Darkness Falls

I tightened it even further, making his face turn bright red.

"You and your buddy are going to give up this life, and live honest lives when you get out of prison. If you don't, I will track you down and kill you, and anyone you've ever dealt for. You will forget I was ever here, or the same punishment applies. Do you understand?" I asked.

The man nodded a final time, not able to breath at all.

I nodded as well. "Good," then released him from my grip.

The man fell to the ground and clutched his hand, gasping for air.

I turned my attention to the guy on the ground with the broken leg. I kicked him in the side and rolled him over. I placed my boot on the bone sticking out of his leg and pressed down.

The man screamed loud until I pressed my hand over his mouth. "Did you hear what I told your friend?" I asked in an intimidating voice.

He nodded, crying from the pain.

I smacked his face. "Good, the same applies to you. This is your only second chance. You will not get a third." I told them, then picked up their guns. "I'm keeping these." I told them, then walked out, and zipped away.

Once I was outside, I broke the handguns in half with my bare hands, and threw them into a sewer drain. I pulled out my phone, and checked the time. It was past one in the morning. I realized I should probably head home, because Sarah would probably wake up and be confused as to why I was gone. I ran faster than any human, loving the total freedom that having super speed gave me. All of a sudden, my phone rang. I stopped running and pressed on my bluetooth headset to answer it.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Blake, listen to me! I just got a call from Colton. He is with his girlfriend, and people with guns just broke into their house!" Sarah screamed frantically.

I felt my adrenaline surge. "What the hell did you just say?" I asked in disbelief.

Sarah was breathing erratically. "Colton is in trouble! He said people with guns just broke into their house! I am scared that something is going to happen to them! You have to help them!" She exclaimed.

I sighed, my adrenaline coursing rapidly through my veins. "Text me the address!" I responded.

Sarah ended the call. A few seconds later, I received the address from her.

It was all the way on the other side of town. I could get there in five minutes if I hurried. I ran as fast as I could, hoping that I wasn't too late.

CHAPTER FIVE - COLTON

I awoke to the sound of glass breaking. I looked over at Heather who was still fast asleep. I shook her and woke her up, which she was not happy about.

Heather looked at me with a confused and groggy expression. "What is-" She asked, before I cut her off and placed my hand over her mouth.

I looked at her with frightened eyes. "Someone broke into the house!" I told her in a whisper.

Heather's eyes grew wide with fear. "What?" She asked in disbelief.

I got out of bed, but did not turn on the lights. I pointed to the master bathroom. "Hide in the bathroom with the lights off. "I'm going to try to call the police. I'm going to guard the bathroom, I won't let them get to you.

Heather shook her head. "You just got out of the hospital, I won't let you do that!" She whispered.

I sighed. "I'm not giving you an option! I just lost my mom, I'm not losing you too." I whispered back.

Heather was silent, and did as she was told.

I whipped out my phone and looked at the time. It was close to one in the morning. I wondered why the hell someone would want to break in. I thought about calling the police, but then realized Annabelle could walk through walls.

Annabelle heard my thoughts, and appeared in front of me. "I'll look and see if there's anybody in the house." She told me.

I nodded, then watched Annabelle disappear. I closed my eyes, and hoped it was just some hooligan who broke the window.

Annabelle reappeared in front of me, looking terrified. "There are four of them, and they have guns! Two of them have wooden stakes." Annabelle told me in a frightened tone.

My blood ran cold.

"They're searching each room, trying to find the inhabitants. They keep saying they're going to kill the vampire!" Annabelle told me.

I started to tremble in fear. We were trapped in the master bedroom, with no escape. They would hear us long before we escaped through the windows, and they were wanting to kill me. I looked around for something to use as a weapon, but found nothing. I searched Heather's nightstand, hoping to find a weapon of some kind, but found none. I quietly looked in her closet, and found a baseball bat. I breathed a sigh of relief, and picked it up. It was metal, and would work.

I whipped out my phone, and went to call the police, but hesitated. I remembered what Sarah had said to me in the hospital. She had told me that she would help me if I ever needed trouble. She had even said that her boyfriend was a werewolf. I ran to my pants pockets that I was wearing when discharged from the hospital. I found the note, and frantically entered the number into a text message.

