Gone Baby Gone

Charlotte could do nothing but lie still, drifting in and out of consciousness, in what had become a freezing room. At certain moments, she could have sworn she was awake, replaying her final moments with Valek over and over in her head, the harrowing images haunting her, for that was all Lusian left for her to do. Most of the time, she couldn't tell if they were reveries or actual dreams as she begged herself to fall asleep again so time would move by faster. A very tiny piece of her blamed Valek for her imprisonment. She felt like he, in all of his immense knowledge and power, should have predicted this.

These days became as monotonous as her very addiction.

Not much to her surprise, the door would open and a figure would come drifting in, the balls of its feet barely skimming the floor. She knew the movements of a Vampire well enough now that they actually bored her. At first, a slight bout of fear scurried through her, mostly a reflex of a reaction as a result of her not-so-distant past. It would eventually move to distant apathy upon thinking the visitor was Lusian. But then the dark shadow would emerge into the light, and reveal the most beautiful face she had ever seen. The face that had left her there, chained up in the darkness, waiting. It was followed by the slight surge of joy, and the abrupt awakening when her eyes would really open, and again, all she was met with was the empty, dark room. It was a perpetually revolving cycle. Charlotte sighed. So sick of the monsters calling her name. The birds outside screaming. The old windows in the house rattling.

Even if her wrists had not been chained back so harshly behind her head, her ankles outstretched on the mattress, she didn't believe she would have the ability to move anyway. Lusian and the others, seeming to revolve constantly in and out of the double doors, had kept her so drained. Charlotte wondered how long it would be before they ran out of Sarah's magically baked medicine-how long it would be before she eventually perished there from slowly being depleted completely.

How could he have just left her there like this? Without any protection? How could Sarah have let him? Was no one on her side anymore? The only thing Charlotte was thankful for now was the fact her addiction was constantly being fixed. She barely ever noticed her scar any more, for the feedings were coming so often now.

Consciously, she closed her eyes and refused to cry anymore. She had cried so much over the past several days, she felt like her eyes had gone dry. As though she was unable to bring the emotion out of herself anymore. All of it had been taken from her. Sucked from her. Her heart was so numb as she lay there waiting for her fate. She would like to believe that Valek would come back for her, but something spoke to her from deep inside-something rational that told her it was probably not going to happen. The odds were too heavily against him.

The sound at the front of the room forced her eyes open again. The door creaked. A shaft of yellow light pierced her sight, which had become so accustomed to the dark. So it was daytime, she mused sourly. That was something that was nice to know since Lusian had neglected to tell her anything of what was happening outside of her chained prison. She winced away from it as a tall, thin shadow moved forward enough to eclipse it.

Lusian snaked in, followed by Ana and Aneta. Charlotte didn't react at all. She was too weak. The room around her was dizzying shades of gray that all seemed to blend together. Sarah's lovely bewitchment had disappeared, just as she had when she'd left with Valek. Charlotte was unsure of exactly how much time had passed. She'd stopped counting at five sunrises. She'd counted them each time Lusian had allowed her up to use the bathroom, though he still kept her hands in shackles. Charlotte had never been more humiliated.

Every once in a while, the image of that mysterious shadow man appeared before her, standing right next to her bed, like he was checking in on her. Though she knew it was only an illusion, it was still slightly comforting. The vision, when it appeared, was always just the same. He stood next to her, looming over her. She could almost feel the chill off his skin, so close to hers. The only detail she could ever make out on his face was the eerily familiar glow of his eyes.

"Morning, Charlotte," Lusian said cheerfully.

"Is that what time it is?" Charlotte muttered bitterly.

In an instant, he had one knee on the bed with her entire face clutched in one of his hands. "Don't be a smartass. If you're nice, things will go a lot more smoothly."

Charlotte had the immediate impulse to launch a wad of spit directly in between his eyes, but she shoved that thought back in her mind, not wanting him to even hear the idea.

Ana and Aneta sat on either side of Charlotte on the bed. Charlotte distantly wondered what Lusian had done to Dusana. It seemed he had no use for her anymore with the evil twins at his flanks. This had been the third feeding in the last twenty-four hours. She knew that because she hadn't yet fallen completely asleep. They were engorging themselves-taking full advantage of Charlotte's entrapment.

She tensed slightly as the scar at the base of her throat began to burn slightly with their presence. But as they drew nearer to her on the bed, the door flew open on its hinges as someone stormed into the room.

"Charlotte!"

It was Jorge. She relinquished a gasp she didn't expect would be there. Out of everyone in the coven, he was probably the least threatening, and he was the last she expected to be valiant in the face of Lusian.

"Get out of here, Jorge!" Lusian spat, immediately standing to his feet from the mattress. He braced himself for a fight.

Jorge lifted his hands, "I'm not looking to cause trouble, Lusian. The others have already left without you. I've just come to warn you of the sunrise."

Lusian's face dropped. Ana and Aneta got up from the bed to take their positions at his sides again. He clutched at his throat as his brow wrinkled, debating something. "What day is it?"

"The thirteenth. It's the last day of the cycle. The light is running out in your system...and fast," Jorge explained. "You should be hunting Fae."

"What about you?" he accused with his pointed eyebrow lifted high on his forehead.

Jorge placed his hands on his hips. "I've just returned. I have a taste for something else now." He turned his gaze to Charlotte.

Lusian deliberated something silently for another minute. He and Jorge exchanged looks before Lusian and the devil's twins flew out of the room, the door swinging closed behind them.

Charlotte slouched back down into the mattress and turned her head away, preparing for Jorge to begin feeding on her.

"Charlotte," he began again. "You're a mess."

