Llewelyn sighed and glanced out of the window of the hovership. Below in the darkness the forest surrounding the mansion flashed by. "I hope we'll be back here soon, Vash. All we seem to be doing these days is move from one place to another."

"Perhaps when this is over we will be able to call one place home and continue our lives and aims as they were before," the scorpion-tailed gargess replied.

"Yeah that would be nice."

Vashkoda headed for the stairs, wondering if she was already late for the meeting. She passed in front of the library and glanced at the clock, remembering at the last second that it was broken. Then something caught her eye- the two hands were both pointing at the twelve.

She entered the library and headed for the bookcase door. She pulled it open, only to reveal a young gargoyle on the other side. His expression shifted between fright to embarrassment.

"Um...hi Vash! Er...I was just looking at these books for a...um, bedtime story."

"What's that in your hand?" she asked, reaching for the dark blue pages.

“They’re maps. Maps of the mansion.”

“Yes, they’re called blueprints. And these here are notes, writing - it looks like the same as…”

She stopped herself. Doubt was quickly vanishing from her mind that the handwriting was that of Ed Robinson, the reporter the clan had encountered a few nights previously. She would need to study the other paper, but there was little doubt.

“So you've been hiding these from you mother?”

“Please don't tell her! I wasn't being bad, honest! I just thought that… well, this would be kind of like an adventure. I thought it might be a treasure map, and if I find the gold, it could help the clan. You know, so that we don't have to move now that Thaylog's gone.”

Chaz trailed off, his bravado failing and a scared countenance now facing Vashkoda. Moved with pity, she gave him a quick hug. “We aren't going to move. Don't worry, we'll find a way to make things right.” She looked down at the blueprints in her hand.

“And what exactly is this job?” asked Vashkoda, narrowing her eyes at Ed

“Well… uh, Thaylog - the friendly one - or I think he’s the friendly one - hired me to watch out for you and your clan in his absence. Make sure you don’t get ripped off, or forget to pay the gas bill. Or get a flock of reporters nosing around your door. Stuff like that. Honestly, I don't mean you or your friends any harm.”

"Then I'm supposed to trust that you won't kill me while I sleep?" she asked, turning to face him.

Silver shook her head and folded her arms. "It's just that sometimes, just lately..." her hands moved to her upper arms and began to almost absentmindedly rub them. "I get the feeling that the mansion is haunted."

Llewelyn's eyes widened in surprise. "What do you mean 'haunted'?"

"It's just that lately, when I'm alone I get the feeling that someone is standing near me; or if I'm down in the training room I think I can hear Flynt's voice. It's only for a moment but-" she moved closer to Llewelyn, "-it's enough. I don't need any more ghosts in my life, Llew." She shuddered, remembering the events of a few weeks ago.

***

"The kid is right," said Ansalong as she placed her hand against the 'barrier' that Chaz spoke of. "You might want to put the fire out now, otherwise we all get barbequed. You think you can handle an entire building on fire?"

"I don't need to," said Llewelyn as she crouched down at the edge of the circle. "I think this barrier is created by these symbols," she pointed to one of the marks on the floor. "Remove them and you get a door out of there. Did you actually think I'd burn this place down with us standing inside it?”

***

"I just wanted to thank you for helping Llewelyn rescue my son and I."

Ansalong shrugged. "I was there for Gigi. You don't know how hard it is to find a good hunting partner in this city."

“We are returning to our clan in Pennsylvania. Perhaps you would consider travelling with us that far.”

"Where do we go?"

Shaiya considered this for a moment. Of all the clan she knew the land around the mansion better than anyone. "There are caves, places we can be safe during the day."

Sabrina frowned. There was one more question that weighed heavily on her mind. "What about the others? I remember Silver, Llewelyn and Chaz were down in New Orleans. Vash is somewhere...." She sighed. "What happens when they come back and find the mansion is in enemy hands? They could be captured, or worse!"

"We'll watch for them," Shaiya said. "And when the clan is back together again we'll retake our home." She paused and glanced back through the trees in the direction of the mansion. "We owe Thaylog that much."

***

"Dee gargoyles have been flushed out. Dey're hiding in dee woods somewhere, but in dis weather, dey're as good as dead. Besides, dere were only t'ree of dem, and I don't see-"

"The gargoyles are no longer our priority. I have been given new orders."

Varges looked stunned. New orders? So this whole mission had been a waste of time? This, on top of everything else that had gone wrong that night, was more than Varges could take.

"Well I did what I was sent here to do, and now I'm going home." He looked around at the scattered soldiers who remained, and said to him, "Dey are yours now,"--realizing too late that by putting them in the hands of a vampire, he was dooming them all to a certain fate. Aynton would probably be spared, however. The board considered him useful, and besides, whatever entity he was possessed with had given him uncanny abilities.

Varges continued his musings over the strange individual, then climbed into a truck and took off down the road.

The vampire lord Rakaar watched him go, uncaring, then turned to face the mansion.

Yes, he could definitely sense its presence. The Pure was there. It was only a matter of time now before they found it...and his masters could begin their work.

***

In a military base outside, Newbridge City, something had started new recruit Frank Jackson.

“Something’s coming up on the radar screen, sir!” he shouted excitedly into his headset.

“What is it, Jackson?” came the reply.

“Looks like five flying shapes sir… over Newbridge forest…”

“Oh not again - these aren’t your Newbridge UFOs are they?”

“But I’m telling you sir, the are five distinct shapes there…”

“Right. And Crunchi-Crisps are purple.”

“Actually, in the new novelty range-”

“Just keep watching! And NOT for your daily dose of UFO panic. It’s a hoax, Jackson. Next you’ll be back on about slug beasts from another world infecting your last place of employment.”

“Well now that you mention it… those people were monsters.”

“No more of these malicious rumours against the Dominion!”

“Oh, not them. I worked at Rodger Pearson’s Bakery Store on the High Street. Roger’s just got that Hitchcock film look.”

“Hitchcock did movies about alien slug creatures?”

“Uh, probably. I mean he did birds. And mothers, who could technically be counted as birds, but not in the same sense you see…”

“Jackson?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Stop pratting around like a five-year old on vodka and raspberry flavour Crunchi-Crisps.”

***

“I’m not!” said Chaz, plucking himself up. “And I’m not like a five-year-old!”

Soaring over Newbridge forest with Chaz, were Silver, Llewelyn, Ansalong and Gigi. One Mardi Gras adventure the worse for wear, they all yearned for home - even though Ansalong and Gigi were not entirely sure where home was.

“But dear, gargoyles age more slowly than humans,” Silver said.

“Yeah, but I’m still grown up! Llewelyn, you think I’m grown up right?”

