Part Nine:
End of summer, ’96

The dark blue Acura Integra rolled over and over as it fell down the hill on the side of the road. It was the most horrifying thing Lexine had ever experienced, feeling the world spin and turn, hearing the screech of tearing metal and the screams of her mother and brother, and knowing that at any moment her life would end.

But it didn’t. The car stopped moving and – miraculously – landed right side up. Lexine turned around in her seat.

“Brendan?” Her voice shook as she called her younger brother’s name, and she was struck speechless by what she saw. She couldn’t even gasp.

Her brother’s dark, curly hair was matted with blood from the broken glass of the rear window. His head had been snapped forward and to the side from the crash, and his head had hit the side window. Both the side of his skull and the window were smashed.

Lexine reached out tentatively and bit her lip. She pressed two fingers to the pulse at his neck and felt nothing. She jerked her hand away and tears flooded her eyes. Her brother was dead.

Then she looked at her mother. She was slumped over the steering wheel, and even if she were alive her legs would be useless. The driver’s side door had been pushed inward, trapping her mother in. Once again Lexine checked for a pulse and didn’t find one. She looked out and saw some of the members of the Rebels coming down the hill. She pulled at the handle of her door, but it, too, had been jammed. She undid her seatbelt and pulled up her legs. She realized her arms and head were bleeding, but she knew that since the crash hadn’t killed her, Britt and the others surely would. These wounds could not be allowed to slow her down.

Kicking with all her might, Lexine finally managed to open the door and get out of the car. As soon as her sneakers touched the grass she was running. She heard the delighted laughter of the people behind her, but she kept going.

I have to get away, she thought. They’re vampires and werewolves; I don’t stand a chance. As this passed through her head she was tackled from behind. Whoever had done it sat back and she rolled over to face her attacker.

Kane sat over her, licking his lips. His eyes roamed over her hungrily, focusing first on the blood flowing from her forehead, and then on her bare legs. She immediately wished she’d worn pants instead of the shorts her mother had suggested. If she’d be running and fighting she was more likely to lose skin if more of it was exposed. Also, she didn’t like the way Kane was looking at her. His large, dark eyes seemed to swallow her whole and eat her up, as his werewolf mind was imagining, no doubt. He leaned his face very close to hers and stopped inches away. He opened his mouth, ran his tongue along his teeth, and said, “Boo.”

She punched him. The silver rings her father had given her before he died connected with Kane’s temple. He fell back, snarling in pain. She scrambled to her feet, turned, and ran.

She had taken maybe four steps before someone slipped an arm around her waist and lifted her, carrying her back. She kicked and bit and fought, but to no avail. She was thrown on the grass and a circle was formed around her.

The person who’d carried her was Sanders, his reddish-blond curls made dark by the absence of light. Lexine knew it was a full moon – so where was the moonlight? Sanders pulled out a cigarette, completely ignoring her. He stood between Griff and Kane. Kane was glaring at her, while Griff just looked annoyed. Caprice was beside Kane. She held his hand and gave Lexine a demented smile. Britt was on her other side, her ice-blue eyes narrowed in contempt. Next to her stood Braxton, completing the circle, who stared at Lexine as if she were nothing but a bug crawling on the ground and he couldn’t decide whether to step on it just for the hell of it or leave it alone.

They’re all against me, Lexine realized. They all want me dead. But why?

Britt finally spoke, breaking the silence around them. “Don’t even bother trying to defend yourself.” She flipped her long black hair over her shoulder. “We’re going to kill you, just like we killed Cole, and just like we’re going to kill your other friends.”

Shock coursed through Lexine’s veins. Cole was dead. He was gone. She’d gotten so close to him in the past few weeks, even starting to love him – maybe – and now he was gone. They’d never again sit on her back porch and paint. She’d never get to hear what he thought about all the new songs that were coming out that fall. The nights of sitting on his roof talking about life and watching the stars while in each other’s arms were over. He was gone, just like that.

And for that, she would kill them all. They’d taken her family, and now they’d taken her love. She would watch them die. Someway or another, she would make them suffer.

At the moment, though, she couldn’t really see how. Four vampires and two werewolves loomed over her, a witch. She was no match for them. But she had to try.

Lexine got to her feet. She faced Britt and stared into the other girl’s eyes. “Now what?” she asked, and she could see she had startled her. Britt hadn’t expected her not to put up a fight. She was caught off-guard. Good.

Tapping a long red fingernail against her chin, Britt studied Lexine, who congratulated herself for not flinching under the cold gaze. “I think,” Britt began, “that it’s been too long since we’ve hunted. Don’t you agree, Braxton?”

Braxton Waldens III nodded. “Much too long,” he agreed.

Nodding, Britt twirled a lock of black hair around her finger. “Then that’s what we’ll do,” she decided. “We’ll have a merry little hunt. Whoever catches her can have her.” She put her face up close to Lexine’s. “You have ten minutes,” she told her. “Run.” Lexine turned, broke through the circle, and dashed into the woods.

Ten minutes was nothing. The creatures she had left behind could easily catch up to her in that time, but while she was running, she was planning. Picking up sharp tree branches as she ran – just in case – Lexine formulated a plan. She knew the area had cliffs around that broke off, and a river somewhere, too. If she could find either, she could jump or drown herself. Both were better than being eaten or drained of blood.

She reached one of the cliffs, and looked down. At that moment she realized that she wouldn’t be able to jump. The thought of simply throwing herself and the rest of her life off a cliff was too much to bear. She couldn’t do it. She turned around and found herself facing the others. She dropped the wood she had picked up as terror seized her.

“Well,” Britt said. “It seems we’ve all found you. I guess we’ll just have to share.” She began stepping forward, and the others advanced as well. Lexine panicked at the sight of six hungry, beautiful monsters coming towards her. She backed up and found herself at the edge of the cliff. Adrenaline shot through her, and she felt an energy rising within her. Just then a cloud moved, revealing the moon, huge and full, in the sky. As they came closer, the energy increased, and Lexine was sure if she didn’t direct it, it would spill out or she would explode.

They were not even four paces away when Lexine held out her arm and yelled, “Stop!” Her voice held such a tone of authority that they all paused.

“Hear me!” she continued. “You bastards have taken everything from me, but I swear on the graves of all I love, you will not take my life!” With that she threw her arms outward and called on all the energy within her. She expelled it, forcing it outward and directing it at the six figures before her. “Burn in hell!” she screamed, and the entire area filled with a bright pulsating light. She saw six sets of flames liking upwards and disappearing, and then the light died down, leaving her in utter darkness.

As Lexine’s eyes adjusted, she saw by the light of the moon that the grass for as far as she could see was burnt and blackened, and no one else was around. Suddenly she was drained. She had used all of her energy to defeat them, and she had none left. Her knees buckled, and she was falling – not to the ground, but off the cliff. Cool air rushed past her and her eyes closed.

No, she thought. It’s not fair…I won.