Author's Note: Guess who's back? ME! Totally not dead! And totally working on that writer's block thing that's been bothering me for the last...2 years or so? I kno weveryone has been desperate to read this so I finished it. Let me know what you think of THIS cliffhanger. (Hah!)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Aysel

Let’s recap the situation, shall we? Wes has been taken by Aviah and beaten to a bloody pulp. In a fit of rage, I have come up with a stupid plan and gotten myself caught as well. Wes is ungrateful, I am royally fucked and unless a miracle happens, we are both going to die horribly. If only I’d stayed in Nova Scotia. I could have hid in my friends’ basement, made us miss our flight, bribed my parents...anything! At least then I might not be staring death in the eye right now.

Wes has drifted off into unconsciousness. He was trying to put up a tough front for a while, but whatever Aviah did to him finally took its toll and he passed out. Maybe that’s for the best. Richard disappeared shortly after I was tied up, Aviah left with him, but Francis took their place as guard. I stared at him, trying to focus on that silly ribbon in his hair so I wouldn’t piss myself in fear.

Francis is really gay looking.

“Stop glaring at me, it won’t do you any good.” He sighed.

I didn’t listen.

Francis rolled his eyes and looked out the window. Frantically, I tried to come up with a way to use his lack of focus to my advantage, but got nothing. All I had to do was remember the last time I tried to come up with a plan quickly before I decided it was better to just wait it out a bit. Eventually Fayer would come. He had to. He’s hot for me. Of course he’d come!

Francis continued to blink at the grass outside, as if he was watching for something. It was only a few minutes before he grabbed a cell phone from his pocket. It took him a few minutes to make it work, but when he finally got a call through he only spoke two words.

“They’re here,”

That was it. No hint as to who was here, no word as to how many were there. Not even a clue as to whether they were here to rescue me or help Aviah and Francis kill me horribly.

I strained my ears listening for voices, but my head was spinning so much I was having trouble seeing the other side of the room. I thought I heard some shuffling outside, maybe a few muted voices but the sounds were so low I could have been imagining it. Dear God, I hope it’s Fayer out there. I never thought I’d want to see that boy so badly, but there I was, hoping against hope that the big idiot who had a crush on me was coming to save me.

Why wasn’t I wishing for Iden? So long as I was wishing for the impossible, like an army of slayers to show up at the front door to save me, why not wish for Iden as well. He was mad at me when I last saw him, and I’d pushed him from my thoughts, that’s why. Iden wasn’t going to show up, he probably didn’t even know I was here.

After a few more minutes the sounds faded away and I started to lose consciousness. It took all my willpower to stay awake. If I was facing death, I was going to face it on my feet, or as close to standing as I could get.

Iden

It took nearly twenty minutes before Fayer’s friends arrived: a full two dozen slayers armed to the teeth with flash grenades, sun lamps, strings of foul-smelling garlic and home-made flamethrowers. Each slayer also carried a handful of wooden stakes sharpened to find points with a small mallet in their belts. Some even carried dart guns with poisoned darts designed specifically for destroying vampires. I’d seen slayers in action before and seeing so many competent ones in one place was making me a little nervous. No matter how powerful a vampire may be, the slayers were still well-equipped to deal with them.

Almost immediately they recognized me for what I was and aimed their weapons at me. Only Fayer’s quick action stopped them from turning me into ash.

“Hold on a sec!” He cried, waving his arms and stepping in front of me. “This guy is an ally, for now. I called you here to deal with a vampire a lot older and a lot more powerful than him.”

Slowly they lowered their weapons and one of Fayer’s relatives showed up. He was a young man, still a few years older than Fayer, but obviously close kin with him.

“Will,” Fayer said solemnly.

“Quite an army you’ve got here, little brother.” Said the one called Will, “I just hope you know what you’re doing, taking sides with one of them,” He sneered in my direction, but I ignored him.

“There are two people held captive inside by a vampire who was around to see the pyramids in Egypt when they were built. I don’t think I have to tell you what that means. You’re going to need all the help you can get to get them out alive.”

