp backwards before he crumbled into dust at her feet.

The last three vampires looked at each other nervously and Maddie knew she had them on the back foot. The rest of the fight would have been easy if the sound of slow sarcastic clapping hadn't interrupted fight at that very moment.

'Impressive. So, it really is true, you're the new slayer,' came a velvety sultry voice from the shadows.

Maddie turned to identify the source of the voice and she saw a figure stalk out of the darkness from behind one of the cars. It was a vampire, she knew, but its face was fully human with long dark eyelashes and painted red lips. She was tall, at least six foot, and had beautiful long black hair which shimmered in the moonlight. She wore a blood red dress that looked almost black which draped to the floor obscuring her feet. The creature came to stand a few yards directly in front of Maddie, who thought of how much she reminded her of Morticia and wondered if the female stereotype for a vampire originated with this woman. The woman also screamed master vampire from a mile away; how she had remained unseen up until that point and how the other three vamps looked and positioned themselves around her told Maddie that she was a powerful leader. No doubt she had likely sired all the other vampires to create her own gang.

'Nice to know you've heard of me,' said Maddie, sizing up the attractive vampire with caution.

The way she had said'the new slayer'indicated to Maddie that they didn't know that she was from the future and there were in fact two slayers at this moment in time, and she decided she wanted to keep it that way. She also wondered how they knew about her and where to find her and was drawn back to the memory of her running a rampage across London and realised it wasn't surprising that word would have spread about a slayer cutting a swathe across the country's capital.

'I didn't think slayers had friends,' said the vampire, looking menacingly over Maddie's shoulder to where the Shelby's were standing in the doorway.

'Touch them and you die,' threatened Maddie, meeting the vampire's eyes unwaveringly. 'Not that I'd spare you if you didn't.' The vampire chuckled musically and continued to stare over her shoulder. 'So, what do I call the vampire who came all this way to meet me?' she asked, trying to distract the vampire long enough to come up with a strategy to kill her.

Maddie knew she would be difficult to fight, everything about her emanated power and experience that she would need to match if she wanted to slay her and come out of the other end in one piece. The vampire paused, regarding Maddie with pursed lips before replying.

'Juliet.'

Maddie snorted out a laugh before she could stop herself and she could also hear John's distinctive snickering from behind her as well. Juliet didn't respond in any way and just continued to regard her icily, her face actually beginning to look bored. This wasn't good, Maddie knew that the fight would start again soon, and she needed to gain an advantage somehow. She glanced at the sword that she had dropped earlier and began to circle around towards it, Juliet turning on the spot as she moved.

'Is Romeo going to be joining us anytime soon?' joked Maddie as she made her way closer to the sword.

'Your jokes won't get you anywhere. In fact, they will only keep you alive so we can feed off you for longer,' hissed Juliet, now looking at her with resentment.

'Really? I thought they were quite humorous,' smiled Maddie just as she reached the sword before rapidly reaching down to snatch it up as Juliet and her three cronies advanced on her.

Juliet reached her first and swiped at Maddie ferociously before holding up her hand to stop her followers from attacking as they drew closer.

'No, she's all mine,' she hissed before attacking Maddie again.

Juliet was fast and agile, her moves well targeted and measured and Maddie found it difficult to block her, only managing to doge and parry her attacks by the skin of her teeth. Maddie could feel her heart ramming itself against her chest and could feel fear and doubt whispering to her in the back of her mind. Could she defeat this monster? She forced this idea from her thoughts just as she tried to swing the sword down onto the top of Juliet's head. She brought her hands up and caught Maddie's hands so that their arms were raised above their heads, the sword hanging above them as they struggled to overpower each other. Maddie grunted as she strained, fighting against Juliet's immense strength in an effort to bring the sword out of her grip. The significant height difference was causing Maddie to bend backwards uncomfortably as Juliet's strength started to best her and she knew that this was a loosing battle. Their faces were only a few inches away from each other; they stared each other down and Maddie gritted her teeth as Juliet began to smile mockingly at her. Maddie thought fast and sucked all the saliva she had into her mouth before spitting it into Juliet's face, hitting her squarely in the eye. She growled furiously, tightening her grip on Maddie's wrists so that she dropped the sword again, Juliet's face contorting and finally changing into her true vampiric visage and in her anger grabbed Maddie by the front of her dress.