Adrenaline was pumping through my veins as I desperately tried to text without making mistakes. "Send help now! Home invasion, they have guns, are talking about vampires and killing me! Don't text back, they'll hear the phone." I texted, hoping she received the message and that she wasn't asleep or at work.

Annabelle disappeared, and then reappeared a few seconds later. "They're almost to the door!" She exclaimed.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. More than just my life was on the line if I failed. I positioned myself beside the door so that I would have the element of surprise for the first guy. My goal was to take their gun and use it on them. Suddenly, the doorknob turned slowly, and an assailant stepped through, with a pistol and a flashlight.

I swung with all of my might at his head, and made a sickening crack when it connected with his skull. When he crumpled to the ground, there was a huge indent where I hit him. Blood began to pour out of his opened skull, causing my throat to light on fire.

"He's in here!" Another assailant exclaimed, then fired a couple of shots through the wall.

Heather screamed in fear when he shot.

I pulled the one I had dropped into the room and slammed the door shut with my foot, as they fired several shots through the door. The sound of gunfire was deafening, and my ears were ringing.

"There's another one in the room somewhere!" One of them screamed.

I picked up the gun from the ground as well as the flashlight. Luckily, I knew enough about guns from video games to know how to use them. I made sure it was off safety, and checked how many rounds I had. There was a total of thirteen shots, twelve in the magazine and one in the chamber. Suddenly an idea came to my head. I could hide under the bed and shoot their legs then shoot their bodies once they drop.

I dove for the bed, quickly crawling under it. I waited with the flashlight off, and aimed the handgun at the door for what seemed like ages. Finally, one of them kicked the door open, and went to the corner I was in and fired. Another guy entered the room and looked around. I saw that the guy in the corner was checking the body and still had his back turned to me, so I shot the one in front of me first in the shin, which dropped him.

He dropped to the ground, howling in pain. He tried to aim his gun at me, but I was faster and shot him in the chest two times, and he ceased to move. The guy behind him was too slow, and I fired wildly, hitting him three times in the back. He slumped over the body, motionless.

There was still one more person unaccounted for. Suddenly, he came around the corner with a strobe light, disorienting me. He fired at the bed several times, and grazed my side. I dropped the gun and clutched my side, screaming in pain.

"Stupid fucking leech!" He exclaimed, kicking my head. He pulled me out from under the bed, and kicked me in the stomach.

I gasped, incapacitated and breathless.

He walked over to the bathroom, and kicked the door in.

Heather screamed for help, but I was helpless on the floor. My head was spinning from the pain and I still couldn't breathe.

"Shut up, stupid bitch!" The man exclaimed and returned in view, pulling Heather by her hair. He threw her down in front of me and held the gun to her head. "Which one of you am I going to kill first? I think I know; I watched my friends die, so I think you get to watch your girlfriend die. Or your blood bag, personally I don't give a shit." The man snarled. He then pointed the handgun at her head.

Heather started to cry. "Why are you doing this? What have we done to you?" She asked.

The man laughed in a sinister tone. "Do you not see the pile of bodies your boyfriend has made?" He asked.

Heather stared in horror at the dead bodies lying on the floor, hysterical. "Why did you break into our house?" She asked. She looked like she was going to vomit, and held her hand against her mouth.

The man pointed the gun at me. "Because of him." He told her.

Heather shook her head. "What does he have to do with anything?" She asked.

The man laughed once again. "Isn't he your boyfriend? Surely he's told you what he is." He replied.

Heather shook her head again. "He hasn't told me anything! I don't understand your question." She responded.

The man pointed the gun at Heather's head and looked at me. "Tell her, or I will kill her." The man exclaimed.

I sat up, my head still spinning from being kicked. I looked at Heather and started to cry. "I am a half vampire." I told her.

Heather looked at me in disbelief. "That's not possible, vampires are a myth." She replied, beyond reasoning.

The man grinned. "Oh yes it is. Why do you think he healed from mortal injuries that should have been fatal?" He replied. "Anyways, I am done talking. Now, you die." He added, and pressed the gun to Heather's head.

I lunged at the man, using every bit of strength I had to try and stop him. I was too slow, and he hit me across the head, making my vision turn black.