Llewelyn looked across at Chaz, and behind to the glaring Silver. “Oh, well Chaz, I think you’re uh - a credit to your age.”

“Hey kid, I’m all for growing up fast. It sucks when you’re young. There’s all kind of evil creatures out there just waiting to pluck out your eyeballs and scrape the marrow from your bones,” offered Ansalong.

“That’s such an exaggeration!”

“Is not!”

“Is too!”

“Is so not-”

But Gigi had interrupted, pointing down into the forest to the Mansion, a blackened old building with a scattering of dimly lit windows that were not quite lined up correctly. “Is this your home? You said there were no humans!”

“There shouldn’t be!” said Silver, looking down.

There was no mistaking it however. Four armed guards were patrolling the perimeter of the mansion, another group was fanning the gardens, and several appeared in and out of the house. The gargoyles swept down to the nearby forest and crouched in the undergrowth for a few moments.

Llewelyn whispered, “We’ve been invaded! Somebody is inside the mansion!”

Ansalong looked carefully and after a moment concluded, “Those creatures aren’t human.”

“What do you mean? They’ve got arms, legs a head and no tail or wings.”

“Maybe they were human, but I sense something different. No body heat for example. Look how pale they are, how their armour covers them - they could have wings and you would not notice. There! The one walking by now is a greyer colouring. These creatures… they might be vampires. Or other such creatures of the night.”

“So what do we do?” asked Silver

“We kill them,” said Gigi.

“They’re already dead, greeny,” crooned Ansalong. “If you wanna midnight snack, best plump for junior here.”

Silver’s eyes burned green, but Chaz had started to giggle. She made no move, and turned her attention back to the task in hand. “We must find the rest of the clan. They may be held prisoner, or perhaps are awaiting death.”

Ansalong shrugged. “Or they’re lying upside down in a big ol’ pool of blood, eyes frothy and white, skin pale and with that fashionable open-jawed look that all the cooler corpses go in for.”

“Right. Yeah, well, we’re going to have to think of a plan,” Llewelyn said. “Something like breaking into the mansion, except cunning, ruthless, effective and unexpected.”

“Right,” said Silver.

“Indeed,” said Gigi.

“Uh-huh,” said Ansalong.

“Cool,” said Chaz.

There was a pause. Eventually, Llewelyn asked, “So, who’s for breaking into the mansion?”

“Got my vote.”

“Very well.”

“Whatever.”

“No, wait,” said Chaz. “I have an idea.”

“Not now, Chaz!” said Silver.

“But it’s important! I-”

“Stay here! We’ll deal with this.”

With that, the four older gargoyles stalked off through the woods to enter the Mansion from the side. Chaz watched them go, and then collapsed into a heap under a tree, arms crossed and face crumpled into an expression of weary gloom.

He waited. A cry came out, probably Llewelyn’s. Another. Sounds of a fight, a laser gun, some scrambling around in the dark, the breaking of a door, a roar, another roar, a fight, Llewelyn shouting “run for it!”, a Crunchi-Crisp wrapper blowing past him in the wind, the crash of two guards launching after them, and finally…

Llewelyn, Gigi, Ansalong and Silver rushed back to their hiding place, breathless and bruised.

“I think… they’re still… following us,” panted Llewelyn.

“We’d better go deeper into the forest,” said Gigi, looking back towards the mansion. Humanoid creatures were already filtering out, loaded with weaponry.

Chaz smirked. “You dealt with that really well, guys! Now about my plan to sneak into the mansion…”

“No, Chaz!”

“Fine! I was going to tell you about the secret entrance, but if not I’ll just shut up.”

“Good!” said Silver. And then, internalizing what she had just heard, asked: “what secret entrance?”

***

The Silence Tree had been hollow for centuries, and although it had been recently host to a swarm of wasps, it was currently vacant. Hopping across the river using a fallen tree to balance his way across, Chaz crossed to it and looked inside. Llewelyn and Silver did likewise, but Ansalong and Gigi stayed still.

“Vampires can’t cross rivers,” Ansalong reminded them. “Running water gets us jumpy.”

“Can’t you fly over?” asked Silver.

“There isn’t much height to glide here,” said Gigi

“Perhaps you can jump over if you climb up that tree?”

“Maybe. You guys take a look at the kid’s plans, and we’ll either join you, or holler.”

Silver and Llewelyn shrugged, and joined Chaz inside the hollow. Silver looked around, and shuddered. The space was enclosed and dark. Outside, she could hear a scrambling sound.

“…greatest in the world! Don’t you think, mother?”

Silver snapped her attention back to Chaz and muttered her assent. Chaz rolled his eyes at her inattentiveness, and then reached for a crevice in the stone. He pulled it sharply back, and the floor of the tree started to sink, until a hole under the tree could be seen, going downwards into the earth.

“This is the entrance to the secret tunnel.”

“Cool!” said Ansalong, popping her head around the side of the tree and smiling as Silver and Llewelyn both jumped. “We made it! Where’s this secret tunnel. Is it dark?”

“It’s dark,” said Llewelyn. “And creepy.”

“I agree,” said Silver. “It might be flooded down there, or there might even be some kind of creature. And who knows what terrible place it might end up in?”

“Sounds like my idea of a good time,” said Ansalong.

“It ends up in the library,” said Chaz.

“Oh heck, you were right Silver…”

“Look,” said Chaz proudly. “This is my tunnel, and I found out about it and know about it.”

He avoided Silver’s eye and spoke quickly to pre-empt her.

“And Vashkoda said I could use it, and Flynt and Kahreen said I could, and Thaylog said I could-”

Realising he’s gone too far with the last name, he spoke even quicker.

“And I’m going to show you guys in so we can save the Mansion and the clan! But if you guys are going to get cold feet then you can go an’ get beaten up again at the front door. Who’s with me?”

Llewelyn raised her thumb at lit it. “Sounds good to me, kid.”

“Wait!” said Silver. “We don’t have a plan.”

“Sure we do,” said Ansalong. “We go in, win, and be done by teatime. We’ll have the occupants for dinner of course though.”

“Of course,” said Gigi nervously. “Are you sure we can get down that hole?”

“Sure!” said Chaz, slipping into it. “It’s much wider inside. Come on!”

Finally agreeing, Silver, Llewelyn, Ansalong and finally Gigi slipped inside the hole and them pressed the tree base back behind them.

***

"I think we're under the mansion now," whispered Llewelyn. Once they had started walking down the dark passageway, everyone had been speaking in soft voices, careful not to alert or awaken anything lurking below.

"How do you know?" asked Silver.

Llew intensified the small flame around her hand, revealing the tiles and concrete that now lined the tunnel walls.

"Ok, then if I remember right, the tunnel splits up soon," Chaz announced, proud to show off something that only he knew about. "One way goes to the basement, and the other goes upstairs and curves around the mansion."