In one great heave, Maddie found herself soaring through the air again, only this time she landed on Tommy's car. Her body crashed onto the bonnet leaving a large dent, the windscreen shattering as her upper body collided with it. She curled up her body in pain and tried to bring herself around as she heard screaming coming from the direction of the house. Her onlookers had managed to remain mostly silent but the sight of her crashing into the car was enough for them to start shouting her name in freight. She lifted her head up just in time to see Juliet make it to the front of the car with the sword raised, ready to cut her in two. Maddie opened her legs, bending them to quickly hop backwards onto the roof of the car just as the sword cut into the metal of the bonnet between her feet. She stood on the roof as Juliet dislodged the sword and leapt up to join her. Maddie impressed herself by roundhouse kicking Juliet on the side of the head before her feet even connected with the roof of the car. Juliet tumbled off the roof, the sword soaring out of her hands as Maddie quickly leapt from the roof to try and tackle her. However, Juliet was too fast, already on her feet as she caught her as she leapt before throwing her again, the next target being the decorative and non-functional fountain in the centre of the rounded driveway.

Maddie hit the central stone structure of the fountain which collapsed on impact and she felt the broken slabs of rock jab into her ribs as she landed awkwardly on top of them. She couldn't let herself focus on the pain however as Juliet jumped over to where she lay, looming over her to pick her up by her collar, baring her fangs furiously. Maddie headbutted Juliet in the nose causing her to release her grip on her before she began to punch Juliet repeatedly. The three goons who Juliet had called off began to growl and inch forward, no doubt debating whether to help although they soon didn't need to.

Juliet blocked a punch aimed at her face before jabbing Maddie firmly in the nose, causing her to bend forward stupidly to feel her face as blood started to stream out of her nostrils. This allowed Juliet to follow with connecting her elbow to her back, and the next thing she knew she was face down in the gravel. She heard the shouts and screams of the Shelby's again along with the patronising laughter of Juliet stood above her. Maddie bought her weight up onto her elbows and knees to try and stand again but this only allowed space for Juliet to kick her hard in the stomach. She considered how fed up she was of being in mid-air rather than on the ground as the force of the kick lifted her up and her back quickly met the driver's side of Tommy's car, adding another dent to its body. She was facedown again and knew she needed to right herself quickly if she wanted to live. She managed to get into a crouched position, head still looking down at the ground but ready to stand up straight when she saw the toe of Juliet's heeled shoe approaching her face.

Maddie felt the foot connect with the underside of her chin and her bottom jaw smacked into her top one as her head flew backwards and collided with the driver's side window of the car, shattering it. Her vision went blurry and her ears rang painfully, fully discombobulated as she felt the long slender fingers of Juliet wrap around her neck and pin her against the car. Her vision returned just in time to see Juliet look at her victoriously, smiling and mocking her with her eyes as she struggled to free herself, gasping desperately for air. Maddie scrambled behind her for something, anything she could use as a weapon and felt the sharp jagged edge of a shard of glass jutting out of the window frame just as a gunshot sounded and a bullet hit the car next to them. Juliet's grip went slack enough for Maddie to suck in much needed air as they both looked in the direction of the house.

It wasn't Tommy, John or Arthur who had fired the gun, but Finn which explained why the bullet had missed its target. All the vampires growled in the direction of the house as Tommy and Arthur grabbed Finn and held him back but failed to stop him saying what came out of his mouth next.

'If you're all so tough why don't you come in here and show -,' Finn yelled before he was cut off by Tommy slapping his hand over his mouth.

'Finn no!' screamed Maddie as Juliet cackled, gripping her throat tightly again before pointing at the house with her other hand and addressing the other three vampires.

'Go, kill them all.'

The three vamps began to run toward the house as Maddie saw the Shelby's retreat from the doorway and out of sight before the door slammed shut. It wouldn't hold the vampires for long and she knew it. Juliet turned back to face Maddie again just as she wrapped her hand around the shard of glass lodged in the door, its sharp edge cutting into her palm as she wrenched it free. Juliet gave her one last mocking grin before opening her jaws and tilting her head down to bite her neck. Maddie brought her hand up and stabbed the shard of glass into Juliet's eye, feeling the bones of her skull crunch as she pushed it in as far as it would go, blood spurting out and hitting her in the face. Juliet screeched like a banshee, releasing her grip on Maddie and bringing her hands up to her face in agony. Maddie kicked Juliet away as she continued to scream and claw at her face and Maddie quickly made after the three vampires. It wouldn't stall Juliet for long, and she needed to eliminate the three vamps before they killed everyone she cared about, and before Juliet had time to recover enough to catch up to her.