Will scowled at me but didn’t make any further comment. Instead he turned to face the group of slayers who were waiting anxiously, some still looking eager to shoot me as soon as they got the word.

It didn’t matter. Getting Aysel out safely was all that mattered. I turned and scanned the landscape, wondering how the hell I was going to pull off this rescue when I spotted a figure sauntering towards me. I recognized it at once.

“Darwin,” I couldn’t help but grin, “Don’t tell me you were worried about Aysel and her little brother.”

“Don’t be an asshole, old man,” He scowled, “If Aviah is in there, Francis is too, and I wouldn’t miss the chance to see him burn for anything.”

I rolled my eyes; he was worried, I could tell, but it didn’t hurt to let him pretend he was here for himself.

The slayers were getting into formation now, and they were setting up lamps and portable generators around the house and their ‘base camp’, it the small area around’s Will’s truck where a few slayers were discussing tactics could be called such.

“Okay guys, get ready!” A voice cackled over the walkie-talkie Fayer had somehow gotten his hands on. “On my mark,”

“You may want to get out of the way,” Fayer said to us. I immediately pulled Darwin away from the house and we ducked into a dark copse of trees a little ways back. The slayers had kindly left a blind spot for us.

“3...2...1...mark!” said the voice, and suddenly all the UV lamps were on, sending a horrible glare and nearly blinding me entirely. I ducked under my jacket and Darwin hissed and rolled into a ditch, clutching his eyes.

“Fucking slayers!” He howled, rolling around in the grass. “That hurt like a motherfucker!” I said nothing as I blinked the spots out of my eyes and forced myself to look towards the house.

From somewhere inside came a horrible, agonizing scream.

Aysel

It must have been a good half hour before anything of interesting happened again, and when it did, all hell broke loose. Francis was on the phone again. I’d assumed he was speaking to Aviah. Just before he shut it off I heard a woman’s voice say ‘I’m on my way’ and then there was chaos.

Francis suddenly hurled himself out into the hallway and the room was filled with a blinding light as bright as the sun. The commotion woke Wes and I quickly helped him to his feet and hobbled towards the window. Looking out I saw a swarm of people shining lights into the house and from somewhere below there was a horrible scream.

The people outside were sent into a flurry of activity, running about like mad and from the back door came a figure, howling in agony and for some reason, on fire.

“It’s that geeky guy,” Wes moaned from beside me, squinting down towards the lawn. I looked more closely and saw that he was right. The creature on fire was Richard, stumbling across the lawn, barely able to stand. Without delay, the people on the lawn shot him with what looked like modified spear guns. Only instead of shooting spears, they shot sharpened pieces of wood: stakes. Richard’s body dissolved into ash before my very eyes.

“Jesus! Wes! Those are slayers! They’ve come to help us!” I cried excitedly. I hurled open the window and started to yell down to them. “Hey! Over here! Help!”

The lights went out again and as my eyes adjusted I saw them start to move. I could hardly believe what I was seeing. Nearly two dozen slayers had somehow found me and come to help! Aviah and Francis were going to be ashed next and I would be safe.

“Get away from that window!” Francis was suddenly back in the room and knocking me back into my corner. He closed the drapes and then grabbed Wes and I and started tugging us towards the ladder in the hallway that would take us into the attic.

Wes started to cry.

“Don’t worry,” I told him, “They’re going to save us.”

“Is that what you think?” Aviah suddenly materialized in front of us as we climbed up into the attic. “At most, they’ll get in here in time to recover your bodies. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a nice plot in a graveyard somewhere.” She cackled horribly and I felt my rage begin to build up again. One thing I knew for sure, I hated this bitch more than I had hated anyone in my life, and if I was going to die, she was going with me.

Iden

The lights went out again and Darwin and I immediately jumped up and ran towards the house. Richard was dead and now Aviah and Francis were left, assuming of course that they didn’t have any other lackeys we were unaware of.

For a moment I saw Aysel in the window and was immensely relieved. She was still alive. Now all I had to do was make sure she stayed that way.