Heather started crying.

"There's no use fighting, you're both going to die!" The man shouted.

Suddenly, I heard the glass door out back shatter as something broke through it. I turned to look and saw a giant monstrosity stand in the doorway. It was a giant werewolf, and growled menacingly as it approached the man.

Heather screamed in terror as the beast entered the room, shielding her face with her hands.

The man however seemed nervous but unfazed. "I've got something for you, dog!" He shouted, then pointed the gun at the werewolf. He then fired a shot at it.

The werewolf howled in pain, and fell to the ground. As it did, it tried to limp away but the man fired another shot, hitting it in the leg. It then started shrinking and he turned back into a human. He clenched his stomach and right leg as blood seeped out of both. His wound sizzled, almost like it was burning him.

The man kicked him in the stomach. "Such a ferocious yet fragile beast! All of those incredible powers, stopped by a piece of silver. You will die like the dog you are!" The assailant exclaimed. "I think I'll kill you first, dog." The man sneered. He pointed his gun at the back of his head and held him down with his foot.

I had lost all hope, and knew I was going to die. I looked at Heather, who was terrified and inconsolable. I crawled over to her, and wrapped my arms around her. She saw the defeated look in my eyes, and buried her face in my chest.

I looked away and closed my eyes. I felt tremendous guilt for ever calling Sarah. Now, her boyfriend was going to die because of us.

Suddenly, a deafening shot rang out, and I knew the unnamed assailant had killed him. A second later, a loud thud sounded as something heavy hit the floor.

I opened my eyes to see what it was, and I was dumbfounded to see the assailant lying dead on the floor, with a bullet hole in the back of his head.

"What the hell?" Heather exclaimed. She was looking behind us.

I turned around to see what she was looking at. Annabelle was standing behind us, with a gun in her hand. She looked at Heather who saw her staring, and immediately dropped the gun.

Heather blinked hard, as though she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Was that gun just floating in the air?" She asked.

I ignored Heather and looked over at the naked man who was in the fetal position, groaning in pain. I ran to his side. "Let me look at what happened." I told him.

He nodded, wincing in pain. He removed his hand to let me examine the wound.

I saw a flashlight on the ground, so I picked it up and looked in the wound. There was smoke coming from the wound, and I could audibly hear a sizzling sound coming from it. "We need to get you to the hospital!" I told him.

The werewolf shook his head. "No, you have to take me to Sarah! She is a doctor. No one else can know what I am." He replied through gritted teeth.

Annabelle kneeled down beside me and examined the wound. "I think I can get them out. I can pass through material, and extract it." Annabelle informed me.

I nodded. "That's a good plan." I replied.

The werewolf groaned. "What?" He said, obviously confused by hearing my reply to an unspoken question.

I looked at him. "Nothing. I have an idea. What is your name?" I asked.

He panted heavily. "Blake, now let's get the hell out of here! The bullets sting, and I'm not healing like I should be. The silver is poisoning me!" Blake replied.

Heather walked over to us, and bent down to examine the wound. "Colton, what the hell is going on? Why were people trying to kill us, why did they say you were a vampire, why was he a big dog, and why was there a floating gun?" She asked.

I turned around to look at Heather. "I know you're confused and scared, but right now I don't have answers for you. Blake is hurt badly, and needs attention, that's what I know right now. The others will be explained in time." I replied.

Annabelle reached down, and put her hand to his stomach.

I stopped her. "Are you sure you can get them out without hurting him more?" I asked.

Annabelle nodded. "I'm pretty sure I can." She replied.

"Colton, who are you-" Heather started to ask, but was cut off by my finger silencing her.

I nodded, telling Annabelle to proceed.

Annabelle's hand seemed to go through Blake's stomach with no resistance. "I have my hand around the bullet!" She informed me.

I looked at Blake. "I need you to trust me. I know you have no reason to, but I'm going to get those bullets out right now. This is probably going to hurt, so brace yourself." I told him.

Blake nodded, closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. "Hurry!" He responded.

I nodded again to Annabelle, giving her the approval.

Annabelle started pulling on the bullet slowly, trying to remove it without tearing any more flesh.

Blake howled in pain, gripping the carpet tightly but still did not move.