Maddie caught up with vampire bringing up the rear of the pack and tackled it to the ground, landing on top of it before punching it hard in the face. She spotted a large slab of broken concrete next to her that was part of the destroyed fountain and reached for it as she heard the other two vamps reach the front door and begin kicking it. She raised the slab above her head and slammed it down on the vamp's skull, crushing it in a more brutal form of decapitation. The vamps body dusted beneath her just as she heard the front door of the house give way and splinter open, the remaining pair of vampires running into the house as screams and yells rang out as they entered.

Maddie scrambled to her feet and sprinted after them, her stomach doing somersaults at what might be awaiting her once she made it inside. She skidded into the foyer just as more gunshots sounded, and she spotted Arthur firing his pistol at one of the vamps who slowed but didn't stop walking toward him. She grabbed the back of the vamp's jacket and threw him against the wall behind her, its head hitting the stone before it collapsed to its knees. Maddie turned quickly to find the other vamp and saw it advancing menacingly toward Polly and Ada who were backing up in terror, grasping onto each other in fear. Maddie forward rolled over to the vampire before delivering a sweeping kick to its legs, knocking it over onto it's back. It quickly stood up again at the same time as her and raised its fist to hit her as a familiar clunking and whooshing noise sounded and the vamp suddenly froze, its arm still raised and fist clenched before disappearing in a cloud of dust. As the air cleared, she spotted Tommy holding her crossbow up, aiming at where the vampire's heart had been.

'Maddie!' came a scream from Ada who pointed behind her and she spun around to see the other vamp getting to its feet.

Maddie marched over to it and grabbed it again before it could make a move and threw it out of the front door, keen to get the fight back out into the open. She turned quickly round to the Shelby's as the vamp stumbled out of the doorway and onto the gravel.

'Get in a room and barricade yourselves in!' she ordered.

The group looked at her hesitantly, Tommy shanking his head in protest, but she needed them to be safe from Juliet for as long as possible, especially if she were to fail. The thought frightened her, but she made sure that it didn't convey on her face as she looked at them sternly to do as she asked of them before turning back to the door Maddie managed two steps toward it before she halted again as the figure of Juliet appeared in the doorway looking considerably less that pleased. She stepped up the front steps into the threshold and lifted her head up to leer at Maddie. Her once beautiful face was now half butchered, her right eye now just an empty socket that was still bleeding heavily, the skin around it frayed and hanging off where Juliet had pulled the shard of glass out. She was so angry that her whole body was shaking violently and as she stepped into the light of the house the sight of her face provoked shrieks from Linda and Esme.

Maddie was so focussed on Juliet's face that she failed to see John standing with his back against the wall next to the front door so as Juliet stepped into the house he raised a cricket bat to hit her over the back of the head. Where the hell did he get that from? That was all Maddie could think as Juliet, predictably, even with a missing eye was too quick for John. She turned to whack the bat out of John's hands before backhanding him across the face, like a mother scolding a child. The hit had enough force to knock John to the floor unconscious, his body sliding across the wooden floor to stop next to Esme.

'John!' Esme screamed, crouching next to her husband with tears in her eyes.

Maddie felt a fury boil up her oesophagus as she looked down at John and Esme. That does it, this bitch has been alive quite long enough, she thought. Juliet had started to laugh evilly at the sight of Esme and John and was distracted long enough for Maddie to kick her in the stomach.

'I said you touch them,' she spat through clenched teeth as Juliet stumbled backwards into the doorway. 'You die.'

Maddie jumped up and caught the narrow lip of the doorframe to hang there with the tips of her fingers before kicking Juliet again with both legs and with as much force as she possessed. Juliet was thrown backwards with a grunt and fell out of the door and down the front steps to land on her face in the gravel. Maddie dropped down and ran out of the door to descend on Juliet before she could get up, stomping on Juliet's back with her heel. Maddie went to kick Juliet in the gut as she had done to her a few minutes prior but Juliet managed to block her foot and push her away so she could stand and they began to punch and kick each other in a violent scuffle.