"And how is it that you know so much about this place?" asked his mother, narrowing her eyes at him dangerously.

Chaz avoided meeting her gaze. "Uh...well...I kinda found this map, you see, and-"

"What's this?"

Everyone turned to look at Gigi, who had bent down to pick up something shiny from the ground. Turning it over in her hands, she showed it to the rest of them.

"A Crunchi-Crisps bag?" asked Llewelyn in surprise. "Wow, those things pop up in the weirdest places."

"Is this yours?" asked Silver angrily, turning her attention back to her son. "I thought I forbade you from eating unhealthy snacks between meals!"

"It's not mine! Honest!" cried Chaz.

"The kid might be telling the truth. Look here," said Ansalong, pointing to a set of footprints in the mud of the tunnel floor. "These tracks were made by human shoes, probably within the last week or so."

Silver knelt down to take a look. "Yes, I agree. But who could it be? These invaders weren't here two nights ago."

"Maybe they had someone scope out the place out first. If this tunnel really does go all around your home, it would have been the perfect way to spy on your clan. They probably found out you three would be gone on a trip and took advantage of that to attack."

"I knew it," moaned Silver. "We never should have left our home. If we'd been here to help, maybe the mansion wouldn't have been taken over, and our friends-"

"Don't listen to that freak of nature, Silver," said Llewelyn, glaring angrily at Ans. "She doesn't know any more than we do about what really happened."

"Hey, do you want our help here or not?" asked Ansalong. "'Cause as much fun as ripping apart an army of the undead can be, Gigi and I could easily find some other place to hang out."

"Yes, why don't you? Maybe you didn't notice, but we never actually invited you to come with us! In fact-"

"Yes we did. I invited them. Now apologize to them, Llew," said Silver sternly.

"What? No way! Look Silver, you weren't there when-"

"Llewelyn, you will apologize! Don't you see, we need their help!" Silver saw Llewelyn about to continue her protest, but she was able to get in the first word. "No, I don't care what you say, your powers aren't enough to stop the invaders!"

"Ouch," said Ansalong with a smile. Gigi stepped up behind her, watching the exchange with keen interest.

"No, please don't fight!" cried Chaz, placing himself between the two groups. He looked up at the vampires. "Llew didn't mean it! Please stay! Otherwise we'll never get our home back, and everyone will get hurt, and...." Chaz couldn't help it; he began to cry.

Ansalong made a sound of disgust. "Low blow, using the kid like that," she growled.

"Hey! Ok, all right, I'm sorry!" cried Llewelyn after Silver nudged her in the ribs. "Can we just get going? The midnight oil is burning while we just stand here and chitchat."

"Which way, then?" asked Silver, looking farther down where the passage forked.

Ansalong brushed passed them, turning for a moment to look at Llew. "For the record, I don't care about your apology--not that you meant it. Just so long as we both know how we feel about each other." With those words, she continued down the tunnel and headed for the downslope branch. The others quickly followed.

***

“So is there any particular reason you chose this branch in the tunnel?” asked Llewelyn.

“She smells death here,” answered Gigi, a look of hunger flashing briefly in her eyes.

“What?” asked Silver, repulsed. “Look here, I don’t want my son exposed to any kind of-”

“Then maybe you and your son should have stayed by the tree. This fight isn’t going to be easy, and it most certainly isn’t going to be clean,” Ansalong remarked snidely.

“Especially not when Ans and I are involved!” grinned the green vampire.

Ansalong had reached the end of the tunnel. She swept her hands over the wall, looking for a doorway.

“The smell is strongest here. Help me push.”

Gigi moved to help her, joined moments later by the others, albeit reluctantly.

A section of the wall moved inwards and slid aside, revealing darkness beyond.

“How about some light here?” asked Ans impatiently, looking at Llewelyn. The dark brown gargoyle glowered at her and shoved her way past them, keeping one hand lit as she strode through the doorway-

--and almost tripped. Under the glow of her fire, she saw that what she had run into was a human body, lying in a crusted pool of old blood.

“Um, maybe you guys shouldn’t come in here.”

But the two vampires had already joined her inside, and Chaz had hurried after them before his mother could stop him.

“Wow, look at all the bodies!” cried Chaz in horrified awe.

Llewelyn still had her flame burning low, but it provided enough light to see the dark shapes of corpses strewn across the floor.

Gigi bent down to examine one. “We’re too late,” she said to Ans in disappointment. “Their bodies are stiff. The blood’s probably already gone bad.”

The grey vampire knelt beside one of the bodies to take a look herself. With one of her claws, she slit the dead human’s throat. A black liquid oozed out, causing Ans to cry out in surprise.

“Hey, their blood’s still flowing! Maybe we lucked out after-”

Her words were cut off as the corpse’s hand reached out and grabbed her by the throat. Ans’s eyes boggled in surprise as she tried to pry the hand away.

Gigi cried out as the body she had examined also came suddenly to life. “The bloody things were playing possum! Hey you, quit gawking and give us a hand!” she shouted out to Llewelyn as the corpse in front of her slowly rose to its feet.

The gargoyle hesitated, then ran across the room toward Gigi. But as her foot landed inches from another corpse, its hand grabbed onto her ankle. This time she did fall, landing on top of another body, which she could feel begin to stir.

“Mom!” called Chaz nervously, too scared to move. Silver shot a worried look at her son, noting in relief that none of the bodies surrounding him had reanimated. In fact, the only ones moving were the ones attacking Llew and the two vampires.

She was about to walk towards them to help, when Ans finally tore away the corpse’s hand, jerking the entire arm free of its socket. She spared a look towards Silver and shouted, “Stay where you are! Don’t move!”

Meanwhile, Llewelyn had engulfed herself in flames, charring the body beneath her and setting the one at her ankle on fire. The latter began to writhe, screaming soundlessly as its body burned. Llewelyn kicked its hand away and scrambled back to her feet. She looked for Gigi to make sure she was ok and began heading towards her.

“Are you deaf!? I said stay where you are!” screamed Ans, turning her attention back to the corpse just long enough to break its neck. The body shivered and then went completely slack.

“Yeah, thanks for the help,” said Gigi as she finished off hers as well.

Ansalong stood up and moved carefully away from the corpse that had attacked her, studying the ground around it.

“There, I knew it! These bodies have been spelled! There are rune marks all around them!”

“That explains the black blood,” said Gigi in disgust. “Such a waste.”

“So…someone summoned these zombies to attack us?” asked Llewelyn, confused.

Ansalong snorted as she approached her. “For someone who uses magic, you sure don’t know much about spells. See here? There are runes around each body, trapping them in a stasis field until they fully mature and are ready to take orders. By stepping onto the symbols, you break the field and wake them up early.”

