"Watch out boy, she'll chew you up. (She's a maneater)"

"Maneater" by Hall & Oates

THE GROUP KNEW that today was the day. When Sevyn woke up, she found herself alone in her bed. She knew that Dwayne had left her just after she fell asleep. He needed to be in the elevator shaft with the rest of the guys, like he normally would be.

Now Sevyn just had to wait.

She blinked into the main cavern of the cave and started watching Rick and Morty on her phone. She laughed to herself and made a mental note to show this to Paul and Marko; they would probably love this show.

As she sat there watching, she started to practice a trick she had been working on for a few months now: teleporting individual items. It was a rough start; she kept teleporting herself or sending things to the wrong place.

Who knows where that apple ended up?

Sevyn continued to practice when her mind started to wander to the events about to unfold. She would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. No, nerves were definitely rioting inside her. But she was also filled with determination. She wouldn't fail them. These guys were her family now, and she would fight for them with everything she had. She wouldn't let them down.

They may be the villains, but they were her villains.

After a while, her thoughts strayed to Marko specifically. Her devilish Marko—with his sharp grin and quick wit. He had become very important to her in these past couple of months; losing him would be devastating. His life was in imminent danger, and she was scared for him.

Luckily, her ears picked up the sound of a car skidding to a halt up on the bluff. Her posture straightened. Those Frog brothers would come bumbling down the cave any minute now; it was time for her to get into position.

By the time the Frog brothers stumbled in, Sevyn was well hidden, watching what was happening, waiting for the right moment. None of them were very quiet; they were lucky their quarry was sleeping like the dead.

Get it?

While they were being obnoxiously loud, she was thankful for the clear picture of what was going on. They were basically announcing what they were going to do before they did it. It would be funny if it wasn't for the fact that her guys' lives were in danger.

The brothers were currently getting ready to stake Star when Michael stopped them. While she wasn't a fan of Star's, she was happy she didn't die. Sevyn might be petty, but that would be a step too far. Star might have manipulated Michael into doing what she couldn't, but she did it out of desperation to become mortal and a strong will to hold on to her morals.

The Frogs began searching the rest of the cave, looking for her guys as Michael tried to wake Star. Sevyn had to keep her wits about her to make sure that they wouldn't find her during their search. For once, she felt focused on completing a task, dead set on not accepting failure.

As Michael was getting Laddie and Star out to the car, Sevyn watched as the three teenagers started making their way through the cave to the elevator shaft. After waiting for Michael to leave for the last time, Sevyn quickly darted out to keep an eye on the other teenagers.

She decided to go rogue once more. Why not? It went so well the first time. She ran over and teleported David's wheelchair into the shaft where it would be waiting for her.

Letting the group of three lead at a small distance, she blinked ahead to where the tunnel opened up, waiting for them to make their way slowly in her direction.

Sevyn had to suppress the urge to sigh loudly and insist they get a move on. Down the tunnel, she could hear one of the brothers curse "that pink-haired chick" for tricking them. As they speculated on how she got pictures of them, she now had to choke down laughter. She was still proud of herself for that one, even if David didn't see its brilliance.

Before the guys could see her, she blinked away once again, hiding nearby so she could keep tabs on the three boys' progress. It was another waiting game until finally, the group made it, and Sevyn was relieved.

She waited for the three boys' shrieks before blinking into the room, sitting sideways in David's chair, legs dangling over the side.

It was showtime.

While the teenagers were looking up at the sleeping vampires, Sevyn sat there staring at them with a bored expression that she most certainly was not feeling. But fake it 'til you make it, right?

"What's the plan here, boys?" Her voice rang out, echoing through the cavern. Her echo was swallowed by more shrieking.

Without thinking, Edgar lifted his stake and swung it down toward Sevyn. Anticipating their violent reaction to her sudden appearance, she reacted instantly. Her left hand clamped around his wrist, halting the stake's descent, while her right plucked the weapon from his grasp and blinked it away.

She'd read too many fanfics where the main female character gets staked by one of these idiots, and she refused to become a trope.

Sevyn settled back down and sighed as if this whole thing was just a giant inconvenience. She plucked a coin out of her pocket and started rolling it around her knuckles.

"Let me guess: you go up there and start staking them all? How's that going to pan out? You're going to kill one, waking up the others, and then you're dead. And if by some miracle you survive, those guys will hunt you down until you're dead, and I gotta say, fellas, I'll be right there helping them bring you down," Sevyn promised blithely before her demeanor shifted. "But I'm not here to hurt you. Actually, I'm here to help you stay alive," she crooned, adopting her most Pied Piper tone.

"Yeah? And why should we believe you? You're obviously a liar," retorted Alan with a sneer. "Not vampires, huh?"

Sevyn tilted her head back and forth, pretending to think about that. "That's true, but now that you know the truth, I have no more reason to lie. I figured I'd give you some tips, ya know, help you along on your quest," she offered.

"What could you possibly say that would help us?" Sam said, mirroring Edgar and Alan's suspicion.

"I can tell you who the head vampire really is," Sevyn sang, giving her best Marko grin.

All three boys looked at each other, silently communicating, before turning back to her.

"Go on," Sam encouraged skeptically having become the boy's impromptu spokesman.

"I assume you've all met the man named Max? Video store owner?" Sevyn asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, he's my mom's boyfriend, but he's not a vampire, we checked," Sam denied, the other two nodding in agreement. It was funny how little these so-called vampire hunters knew about vampires.

"Yeah, but was he invited inside first?" she asked, a perfectly manicured eyebrow raised.

They all looked at each other again before looking at her. "I don't know, probably," Sam hedged, looking a little concerned.

Sevyn wanted to laugh again; this felt almost scripted. She kept her reaction to herself; it probably wouldn't read well.

"Well, if you tried to oust him as a vampire and it didn't work, that would mean he was invited inside. I'm sure either your mother or your brother invited him in; it's no divine mystery," Sevyn explained slowly so they could keep up. She was probably being a little patronizing, but she had a job to do to convince them.

"So Max is the head vampire?" Edgar asked. "Why should we believe you?"

"Well, it would seem that we all have a common enemy. You want Max gone so you can save your brother, Star, and Laddie, and we want Max out of the picture for our own reasons," Sevyn said.

Sam held up a finger, and the three boys huddled together. Sevyn did not stop from rolling her eyes this time. She was sure that this part of their plan was a success, but waiting for the confirmation was starting to irritate her. She just wanted to be done with this part. Her nerves were shot.

This part was the most pivotal piece of their plan. Everything hinged on this going their way. Once they had the Emersons and the Frogs on their side—temporarily, she was sure—then getting rid of Max was going to be fairly easy.

She hoped.

"Okay, say you're right, what do you think we should do, if you're so smart?" Sam looked more and more offended by her overall demeanor as the conversation dragged on.

Sevyn grinned and stood up, her hands clapping together.

"I have a plan."