The remaining member of Juliet's followers was watching the fight from a few yards away, now looking terrified having watched all of his friends die at the hand of Maddie. However, he had enough courage to retrieve the forgotten sword and tossed it to Juliet with a shout. Juliet caught it but Maddie this time grabbed the hilt of the sword before Juliet could raise it, holding it at waist height with the blade pointed toward Maddie as they both fought for it again. Juliet was now snarling like a rabid dog, her fury overtaking her making her look like a terrifying fanged wolf. The two of them groaned as they wrestled, pushing and pulling each other in a fatal tug of war. Maddie took a deep breath and yanked with all her strength, finally snatching the sword out of Juliet's grip. She registered a sharp stabbing pain in her side as she snatched the sword toward her but nevertheless was quick to hit Juliet in the face with the hilt of the sword before pointing the blade toward her. Maddie spotted the fresh blood on the blade just as she swung it in a wide arch in front of her, slicing across Juliet's chest and face causing her to hiss and snarl again as she followed with the final killing move.

Maddie whipped the sword around above her head before connecting the blade with Juliet's neck. Her head spun off her shoulders and bounced on the ground once before it and her body exploded into dust.

Maddie panted for a second before turning to the last lone vamp who was now looking at her in terror before spinning on its heels and retreating up the driveway. Maddie spotted the stake she had dropped earlier and ran to pick it up; she can't let this vamp get away, especially now he's invited inside. In one swift move, she threw the stake which span through the air with a whistle and stuck into the middle of the vamp's back who tripped over and disappeared in a pile of dust as he hit the ground. She let out a long breath and dropped the sword at her feet before turning and running back inside the house, now beginning to register the severe pain that was radiating from all over her body. But now was not the time to take in her injuries, she needed to make sure John and everyone else was alright.

'Is everyone okay!?' she called as she emerged into the foyer to find all the Shelby's thankfully in one piece but looking considerably shaken.

'We're alright,' said Tommy who was consoling Polly who was grasping her rosary tight to her chest.

He turned to face Maddie with a relieved look and she sighed with relief, a dizziness coming over her now the adrenaline was leaving her system. She smiled at him in victory, but she was met by an expression of panic as his gaze fell to look at the lower part of her body. She looked back at him confused until she began to feel a hot sticky heat spreading down her left side. Shelooked down and saw that her left side was stained completely red with blood which was pouring out of a cut in her dress and saturating her clothes right down to her stockings. Maddie blinked as the room quickly began to spin, making her stomach flip upside down.

'Oh, shit...' she managed to mumble as she began to feel her weight being pulled to the ground, her knees buckling underneath her.

Then she was in the warm strong arms of Tommy who had stepped forward and caught her before she hit the floor.

'Maddie! Fuck!' she heard Tommy shout before she felt herself become weightless as he lifted her off her feet.

This only proved to make the dizziness worse and Maddie's vision quickly became fuzzy as she tried to look up at Tommy. Nausea soon followed and she fought to not vomit all over his suit. The adrenaline must have stopped her from feeling the wound on her side until now and it started to supply her with an inordinate amount of pain. She yelped and pressed her hand into her side instinctively and could feel the blood still dripping from her.

'Get her on the table, Tommy!' yelled Ada, who's hands brushed Maddie's forehead as she strode next to Tommy into the dining room. He lay her on the table as she tried desperately not to scream, before taking her face in his hands and calling to her.

'Hey, keep you eyes open alright,' he said softly before turning to his family angrily. 'Get whiskey, get everything, now!'

Maddie tried to focus on her breathing as the pain and dizziness worsened still, gripping the side of the table to keep herself grounded. Tommy gripped her dress where the cut was and tore it open further to clearly reveal the wound and from his face she knew it wasn't good. His skin went ghost white and he swallowed thickly, unable to take his eyes off what he was looking at.

'How bad is it?' hissed Maddie but neither he nor Ada replied, who also looked panicked as she stared wide-eyed at her side.

Maddie lifted her head up to look down her body and spotted what they were looking at and quickly wished she hadn't. On her abdomen, just below her ribs on her left side was a huge gash that looked like it was at least a couple of inches deep and was probably a foot from end to end. If it had been much deeper Maddie's insides would be falling out her. It was bleeding heavily, and the sight made the contents of her stomach jump up her throat. She turned onto her side and vomited onto the floor, which Tommy and Ada narrowly managed to dodge.