Annabelle continued pulling, until she successfully removed it.

Heather stared in wonder as the bullet levitated in the air, then fell to the carpet.

I looked at Blake who was still wincing in pain. "The first one is out. Roll onto your side so we can get the last bullet out." I instructed him.

Blake nodded, already starting to relax. He turned on his side, and once again white knuckled the carpet.

Annabelle then reached into him, and started pulling immediately. "This one is right at the surface, it must have hit a bone when he was a wolf." She informed me. She pulled it out with minimal effort.

Blake breathed a sigh of relief, but was still bleeding from the wounds. "That was the last of it. Thank you." He told me.

I shook my head. "Don't thank me, we wouldn't be alive without you." I replied.

Blake still continued to wince in pain. "You're welcome, now let's get out of here before more goons come. I left my clothes outside in a backpack. I need to get dressed, and tell Sarah to come get us. There's someone we need to talk to." Blake told us cryptically. He stood up, but was stumbling around, woozy from blood loss.

Blake hesitated, looking at the bodies. "Get their guns, and any extra ammo they have. We may need them." He added, then stumbled towards the back door.

Heather grabbed my forearms. "Colton what the hell is going on! Why are you all of a sudden buddies with a creature that just tried to eat us, and why are there bodies in my house? We almost died and I have no idea what we did to deserve that! Why the hell did you say that you were a vampire?" She asked in an angry and scared tone.

I held her face in my hands. "Look, I don't know all the answers either, okay! I don't know why the hell they were trying to kill us. What I do know is we can't stay here anymore, it's not safe. Not only are there dead bodies on the floor but there are most likely more coming and we need to get out of here. I don't know about you, but I'd feel a lot safer if we had a werewolf on our side than against us!" I told her.

Heather still looked angry but didn't reply. "Where will we go?" She asked.

I shook my head. "I don't know, but Blake has a ride and I suggest we take it. Right now though, we should do what he said and pick up the guns and any extra magazines they have." I told her. I picked up the gun that Annabelle had shot, and pulled out a magazine to show her what one looked like.

Heather pursed her lips and nodded, still not happy. She turned her eyes to the bodies and began gingerly checking them. She held up something for me to look at. "Like this?" She asked.

I took the object from her, and nodded. Heather had found a full magazine on the body. I nodded. "Yes, just like that." I replied.

Heather nodded, and checked a different one.

I focused on the body of the last assailant, and took his gun and his spare magazines. There were only two extra, but they were more than enough to put up a fight.

Blake all of the sudden ran back into the room, clothed this time but still bleeding through the shirt. "She's here, let's go whether you're ready or not!" He informed us.

I nodded, but Heather backed away from him. "Where are you taking us? You just tried to kill us!" She retorted.

Blake shook his head. "If I had tried to kill you, you would be dead. To answer your other question, we're going somewhere to get answers. I thought you wanted them." He replied.

I sighed in contempt. I knew exactly where he was taking us and who we were going to meet. "Shit!" I said.

CHAPTER SIX - MAGGIE - ACT TWO

I stood in disbelief at the sight before me. Blake, who was supposed to be a werewolf and heal from pretty much anything was bleeding profusely. I only knew one thing that could do that to a werewolf- silver. He must have gotten shot, but the question was by who? The only ones who knew about werewolves were the Human Coalition. They weren't interested in killing, they were wanting to expose them.

Colton was supposed to be human, but I detected something in him that had changed. When I cast the spell and anchored the ghost to him, I had to partially turn him into a vampire to stop the constant energy drain. It wasn't enough to affect him, but it did make him age significantly slower than a normal human. Now, I detected substantially more in him- he was now a half vampire. I had no clue how it happened, the vampire blood must have overtaken more of him than I anticipated.

I had no clue who the woman was, or why she was standing with them. She was clinging to Colton, which was the most puzzling thing. I had compelled him to only love Annabelle, but here he was with another woman. I was puzzled at how he had broken out of the compulsion. I was an asshole, and compelled him out of spite. That still didn't explain how he was able to break it. Compulsion that was done on a human who then turned into a vampire still worked after they were turned. The only way that I knew of breaking compulsion was either by the vampire who did it or death.