“But where did these bodies come from? Who did this to them?” asked Silver softly. “These wounds look like slash marks, like from a sword.”

“Hey, we’re in the exercise room!” realised Llew in surprise. “And look-some of the swords are missing from the wall, including Sab’s and Shaiya’s! Do you think they were here, fighting these guys?”

“Maybe when they were human,” acknowledged Gigi. “Whoever these men worked for apparently felt their bodies could be recycled into something useful.”

“Eew, that’s gross,” declared Chaz as he stuck out his tongue.

“I agree. Let’s get out of here,” said Llewelyn, being careful this time not to step over any runes as she made her way back towards the secret tunnel entrance.

“Hold on, someone’s coming!” whispered Ans as she moved towards the other doorway.

“Then shouldn’t we be getting out of here?” asked Silver in surprise.

“Not if we want information out of them,” grinned Gigi as she joined her companion at the door.

Silver and Chaz quickly joined Llewelyn at the opposite side of the room. “I told you we shouldn’t have brought them along,” Llew hissed. “Boy are we in trouble now!"

***

“But why do we have to be the ones to do it?”

“Weren’t you listening to the boss? We got this job because we’re smarter than the other vamps! Hell, those other guys are so fresh out of their graves, they’d probably try feeding off the stiffs downstairs, even with their black blood!”

The two vampires walked down the steps to the basement, dragging a large plastic bag of animal entrails and other body parts behind them.

“Oh yeah, what an honor,” muttered the first. “Let’s just toss this slop into the room and let the zombies fight over it amongst themselves. Those things stink so bad I don’t want to be in there a moment longer than I have to.”

His partner chuckled. “Oh, and I suppose you smelled like a bed of roses after you rose from the dead?”

“Good evenin’, boys.”

They stopped in their tracks, dumbfounded at the sight of two gargoyles appearing through the doorway.

“Wha-? Who are you?” asked one of the vampires, letting go of the sack. He sniffed as he approached the green female, then frowned in disappointment. “Hmph, not much blood in you creatures. So much for having myself a good meal.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” she replied, not the least bit afraid. “I haven’t had much to eat myself, lately.” She then smiled, revealing her sharp fangs.

“They’re vampires!” exclaimed his partner. “Hey, do you girls work for Zentech too?”

The grey one approached him. “Zentech, hmm? No, but we’d love to hear more about them.”

Faster than the eye could see, both she and her friend had them both by the neck. They were lifted off the ground and carried into the room.

“All right, talk,” growled the green one. “Who’s Zentech, and why did they take over this place?”

The vampires struggled, trying to break free. When neither spoke, the other gargoyle walked to the edge of a rune circle.

“Tell me now, or I’ll dump you in here with this guy. I’m sure he’d love to be woken up from his nap. And judging from what you two were carrying in that sack, he must be pretty hungry, too.”

The vampire looked down in horror at the motionless zombie below him.

“No, you wouldn’t!”

“Wanna bet? I just had a run-in with one of those things myself, and barely made it out in one piece. You might not be so lucky.”

“We don’t know anything!” the other cried. “Zentech’s the name of the company that hired us. We weren’t even here when this place was taken over!”

“What about other gargoyles…creatures that look like us?”

“I heard there were some around, but they escaped.”

“Then why are your people still here? What are they after?”

“There’s something around here that they want, but I swear, I don’t know what it is!”

“Even they don’t know what it is,” spat the other vampire. “Something called ‘the pure’. They say they’ll know it when they find it.”

“And that’s all you know?” asked the green one. The two vampires nodded empathically.

“All right, then you’re free to go,” said the other gargoyle.

The two vampires were dropped into the circles.

***

The screams were so loud that they worried that someone might come down to investigate. Gigi and Ans waited long enough to make sure that both zombies and vampires were incapacitated before making their way back towards the group.

“Was that really necessary?” asked Silver with a shudder.

Ansalong smiled as she walked past them. Gigi shrugged.

“They were vampires, creatures of evil. They got what was coming to them.”

Llewelyn frowned. “Well I hate to point out the obvious, but aren’t you guys vampires too?”

Gigi stared after Ans, whose form was quickly vanishing into the shadows.

“Yeah. I guess we are.”

***

“Has your master found that pure thing yet?” asked Aynton impatiently.

The vampire assigned to him shook his head. “Not yet, sir. But it won’t be long, I’m sure of it.”

Aynton turned his attention to the window, and stared at the forest surrounding the mansion.

“What about the gargoyles who escaped last night?”

The vampire wrung his hands nervously. “The new vampires my master made for you should be ready soon. They will be very good hunters, and should find those gargoyles if they are anywhere in the area.”

“Should?” repeated Aynton with a frown.

“They will! Of course they will, sir!” the vampire corrected quickly.

He liked to see his servant squirm. Aynton himself had once been someone’s lackey, and had had to suffer humiliating abuse time and time again. He now understood the pleasure his former boss must have felt.

Aynton fingered the pendant around his neck, which was spelled to protect him from a vampire’s attacks. He knew by reading the hatred in his servant’s eyes that it was the only thing that was keeping the latter at bay.

“I am going to take a look outside. Let me know the moment anything changes.” 

***

“Wait, where are you going? Shouldn’t we head back now that we know that the clan escaped?”

Ansalong stopped and rolled her eyes at Silver.

“Those guys sounded clueless. Are you really going to take their word about it without having a look for yourself?”

Llewelyn grimaced. “I hate to say this, but I think she’s right. Besides, whatever this pure thing is, they seem to want it pretty bad. Which means we definitely don’t want them to find it. In fact. I’m sure Thay’s got a whole collection of strange and dangerous doohickeys lying around that we’d regret falling into the wrong hands.”

Silver stood her ground. “Then I’ll take Chaz back to the tree. I don’t want him to be in any more danger.”

“Mom! When are you going to stop treating me like a little kid?” Chaz cried. “I can take care of myself! When you were my age, you got to live alone and do whatever you wanted-”

“You’re lucky you’ll never have to experience what I went through!” Silver shouted, outraged that he dared to make such a comparisson. “I had no one to love me or keep me company except Sirius. I had no home. I had to hunt for food or I starved. Don’t you understand? I never got to have a normal childhood! And I won’t let the same happen to you!”

Ansalong coughed. “Ahem. I hate to interrupt what I’m sure is going to turn into a sobby group hug moment, but there’s really no point in debating this. The kid has to come along. He’s the only one who knows the layout of the tunnel.”

Chaz smiled triumphantly at his mother.

“C’mon Silver, you know we wouldn’t let anything happen to Chaz,” Llew reassured her. “If we risk getting into a situation we can’t handle, we’ll hightail it out of here, ok?”