Just then Arthur and Polly returned with handfuls of items and placed them onto the table next to Maddie. Tommy snatched a towel from the pile and pressed it firmly against her side to stop the bleeding, causing her yet more pain. Her vision was now becoming dangerously blurry and she reached for Tommy who caught her hand in his. He ordered for Ada to press the towel down and for Polly to prepare the cotton for stitches as he picked up the large bottle of whiskey. He released Maddie's hand and lifted her head up before bringing the bottle to her lips.

'Here drink this,' he commanded before tipping the bottle up and pouring the contents into her mouth.

The whiskey burned her mouth and throat and she tried to turn her head away, but Tommy held her head still, not letting her stop until she was forced to gulp down about half the bottle and she coughed and spluttered once he removed it. Maddie felt the heat of the alcohol spread quickly through her system, the blood loss making her constitution considerably less than normal. The pain was lessened somewhat although the room continued to spin dangerously.

'This is going to hurt,' Tommy said, brushing her hair out of her face before turning to Ada. 'Ready?'

Ada nodded and removed the towel before Tommy poured the rest of the whiskey onto Maddie's wound. Despite the alcohol in her system, the pain was excruciating and burned like she had been stabbed with a white-hot poker. She couldn't control herself any longer and screamed in agony, ripping a chunk of table off that she was still gripping with her hand causing Tommy to try and shush her by stroking her head gently. Ada replaced the towel with clean gauze-like fabric and pressed down again as Maddie quietened to a whimper. She looked up at the ceiling and wondered whether the lights had been turned off as the room suddenly seemed darker and realised that she was about to pass out. She tried to force her eyes open, but she could feel her brain trying to swich off and willed herself to stay awake for as long as she could. Tommy grabbed her face and shook it gently to keep her awake, seeing that her eyelids were slowly closing.

'No, Maddie stay with me!' he called to her, his blue eyes staring into hers desperately, the calm completely gone from them as he ordered her to stay awake.

It was no use, Maddie held on for a split second longer before her eyes shut, the world going black as she fell into unconsciousness.

-Tommy-

'Fuck, no!' yelled Tommy in desperation as Maddie's eyes rolled closed.

As her eyes shut, her body went limp, her head falling back onto the table as he cupped her face in his hands and turned her head towards him. He shook her gently, but her eyes stayed shut and he moved his fingers to her neck and was relieved to feel a pulse, although it was weaker than ususal. He also looked at her chest to see that she was still breathing steadily and let himself breathe, at least for now.

'Tommy, we need to close this wound before she loses any more blood,' prompted Ada next to him who he had nearly forgotten about.

Tommy nodded in agreement before forcing himself away from Maddie's face, which now looked serene compared to being twisted in pain as it had been a few seconds earlier. Her earlier blood curdling scream had rattled his bones and frightened him to the core. He had forced back the eventuality of loosing her, the thought enough to make him begin to shut down inside. After the loss of Grace, the possibility of potentially losing Maddie as well, Tommy knew would be enough to destroy him. He wasn't going to lose her now that they had just found each other.

He turned to the gaping wound in Maddie's abdomen and had to force himself not to close his eyes as fear started to make his hands shake. The bleeding had slowed but if she was going to live, they would need to close it and dress it as quickly as possible. He and Ada rolled Maddie onto her side so she was facing away from them and so they had access to the entire wound. Polly approached with the needle and thread prepared and came to stand in between him and Ada as Tommy took the thread from her.

'Bring the edges of the wound together,' he instructed, his voice sounding hollow but measured.

Ada put her hands on either side of the wound and pushed her hands closer together, so the two edges of the wound met. At least the wound was straight and the edges clean, it would make for a neater repair although the stitches would need to be deep to fully close it securely. Polly assisted by pressing the gauze over the bottom half of the wound as Tommy began to sew up the wound from the top, his hands shaking nervously which prompted Ada and Polly to look at each other with concern. With every loop he made he watched for a reaction from Maddie, hoping the feeling of being stabbed with a needle would rouse her but she stayed completely still as he stitched her body back together. He had to swallow the acidic taste that rose into his mouth as he methodically made his way down the wound until he reached the bottom, tying off the thread securely before straightening up to assess his work. The wound had finally stopped bleeding now it was closed but Polly still placed some clean gauze over the top just in case. Tommy leant over Maddie and stroked her face before checking her pulse again. It was much stronger now and he let himself breath again when he heard several footsteps enter the room.