“They’re probably up in the attic by now,” Darwin told me. I agreed. It was the best place to avoid any more light-attacks, if the slayers even used them now that Darwin and I were going in. I hoped they were saving those for a last resort.

Fayer ran around the house, leading a small group of slayers through the front door, while another team followed us in and a third went around to the side door. A small amount of others stayed outside to work the lamps and provide backup. While the slayers spread out to secure the house and make sure no one was lurking, Darwin and I immediately took the quickest route up to the attic.

We found the entrance in the hallway still open. I knew what that meant. They were up there, and they had Aysel. I tightened my jaw and went up. There was no turning back now. Aysel was depending on me to save her, and I couldn’t let her down.

When I got up, however, I didn’t see Aysel or Wes right away, but I did see Aviah in front of me, and Francis off to the side, ready to kill me should Aviah require it.

“How nice of you to come,” Aviah smiled, “I’ve waited for you for a long time Iden Black, and I think it’s time you cooperated.”

I scowled at her. I knew she needed my blood, but it had yet to be explained why I was so important to her. “What is it exactly that you want.” I growled.

She laughed, “You know what I want.”

“Why?” I demanded.

“Dear boy,” She sighed, “Don’t you even know who you are? What you are?”

I waited for her to explain. “You’re not just any vampire, and even before you were sired you were special. One of the last of a dying breed of magic users. A magi, a witch, if you will. And of the Black clan, one of the most powerful to walk the earth since the time of the mighty Pharaohs of Egypt.”

I merely blinked at her. A witch? She thought I was a witch? How ridiculous was that? If I was some kind of powerful magic user, I think I would know.”

Darwin was looking at me in shock.

“Why are you staring like that? Don’t you know she’s insane? I’m not a witch.”

“You can do that neat invisibility trick.”

“Any vampire can learn that!” I snapped.

“True,” Cooed Aviah, “But none can learn it on their own as you did. Didn’t you think it was odd that your parents were accused of witchcraft hundreds of years after witch hunts had gone out of style? Didn’t you ever see strange things as a child? Didn’t you do impressive things with little or no effort? Like learning the vampiric magic?” She sighed heavily, “It’s such a shame the arcane arts that are in your blood have gone to waste. But if you give me that blood, Iden, you can be as powerful as I. I will teach you.”

“That’s not what I’m here for!” I growled, “Where are Aysel and Wes?”

“Oh, them?” She shrugged and stepped aside, and for the first time I saw Aysel and her brother sitting behind her, bound at the wrists and unusually silent. I knew they were okay though, Aysel was glaring rather fiercely at Aviah and Wes was shivering in fright.

“Let them go,” I told her.

“Oh yes, I’ll do that for you too, if you give me your blood.”

“Why should I? You’re probably the oldest vampire living. What do you need any more power?”

“It’s not the amount of power that I want. I am stronger than I ever dared to dream. It’s your kind of power that I want. I want to do things that are impossible for a vampire to do, no matter how old and powerful. I want to step out into the sunlight and rule the day as I rule the night.” She broke of with a maniacal cackle while I stood and stared in speechless horror. If Aviah could invade the daylight, no one would be safe, ever. I shuddered to think of what the world would looked like if ruled by a sadistic vampire with powers beyond imagine.

“You have no idea what you can do, Iden, but I have studied you and your family for centuries. You could be invulnerable, I’ll teach you if you share your blood with me.”

“No,” I told her, “Not ever.”

“Then I will take it!” she hissed, and then suddenly she was in front of me and sending my flying into the wall. I reeled from the force of it and touched my hand to my chest where she’d punched me and felt the hole. It was then that I knew that I was in a lot of trouble.

Aysel

I couldn’t believe that everything I’d wished for was coming true. An army of Slayers had shown up at my door, Fayer was probably down there with them and now Iden and even Darwin were here to save us. I could hear the Slayers running about downstairs. In a few minutes they’d be bursting up into the attic and shredding Aviah and her goon into ash.