Everyone stared at her, and suddenly Silver felt her self-confidence and control slip away. She didn’t want to continue down the tunnel. Every fiber of her being insisted that it was wrong for them to be down there, and that they needed to get out as quickly as possible. Yet it was obvious that the others felt differently.

She was no leader. Why would they listen to her?

“Thanks mom!” yelled Chaz as he raced down the tunnel. The others hurried after him, leaving Silver trailing slowly behind, alone with her thoughts.

It was not long, however, before she caught up to the rest. They were standing completely still, peering around anxiously as Llewelyn held her hand up high, her flame burning at full power.

Then Silver heard it; a scratching sound coming from the left wall of the corridor. The noise came from multiple points along that wall and was growing in intensity, as if something was furiously trying to dig its way through to them.

“What’s behind that wall, Chaz?” she asked her son worriedly, joining the group.

In a shaky voice, he answered, “Thay’s office. I think.”

Ansalong snorted. “She means ‘What’s making the sound?’. Well I have a theory if fire-girl over there is willing to test it for me.”

Llewelyn narrowed her eyes, but was intrigued enough to listen. “What do you want me to do?”

“Just walk down the tunnel a bit, and keep that flame burning high.”

The dark brown gargoyle shrugged, then walked away from the group. As she moved, the scratching noises did also, following her down the corridor.

Ansalong and Gigi exchanged glances. “They must really be hungry,” remarked Gigi in surprise

“What’s hungry?” asked Chaz, curious and at the same time scared to know the answer.

Ans grimaced. “Vampires. Freshly risen ones at that, which means they’re starving and on the lookout for prey. That’s when their senses are sharpest, which explains how they detected Sparky over there. They hunt by tracking heat, and her fire’s gotten them all excited. If we stay here, they’ll eventually manage to claw their way through to us.”

Llewelyn grinned. “Let them come! If it’s heat they want, I’ve got plenty of it right here!” she cried, casting her whole body ablaze. The scratching rose in intensity to match.

“Llew, stop that right now! We can’t let them find us, it’s too risky!” When Llewelyn didn’t react, Silver finally resorted to pleading, “What about Chaz? You promised me that you wouldn’t put him in any danger!”

That seemed to have the desired effect. Llewelyn doused her flames completely and the tunnel became pitch black, making the scratching sounds all the more eerie.

“Let’s get out of here,” called out Gigi and she and Ans already began making their way down the tunnel.

The others hurried after them, but it was soon obvious from the scratches that the vampires were right on their tail.

“They’re still following us!” cried Llew. “I thought you said they were tracking my fire!”

Ansalong hissed. “I forgot that you bunch are still alive. They must be tracking your body heat as well.”

Then to their surprise, the noises suddenly stopped. The group stopped as well, straining to hear any sound in the silence that followed.

“Tell me that isn’t a bad sign,” whispered Silver.

No one answered her for a long while. Finally Chaz spoke up.

“I think we just passed the end of Thay’s office. Maybe the vampires reached the corner and couldn’t follow us any more.”

Llewelyn snorted. “Then they’d just leave the office and start tracking us from the hallway.”

“Then why haven’t the noises started up again?” asked Gigi.

Ansalong laughed, startling the others. “I think I just figured it out,” she explained. “Remember how the zombies downstairs were locked in that room? I think the same thing happened to the vamps behind that wall. They aren’t following us because they can’t get past the door.”

“Hm, Thay did add a reinforced door and extra locks after he found out that Chaz had snuck inside his office,” Llew reminded them. “I guess that would make it a good cage.”

“Then why are we just standing here?” asked Silver worriedly. “Even if those creatures can’t get to us, they’ll tell their masters where we are. We can’t stay in this tunnel-it isn’t safe!”

“Relax,” said Ans calmly. “Remember how I said these guys were newly risen, and half-starved? In that state they’re mindless-all they can think about is feeding. They won’t be able to tell their masters anything.”

“But even so, I think we should get a move on,” suggested Gigi. The others agreed, and after a moment, even Ans was rushing down the tunnel.

***

The Vampire Lord Rakaar scanned the room carefully, sensing that the object of his search was nearby. He walked up to one of the many bookcases and began reading the titles, before knocking the entire shelf to the floor in frustration.

“It’s here! The Pure is here-I can sense it!”

He spun around as he heard a timid shuffling sound come up behind him.

“M-my lord,” stuttered the vampire, who Rakaar recognized as the one assigned to be Aynton’s servant. At least, that’s what Aynton believed. The truth was that he had been assigned to spy on the human and report his actions to Rakaar.

“Why are you not with the human?” he asked, mildly annoyed at the interruption.

The vampire bowed in apology. “He asked to be alone. I took advantage of the chance to look in on your newest subjects, my Lord, and I’m afraid I have troubling news.”

Rakaar frowned. “Speak then, before you waste any more of my time.”

His servant winced and hastened to finish his report. “Lord, a short while ago I passed by the room where you’d locked the newly risen vampires. They seemed very agitated-”

“That is not unusual, considering that they haven’t been fed,” Rakaar remarked impatiently.

“Perhaps not, my lord. But when I looked just now, I noticed that the door to that room was wide open.”

“They’ve escaped?!” Rakaar cried.

“No, no lord, I don’t think so. I think it was the human. He seemed very eager to send them into the forest to hunt down the gargoyles that escaped him.”

The vampire lord made a sound of disgust. “I cannot believe that the Directors agreed to this mission. Yet its objective has clearly changed, and the priority is now to retrieve the Pure. If that fool wants to continue chasing down those creatures, let him, as long as it keeps him out of our way.”

His servant was still waiting. Rakaar grimaced. “What else?”

“My lord, two of your vampires were sent down to the basement to feed the…uh…things you’d created there. When they didn’t return, I went down to investigate. I found both of them killed, as well as several of your creations. The manner of their deaths was very unusual.”

The vampire lord sighed, casting a look of regret at the shelves of books and the certainty that the Pure was just within his reach. But the matter his servant had just disclosed was of sufficient concern that he would have to put off his search for a while longer.

“Show me,” he said, and followed the other vampire out into the hallway and down into the rooms below.

“Here my lord,” said the vampire, quickly showing him where two of his fellows had struggled with the zombies they had been trapped with. Neither group of undead had made it out alive, which itself was unusual.

Rakaar examined the bodies closely. Both zombies had their necks broken, which was actually the quickest way to dispatch one of their kind. Very few knew that fact, however, which was why zombies were still commonly in use.

The vampires had been bled to death, which was also a little-known method of killing their kind. It was a very slow process, however, and most vampires would try to drink back the blood they had lost. If they were held down and prevented from doing so, it was considered a form of torture.

“Lord, over here. These bodies seem to have been burned.”