'Is she going to be alright Tom?'

Tommy looked up to see John, who looked like he had just come around, rubbing his head and looking over at Maddie's prone body on the table with worry. Some other members of the family entered and covered their mouths at the sight. Tommy scanned the scene in front of him and realised that the answer to John's question for any outside onlooker would be a resounding no. The table was covered in blood which had pooled around her, some dripping of the edge and onto the floor next to the puddle of her vomit. Tommy noticed that he and Ada were also covered in blood, the sleeves and front of his shirt completely saturated and what was on his hands drying and making his skin sticky. Then there was Maddie herself. She looked almost unrecognisable and he had to tense every muscle in his body to bite back tears. Her clothes were ruined, soaked in blood and shredded to pieces. Her face was the worst part, however; her hair was matted with dried blood from a cut on the back of her head which he had felt when he'd held her head and blood covered her face from where he had touched it and from where her nose had bled. There was a black bruise that spread from the underside of Maddie's chin to cover her neck and lower half of her face from where the vampire, Juliet, had kicked her in the head. As a result, the black and red figure that lay on the table in front of him reminded Tommy that although Maddie was tough, she wasn't invincible.

'I don't know,' replied Tommy after a pause, his voice cracking despite his best efforts.

Maddie's breathing was still steady and strong, but he wanted to get her cleaned up and into bed where she would be comfortable, and he could watch and wait for her to wake up.

'I'm taking her upstairs,' he stated flatly before stepping up to her and sliding his arms underneath her.

As he lifted her, she felt worryingly light and Tommy realised how fragile she seemed as she hung limply in his arms. A stark juxtaposition to how he usually saw her. He went to walk past everyone to leave the room when Arthur stopped him.

'Er, Tom, what shall we do? I mean, what if there's more of those things outside?'

Tommy looked at Arthur for a moment in thought, considering this possibility and coming up with an order for them to follow. All he wanted was to take care of Maddie, so he knew it would probably be best to leave Arthur in charge.

'If there were more, I'm sure we'd know about it by now,' he began. 'But all of you do a sweep of the house and the immediate grounds just in case.'

Tommy looked at his brothers coldly as he gave his instruction and saw that Finn looked like he was about to argue but he stared him down icily. If he wasn't holding Maddie in his arms, he would have knocked Finn out for stupidly inviting the vampires inside, and more importantly for nearly shooting her. Although, if it weren't for that distraction she may well be lying dead on the driveway with all of her blood drained from her body right now. Without any further instruction, Tommy stepped passed them and into the foyer before beginning to climb the stairs. He looked down and Maddie to check she was still breathing as he heard a rush of footsteps hurrying after him.

'Tommy!' called Ada after him, coming to climb the steps next to him. 'Maybe you should let me and Polly clean Maddie up, you can watch her for the night once you've had chance to cool off.'

He stopped and looked at his sister who was giving him a concerned look. He considered her offer but decided he didn't need to cool off and certainly didn't want to let Maddie out of his sight.

'If you want to help fetch some sheets, towels and clean clothes,' he stated calmly before continuing up the stairs and leaving Ada to stare after him pitifully.

Once upstairs Tommy took Maddie to his room and lay her on the bed, not caring that he would need to change the sheets once he'd finished. He didn't want to leave her side, but he would have to if he wanted to get what he needed. Once he was confident she wasn't going to stop breathing the thirty seconds he was gone, he went into the bathroom and filled the wash basin, adding a splash of rubbing alcohol before quickly going back to get Maddie as Ada walked in with a pile of linens and clothes. He didn't greet her as she entered but nodded for her to follow him into the bathroom once he'd picked Maddie up again. He knew the process was going to be messy, so the floor of the bathroom was the logical place to clean her up. Tommy rested Maddie on the floor and folded one of the towels to rest her head on. Ada lingered above him as he started with Maddie's shoes, unfastening the straps and lifting them off her feet.

'Thank you, Ada. You can go,' he said, not looking away from Maddie as he spoke.