Iden didn’t waste a lot of time in lunging at Aviah. After her long rant about his magic Iden tried to catch her off guard. It didn’t work as well as he’d planned. Despite being petite, Aviah was Mr Universe-strong and definitely not the kind of bitch you should underestimate.

Iden wasn’t out yet though. He pulled himself free of the wall with a look on his face that just screamed ‘badass’. It was a little creepy. I watched carefully as the two vampires eyed each other. Clearly Iden wasn’t one to be underestimated either. Finally, as if on cue, they lunged at each other

Francis, who apparently had also heard the Slayers downstairs, had moved to try and block off the hatch to the attic. Darwin had other plans and jumped on his back, sending them both rolling towards the wall. Francis threw him off rather easily, but Darwin came back, this time carefully dodging out of the way of his attacks. It was clear to me, at least, the Darwin’s tactic was simply to distract Francis until reinforcements could arrive. Whatever. The vampires could duke it out all they liked. I, for one, was not going to sit around any longer. Distractions had arrived and it was time for me to get off my ass and do something useful.

Slowly at first, just to make sure no one would notice, I started to twist my hands out of their restraints. They were tied up pretty good so I slipped my hands underneath me so they were in front and started working on the knots with my teeth.

They Slayers started trying to get up into the attic, but Francis jumped on top of the hatch and locked it. They would have to break it now, which would take a couple minutes more. The way these vamps were going at it, I might not have that long. The next few minutes would determine if I would live or die. Aviah was doing pretty well, even with Iden pulling out magic to throw around. I wondered if he knew a fire spell. According to Anne Rice, vampires burn up in fire. Maybe he thought it was too dangerous to use?

The knot finally gave way and I quickly pulled the ropes off me. Now that my hands were free, the legs were a lot easier. When I was free I looked over at my little brother, but he was still unconscious. I could carry him, but with a vampire battle going on between me and the hatch, crossing the room seemed more like crossing the Sahara desert. I could see the hatch moving as the Slayers tried to pound it open. I couldn’t risk waiting for them.

I quickly scanned the room for another means of escape. There! Behind me, I could see the spot where Iden had first fallen through the ceiling and into my bathroom. It had been boarded up, but not very well. I could see the occasional beam of a flashlight as the Slayers went through. The hole was in the shower, so they probably hadn’t seen it, but if I could get their attention somehow they could be through in no time.

Desperately, I scrambled over to the hole and started tugging on the boards. I could feel adrenaline pulsing through me. I tugged as hard as I could, bracing my feet on the ground and pulling with all my strength. Eventually, the board came loose. It came loose so suddenly, in fact, that I lost my footing and tumbled to the ground rather ungracefully.

“Ow,” I moaned as I picked myself up. I risked a glance behind me, but it didn’t appear that Aviah had noticed yet. I started to work on the next board when I saw a flashlight beam below me. I jammed my head and arm into the small hole I’d made and started to yell. “Hey! Slayers! Over here! I’m up here! Help!” I thought I saw someone coming in, but before I could be sure I felt someone grab my shoulder rather roughly and tear me out of the small hole and into the air.

Just my luck, too. It was Aviah. Her eyes were red with fury. Behind her I could see Iden lying in a corner, trying to pull himself up to his feet. He was covered in deep wounds that didn’t bleed. Aviah, I noted, was almost completely unscathed. Well, shit.

Aviah claws were digging into me. I could feel the blood pouring out and running down my back. “You’re far more trouble than you’re worth,” Aviah growled. She viciously threw me into a splintered wall. I landed very badly on a beam that was very sharp and splintered at the end. I felt the hard impact, and then the cold, painful breaking of skin and then the push of the wood going through my body. There was blood everywhere. I covered my shirt and ran all the way down my side and pooled underneath my leg. I looked down in shock, not really feeling anything anymore but cold. When I saw what had happened I nearly fainted. The splintered beam had pierced me from back to front, right through my right side.

“Fuck,” I swore. Already there was blood leaking from my mouth. I choked on it a bit and tried to control the panic that was rising in my gut. It was only making the blood flow faster. Somewhere, distantly, I thought I heard someone yelling my name.