Rakaar frowned as he saw what remained of two more of his creations.

“They wouldn’t have been foolish enough to bring fire down here?” Although vampires could easily be destroyed by fire, they were at the same time drawn to it, like insects to light. Rakaar believed that it was the fire’s heat that attracted them, as heat was a property of blood, and was part of what made it so desirable to his kind.

“No, my lord, they’d have known better than that. They weren’t hunger-blinded, those two. That’s why they were chosen. They wouldn’t have tried to feed off the bodies, either.”

The vampire lord reflected quietly on these findings for several moments. “Perhaps he is not such a fool after all,” he mumbled quietly to himself. Turning to his servant, he ordered, “Alert all my other followers that we have intruders inside the mansion. I want it thoroughly searched immediately.”

His servant nodded and raced up the stairs. Rakaar was about to follow when something caught his eye.

It was an ancient Japanese sword with the symbol of a demon skull carved into the blade. He reached out to lift it from the wall where it was mounted, sensing instantly that the weapon had been used for evil in the past.

He swung it experimentally a few times, finding it well balanced and at perfect length for his height.

“It’s as if you were made for me,” he smiled. The vampire lord then took his newfound prize and returned to the steps.

***

“Stop! I think we’ve reached the end of the tunnel.”

Ansalong’s announcement saved the others from crashing into the wall. They followed the sound of her voice and gathered around her as the vampire proceeded to feel along its surface, looking for an opening.

“Aha! Found it!” she cried, prying the door free. It swung outwards, causing a waft of musty air to rush past them.

“Hey, I recognize that smell,” said Llewelyn, wrinkling her nose.

“It’s the library,” confirmed Chaz. “See, I told you the tunnel ended there!”

Llew poked her head through the opening. “This seems to be the storeroom, actually, but close enough. Hey, there’s light in here! I can see!”

She walked inside, with the others a step behind. Chaz rushed past to look for the source of the light.

“I’ve got it! Hey look, it’s a diamond,” said the young gargoyle, grabbing the gem from the shelf where it had been sitting. “I never noticed this thing before. I wonder why it’s glowing white like that?”

As he carried it towards the others, Gigi and Ansalong began to hiss and back away.

“That…thing. Take it away! It hurts!” muttered Gigi urgently.

Chaz looked up at his mother quizzically. Suddenly, he realized that the gem did hurt, and let it drop to the floor.

“Chaz, be more careful!” Silver admonished him. “That thing is magical, and we don’t know what powers it might have.”

“Well, other than make vampires uncomfortable,” smirked Llewelyn, glancing in Ansalong’s direction. “Which itself is a pretty useful trick if you ask me.”

The young gargoyle found a dust rag and used it to scoop up the gem, then tucked it into his belt. “The White Diamond might come in handy later,” he explained. The two vampires watched him warily, but nodded.

“Well since you insisted that we have a look around the mansion, let’s hurry and get it over with,” muttered Silver. “Do you think it’s safe to cross into the library?”

“Let’s find out!” grinned Llewelyn. She slowly pushed out the bookcase the concealed the opening between the storeroom and the library. After taking a peek, she swung it out the rest of the way and stepped out.

“The coast is clear,” she called back. The others followed her out, then together, they quietly made their way around the mansion, stopping to hide behind doorways and alcoves whenever someone approached.

“All right, we’ve checked all over the mansion and haven’t found a sign of Shaiya or the others,” whispered Silver. “I think those two vampires were right, and the clan was able to escape in time."

“I guess so,” grumbled Llewelyn.

Silver led them back towards the library. Just as they rounded the corner, they suddenly came face to face with a large vampire in rune-covered robes. He carried a sword that Silver recognized instantly. The vampire’s eyes, however, were locked on her son, and at the object he carried at his side.

“The Pure!” the vampire cried. “Give it to me!”

He swung his sword at Silver, but at the last moment the blade veered aside and missed her completely. The vampire stared at his sword in confusion, which gave the gargoyles the distraction they needed.

“Run!” cried Silver, grabbing Ansalong as she was about to run forward and dragging her instead in the direction they had come.

“What are you doing?” she hissed. “The library’s that way!”

“We can’t go there-it’ll lead them straight to the secret passage, and that’s our only way out.”

“Um…if it’s out only way out, then shouldn’t we be using it?” asked Llewelyn.

Silver turned to her son. “Chaz, are there any other entrances to the tunnel?”

The young gargoyle thought for a moment. “Yeah, in the kitchen! In the tall cupboard by the sink!”

Silver adjusted her heading, and the others followed a step behind. But it was clear from the sound of approaching footsteps that their pursuers were catching up with them.

“Silver, this isn’t going to work,” said Llewelyn. “Even if we get to the kitchen before them, they’ll just tear the place apart until they find the entrance and follow you into the tunnel. We need to take these guys out, and we need to do it fast.”

“What do you suggest?” the gargoyle replied, as they finally reached the kitchen.

Llewelyn faced her, looking determined. “If I understand what that guy was saying back there, Chaz’s White Diamond is what these people have been looking for. Now we got it, and we know that the rest of the clan aren’t being held prisoner here.”

“So what are you planning?” asked Silver, looking worried. She heard Gigi cry out in success as she uncovered the hidden opening inside the cupboard.

“Just take the others and the White Diamond to safety, Silver. I’ll handle it, don’t worry!”

Silver turned and after fixing Llewelyn with a penetrating glance, crept into the cupboard and closed the door behind her. Llewelyn took a deep breath and turned around. She clenched her fists together and felt a soothing ripple of fire over her knuckles.

“I can do this,” she whispered to herself. “It’s what I do…”

She opened the window and crawled out, climbing slowly upwards along the outside wall. A spotlight crossed her path and she froze against the wall, but it passed. The guards had not noticed her. She climbed on, and eventually managed to tilt herself over the top floor balcony.

The lights were out. Slowly she raised her fist to the darkness and let the flames burn brightly on her hands. She stepped forward into the darkness, tail wagging slowly and eyes flicking wildly. She turned around and looked at the end of the corridor. The room had recently been fitted with a special locking mechanism, so the door was coated with metal.

Llewelyn strode towards it, gaining pace until suddenly she -

--felt a blow hit her on the back of her head. She felt a creature thrust her forward, pinning down her wings and lowering its mouth to bite down on her neck through a tangle of hair.

“Bad idea, bad guy,” said Llewelyn as she exploded herself into flames and launched the vampire creature away. She turned around and threw her fist into the belly of the creature.

“I like heat,” the creature replied. “Heat is energy, and the dead need energy. You’re just making me stronger.”

“Ever hear the phrase too much of a good thing?” asked Llewelyn as her fist began to burn vigorously inside the chest of the creature. His skin began to bubble and then catch fire. In seconds, he exploded into flame and ash, burnt alive from the inside.