Ada sighed and paused a moment longer, probably debating whether to ignore Tommy and help him anyway, but ultimately thought better of it and left him and Maddie alone.

As soon as she had gone, Tommy bent over Maddie, grasping her hand in his as tears finally escaped his eyes and trickled down his cheeks. The fear and emotion that he'd barely managed to hold at bay for the entire fight as he watched the woman he loved almost be killed and beaten to a pulp now demanding to be felt. He quickly clamped his eyes shut and drew a long breath in through his nose to stem any more tears before clearing his throat gruffly and turning his attention back to her.

He peeled her bloodied stockings off her legs and tossed them to one side before unbuttoning her dress, tearing the skirt part open to make it easier to remove. Tommy cradled Maddie in his arms as he shimmied the dress off her shoulders and gathered it up and threw it into a pile with the stockings. He lay Maddie back on the floor, now only in her undergarments which were also bloodstained before surveying her body for any more damage. There wasn't any part of her skin that wasn't bruised or cut so that her skin was more purple than white. It was impossible to tell if there were any internal injuries and Tommy guessed he'd have to wait until she woke up to find out if she did. The gauze was still stuck over her wound and he gingerly peeled it off to check on it. It wasn't bleeding but the surrounding area was covered in dried blood which would need cleaning if he didn't want the wound to get infected.

After stripping himself down to his underwear so he wouldn't get the blood from his clothes on her, Tommy began with the wound, dipping a cloth into the basin of warm water and gently wiping the blood from Maddie's skin until it was clean. Once the blood was gone, he could see that his stitches were neat and the wound was held together perfectly. He was surprised that he'd managed to do such a good job despite how violently his hands had been shaking. He then moved onto Maddie's face, keen to clear her features of blood, dirt and dried vomit. He cleaned her face and neck and swallowed as he looked at the ugly bruise on her jaw, hoping that it would disappear as quickly as the previous bruises she'd had. Turning her head to the side, he inspected the cut on the back of her head he'd discovered earlier and was relieved to see that it had scabbed over; he decided to leave her hair as it was until tomorrow and moved on to her arms and upper body. As he washed her from head to foot, Tommy discovered various other cuts, including a deep one her palm, which luckily didn't require stiches and the realisation of how lucky she was to be alive dawned on him. Anyone else would be dead if they were in her position and he was adamant that she wouldn't end up like this again if he had any say on the matter. He reached her feet, which felt cold in his hands and bathed them in warm water as well to bring some heat into them before rolling her onto her side. There was another large bruise in the middle of her back and some dried blood but otherwise there were no other injuries. Tommy unfastened her brazier and cleaned the blood from her back before returning her to her back and removing her undergarments completely.

Tommy grabbed the bandages Ada had also brought and dressed her abdominal wound, hastily wrapping the bandages around her stomach like a mummy, not wanting her to be naked for longer than necessary. He dressed Maddie in a long-sleeved nightgown and allowed himself a few breaths now that his task was mostly done, feeling better now that she looked less like an accident victim. He washed himself of any remaining blood in the sink before lifting her up in his arms again. As he entered the bedroom, he saw that the bed sheets had been changed and turned over, realising that Ada must have done it before she left, thanking her mentally as he lay Maddie on the clean bed and covered her with the sheet before climbing in next to her.

Tommy didn't know what time it was, nor did he care, he would watch her all night to make sure she was alright. He settled his head close to hers on his pillow and watched her face for a while, resting his hand in the middle of her chest to provide and additional tactile cue that she was breathing. She was calm and still, her face betraying no signs of pain or discomfort which he was thankful for. She had made no movement or noise as he had cleaned her up however and that worried him still; how long would it be before she woke up? This was the worst state he'd ever seen her in and wondered if it could be days before she recovered.

Tommy watched Maddie intently like this for hours, Ada even coming in to check on them who he dismissed immediately as she entered. Maddie was so unusually still that he was prompted to remember how fidgety she usually was when she slept, often talking in her sleep about whatever odd dream she was having and found that he much preferred her that way, even if it did wake him up in the early hours of the morning. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep for fear that he'd wake up with her dead body next to him; every time his eyes did flicker shut, they soon snapped open again like after a nightmare. So instead, Tommy resided to laying there listening and watching Maddie attentively, patiently waiting for her to come back to him.