“Guess not.”

Llewelyn turned to the door and placed her hand, already glowing white with heat, onto the handle. It melted away and an alarm sounded.

She burst open the door and looked inside. A control panel was in one corner. Llewelyn crossed the room towards it, smashed open the glass coverings and studied the range of buttons and knobs as the lights came on outside. Footsteps were clunking up the corridor and shadows flickered eerily through the lights. Llewelyn pressed one of the buttons.

A team of vampire soldiers smashed through the door, but Llewelyn volleyed a series of fireballs to keep them back. “You’re too late, guys,” she said grimly. “I’ve closed off the water main and released the emergency oxygen supply into the plumbing system. In seconds, the oxygen will have pushed out the water and filled up the pipes around the mansion. All it’ll take is one little spark.”

She flicked her thumb up and raised it to the pipes. “Any volunteers?”

***

Silver paused in the secret passage, the gargoyles having stumbled in the dark. She listened carefully, but could hear no Llewelyn.

“I’m going back,” she said.

“Are you sure?” asked Gigi. “Llewelyn said-”

“I know what Llewelyn said! I also know that cowering in a dark spot isn’t always the right thing to do! Take Chaz and go!”

“If you’re going back, I should go too.”

“Right,” said Ansalong, as the two disappeared. “I’ll just snack on the kid and be on my way.”

But Silver and Gigi had darted back through the tunnels already. As they reached the library however, they found that a wall of flame had exploded before them. They were forced backwards, and for a moment looked stunned towards the light.

***

The flames swept up the stairs and through the rooms. The vampires screeched as they began to disintegrate.

“You fool! Once you set a toe outside the window, we’ll shoot you down.”

“Not a problem,” she replied, blasting a white-hot fist through the floor and tearing a hole through to the room below.

It was the drawing room, but the sides of the rooms were drenched in flames. The curtains were disintegrating, the lampshades exploding, the bookcase crashing downwards, the carpet being engulfed in blackness.

She took a deep breath and held out her hands wide. The energy of the fire passed through her. Gradually she began to glow with heat, her hair dancing wildly, and her feet tingling with the power of the flames. She laughed and panted and whooped and screamed as she ran through the corridors, the figures of burning creatures lining the path.

One of them lunged at her, and she flicked him aside gleefully. “Hey, I’m trying to escape here! You people have no manners!”

But as she walked on, the floor began to creak beneath her feet, and she began to cough in the smoke. She blasted herself forward, but a beam from the ceiling collapsed onto her. She ignited herself, burning it off, but the flames tingled in her now. She felt herself quivering, the intensity of the flames making her shudder and her eyes pricking with tears from the smoke.

Rubble collapsed on her but burnt off. She closed her eyes, and coughed. She tried to feel her way around but she could not see where she was going.

“Llewelyn! This way!”

She pricked her ears up to hear the voice, and struggled along the floor. “Daddy?” she called.

There were no more voices. She looked up and down and to the left and to the right, but only thick smoke billowing in front of her stinging eyes. She felt numb now; her whole body was glowing white hot and still more fire was being absorbed.

“Daddy,” she whimpered. “Where are you? Why don’t you help me?”

She felt a wave of dizziness and nausea pass over her.

***

Silver’s mouth hung open, dry and breathless. She stared at the flames, twisting around the bookshelves, through the rooms. Tears streaked down her face.

“It’s happened again,” she said at last. “It’s happened again, it’s happened again, it’s happened again, not again, I can’t stand it, make it stop, make it stop, make it stop!”

***

“Snap out of it Silver! For crying out loud, stop it! I need your help.”

Gigi shook Silver, waved her hand in front of her, and moved to bite her, but nothing happened. Silver was catatonic, but Gigi could see a burning figure in the middle of the room. She rushed towards her, grabbing a tarpaulin from the sofa that was not too drenched in flame and flattening it down sharply over Llewelyn. The fire burst through the top and bottom of the tarpaulin, and soon it disintegrated into ash, but in the interval Gigi thrust Llewelyn through the corridor and out with a burst of energy that made her smoke-filled eyes glow red.

Reaching the tunnel, she rolled quickly and sharply on the ground, trying to put out the fire on her hands, legs and body. She felt herself weakening, but with a burst of energy she slammed the door shut behind them, and collapsed onto the ground.

“I saved a life… as a vampire… so maybe I’m not… evil?”

She tried to speak, but her voice was croaking from the smoke. “Silver… Llewelyn… we’ve got to… go… got to go now. Wake up, goddamn you! If you don’t wake up now, we’re all dead!”

***

Silver’s attention was caught as she stared into the darkness. ‘Dead’ rang in her ears, flashed past her eyes and eventually made its way to her tongue.

“Dead?” she whispered, a cold tear on her heat-exposed cheek as she turned to face her friends.

“We’ve got to go,” coughed Gigi, scrambling to her feet weakly. “Not much time.”

“And… her?”

They looked down at Llewelyn, who was unconscious but still enveloped in flickering white flames.

“We can’t carry her. We can’t wake her. I don’t know. Llewe-”

Gigi tried to shout her name but swallowed the words into a fit of coughing. She began to turn down the corridor, waving wildly for Silver to follow.

“Go on, Gigi. I’ve got to do this…”

“We can’t save her, forget it! We just c-can’t!”

“I have to. If I didn’t try, I… I’d never forgive myself. I never forgave myself. Listen, I think I know what to do.”

***

Ansalong and Chaz reached the entrance to the tunnel and lifted themselves through the hollow tree and out.

“We made it,” whispered Ansalong.

“Not everybody,” said Chaz, keeping the White Diamond on the ground, but not close to him - it already had burnt at some of his skin.

“They’ll be along soon, I’m sure. But first-”

She paused, before suddenly shouting out. “Run!” she cried. “Protect the diamond!”

Chaz didn’t have time to react as he was flung backwards. Ansalong kicked the White Diamond after him, cursed at her smoldering foot, and turned to see a small army of creatures charging through the trees. Eyes flashing, she scurried through the undergrowth. The group stopped.

“They can feel junior,” she cursed to herself, watching them move. “There’s so many of them! Lucky I haven’t eaten in a while… I can feel them, but they won’t feel me…”

She quietly took a sharp branch from the tree trunk nearby and launched into the group with a battle scream. One pierced the creature’s heart and it disintegrated. Another tried to grab Ansalong but failed; she charged through the forest, looking behind them.

“Crap! Only about half are following me. The kid can’t face the rest - there’s about ten of them there!”

Turning in her path, she had a sudden inspiration. She leapt onto a fallen log and onto a tree trunk, and onto another until she launched herself. Sweeping up on the breeze, she looped over the forest.

“Cross the river, Chaz!” she bellowed. “They won’t be able to catch you if you cross the river!”

***

Chaz bolted through the forest, the White Diamond burning against his chest. “I’ll never reach the river in time,” he muttered, panting as he felt the soldiers catching up behind him. He stopped, and turned. The vampires charged at him, their eyes blazing. He took the diamond and threw it hard at the vampire’s head. It smacked the creature squarely, and it screamed as the unprotected head burnt away.

Chaz meanwhile darted in the mist of the confusion and stole the diamond back, waving it violently to keep the other vampires away. But one had protective armour, and grabbed it, shaking the young gargoyle off. As the vampire held the diamond up, Ansalong fell from the sky, mauling the creature. Chaz grabbed the diamond and ran again, darting in between a small gap in the foliage and thus slowing his pursuers. He reached the bank of the river and jumped in. The current caught him and he felt water burst up his nostrils and into his mouth. He coughed and felt the diamond slip from his grasp.

***

Silver looked up at the ceiling of the tunnel. She could hear the water passing overhead

“This is going to really hurt,” she whispered as she punched and clawed at the ceiling. Gradually, it began to shake. She leapt down beside Llewelyn and waited.

With a terrific crash, water blasted into the tunnels. Silver took a deep breath of smoky air before the tide engulfed her.

Eyes shut against the water, she could feel the current swirling all around her. She reached for Llewelyn: she was still warm, but the flames had been extinguished by the water. She grabbed for the gargoyle but missed, and Llewelyn nearly slipped out of her grasp. Silver leapt forward.

She began to feel distanced from herself; she could hear her father talking. She kicked upwards and felt the tunnel ceiling. Crawling along, Llewelyn’s weight began to drag her down. She put her free hand to the wall again and pushed. And pushed.

And as she felt her throat tightening breathlessly, and her consciousness slipping, she opened her eyes in the gritty water and made for a vague light above her. With a last push, she and Llewelyn rose and surfaced in the river.

***

The vampires snarled as they looked across the river; they knew they could not cross. Suddenly, a rustling caught their attention. They turned.

In a flash, Ansalong and Gigi leapt at them, claws stretched and teeth glimmering as the first hints of dawn appeared on the horizon. Soon, it became a bloody fray as the vampires exchanged blows. Gigi leapt onto one and clawed away its face, but felt a strong arm grab her back by the neck. Screams of pain rang above the singing of the birds, as Ansalong and Gigi rang in the morning with a bloodbath.

***

The smoke billowed above the forest long after the sun set. Llewelyn awoke dizzily, coughing water. Silver was quiet as they made their way to the burning mansion. Ansalong and Gigi were there, with Chaz. The young gargoyle ran up to greet his mother, then stopped and looked embarrassed.

“I… I lost the diamond.” He reached behind him to grab something and presented it to her. “But I found this instead.” Silver recognized her old sword and grimaced as she took it from her son. Knowing that he would be hurt if she didn’t accept it, she tucked it under her belt.

“It was lying by the river bank,” Chaz explained. “I wonder if this means that creepy guy died back there?”

Instead of answering, Silver asked, “What were you doing by the river? Weren’t you able to leave through the tree entrance?”

He nodded. “I needed to cross the river to escape. But I fell in and the sun came up. Lucky for me, Ans jumped in and saved me!” the navy gargoyle said excitedly.

Ansalong coughed, in an almost embarrassed fashion. “Yeah, well. Might need a snack later. Anyway, looks like your home isn’t going to fix up very well.”

The group turned to face the building, mixed reactions showing on their faces. Two fire engines were still battling the flames. The wings of the mansion had collapsed, and as they watched, the front walls teetered and crashed. The roof had almost entirely fallen in. Little remained.

“Yep,” said Llewelyn, “those Resident Evil rejects aren’t going to come back anytime soon.”

Silver gave her a reproachful look and said quietly, “I hope you’ve learned something from this.”

“Learned something? Beg your pardon? We beat the bad guys, had a bonfire and escaped. It’s what we do.”

“We… you… destroyed our home.”

“Unfortunate, sure, but we lost our home way before I set the place alight - infested by vampires and creepy critters, remember?”

Silver looked away. “You don’t have any idea how precious a home is, do you?”

“Pull the other one, Sil - it’s got bells on it. I know you hated the Mansion, I know you felt like it wasn’t a home for you or Chaz and-”

“It was precisely because it was a home for Chaz that I stayed there! Can you imagine life on the run, in the cold, at the mercy of the elements - unable to rest, unable to play; because some bastard decides to play with fire. You had no right, Llewelyn.”

“Look, Sil, I’m sorry about the Mansion, I really am - but shit happens. If you-”

“You made it happen! You, wafting through flames like you own it. Fire isn’t a toy, Llew! You could have died last night.”

“I had it under control.”

“Really!”

“Really. Look, I know what this is really about. It’s my power.” She snapped her fingers in front of Silver’s face, flames lighting briefly up from her thumb.

“Don’t you dare-”

“You can’t handle that I can control fire. Not my problem though, Sil!”

“You have power, terrible power, but you can’t control it. What possible good is that power, Llewelyn?”

“Torching some undead flesh springs to mind.”

“Murder. Destruction.”

“Murdering bad guys. Destroying evil places.”

“You don’t have a clue, do you? Your father won’t bail you out if you screw up. Grow the hell up, Llewelyn.”

“Look,” said Ansalong. “Let’s go and find a nice place to sleep, shall we?”

“Stay out of this, vampire, unless you want me to torch you into mini-Ans!” threatened Llewelyn.

“You’re pathetic, Llewelyn,” said Silver. “You can’t handle your power, but you swing at around in people’s faces. Come on, Chaz…guys. I know a place where we can stay the night.”

Llewelyn watched them soar off into the night. “You’re the one hanging out with the evil dead!” she shouted. “You’re the one that… you…”

But she had gone. She swore loudly and blasted a fireball into a nearby tree. It exploded spectacularly. She stepped back, surprised, as she looked at the glowing stump. Tears filled her eyes, and she turned back toward the mansion. She swept down and landed in the midst of the burning wreckage. She could still make out the staircase of the Great Hall, the burnt frames of the pictures that lined the wall. On the floor was the shattered chandelier. She bent down and put her hands into the fire, and calmly sucked it up. She smiled, and felt herself relaxing. As she closed her eyes, she began to mutter.

“I did what I had to do. If I had my time over, I’d do it again. I can handle the fire… I can rule the fire, just like my daddy did. It’s no different. I know I’m right. I know I’m right.”

She opened her eyes and looked around: she had absorbed the flames into herself. She got up carefully, stumbling slightly, and left the smouldering ruins of the Mansion that had for a time been her home.