She looked back at him abruptly, though no words came out. Jorge's gaze fixated on her body. Her own gaze dropped to the rest of her body, sprawled out on the mattress. Her dress was at least a week old, and torn in several places from Lusian's aggressiveness. The mattress beneath her held so many varying bloodstains, they had all began to run together into a single massive one.

To her surprise, tears began to run down her face. What an obvious notion-that she was a mess. How could she not be? What kind of condition did he expect her to be in after treatment like this? Her cheeks burned harsher than her scar, and suddenly she didn't care at all whether he fed or not. Actually, Charlotte was a bit angry. After all of these days, Jorge hadn't come into the bedroom once-not even to give her water-to make sure she was still alive. She thought it might have been out of protest for the way Lusian was treating her. It was one of the few thoughts that had brought her any happiness at all. But now, she saw just how wrong she had been. She turned her neck once more so he could commence feeding.

"You're not wrong." Jorge answered her thought. "I don't want anything from you," he admitted and ran a finger across her cheek.

Charlotte saw an odd mix of dried blood and tears left on the tip of his claw. She met his gaze again, finding that it was one of concern, and she softened immediately.

"Charlotte," he started again. "I am going to help you escape from here."

Jorge sat next to her on the bed as she continued to study him silently. His face still held that sweet smile a brother would have for a little sister. The same uncomfortable smile he'd showed to her when they were all safe again, back in Valek's house that first night home from the battle at the Regime.

Charlotte frowned at him. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Because I do not understand you. I read incessantly. I study all subjects. I've seen the world. I understand everything-except for you. I really appreciate the fact that you've completely stumped me. And I think that is remarkable." His words came out quiet and slow, as though he wanted her to soak up the meaning of every syllable of what he was saying. "I have never seen anything like you, Charlotte. And I've been watching you from the day I met you-trying to figure you out."

"I thought you hated me," she admitted. "That you thought I was just some stupid little girl."

Jorge chuckled. "Not at all. I mean, perhaps a little, in the beginning. You are mortal, yet you fight against impossible things in spite of the fact that they can and will kill you. You are surrounded by danger, yet you wish to fight to keep yourself alive. In many ways, you are more powerful than the rest of us could ever hope to be. I can't predict the future, Charlotte, but I can count the patterns. Something very dangerous is coming. There's another fight right around your corner. Study everything. Trust no one. Pay attention. You'll find Valek. I am absolutely certain of that." He reached into the pocket of his pressed slacks and pulled out a strange, tattered piece of parchment. "Answer me honestly, Charlotte. Was a messenger here?"

Charlotte winced at him. "A what?"

"A messenger? From the Dark City? Was there someone here you didn't recognize?" He eyed her incredulously, his face getting ever closer to hers.

Her memory flashed back instantly to the figure-the man surrounded by darkness. Maybe that hadn't been her imagination. Perhaps he had really been there in the room with her. She narrowed her eyes at Jorge. "I'm not...entirely sure."

He flipped the torn letter over to reveal a strange logo imprinted on the paper in indigo wax. The Parliament, it read, with two dueling lions on either side of the scrawling words. "This is incredibly important. This will get you to Valek. They are waiting for you."

"How do you know?

"Charlotte!" He grabbed her shoulders and she winced. "I know everything. You should have noticed that by now." Jorge didn't give her the time to respond. Not that she could have, in all of her shock over what he was saying to her. He stood from the bed and began unfastening the manacle around her left wrist, digging his sharp talon deep into the keyhole. He was going to pick the locks open. Charlotte guessed Lusian had been guarding the key ring very carefully. The manacle fell open after a few seconds, and her wrist collapsed into her lap. She hissed, fully realizing the pain of her arm being stuck in one position like that for too long, with the twisted metal digging deep into her flesh. She wound her joint around in circles, leaning her head against the headboard as she worked out the pain. Her skin was blue and purple where the manacle had been too tight.

"Where are they?" Charlotte asked through her clenched jaw. Finally, her right hand was freed too, and she began rubbing at it with her other hand. It felt so good to move.

Jorge began at her right ankle. "Far enough away. I've scared Lusian enough to be out for a few hours to stock up on light blood," he explained quickly. "They are at a safe distance away."

"But you will be punished when Lusian returns and finds me gone."

"I don't care. He keeps blathering about freedom, and liberation, and this and that!" Jorge shook his head. "I'm not any more free in this house than you are."

Her first ankle was free, and he began working on the other one in silence for a few moments. Charlotte couldn't believe all that he had said to her. She watched him with the same curiosity and reverence as he had probably been watching her up until this day.

Finally, her left leg was free and she slowly shifted so she sat up on the bed. Bending joints that had been otherwise straight for so long was very painful, though it was nice to be free. She wound each ankle around a few times, and bent in half so that her spine could stretch.

Jorge reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out something she instantly recognized. Her whistle. He held the little silvery, dangling thing out to her and she reached for it. "Sarah instructed me to give this to you when we finally met our window of opportunity. She said it would protect you from that which is coming."

Charlotte studied it as it twinkled in her hand. "But why? When Valek gave this to me, he said it was just an ordinary whistle. That there was nothing enchanted about it."

"Surely you must know Sarah better than that by now. She always takes precaution. Always. She would never leave you unprotected, Charlotte."

Charlotte gazed wide-eyed at him. "So she knew Lusian would do this to me?"

"Not exactly. But she's smart enough to know that something would go just a tad wrong when one human is left alone with a gaggle of the world's most irresponsible heathens." Jorge flashed a fanged grin.

She wrapped her hand around the whistle as she dangled it from her neck, remembering the inscribed words We will rise and the carved image of the phoenix. How was one pathetic little mortal going to find one Vampire in a world full of magic and monsters? Charlotte had a new thought. She smiled back at Jorge.

He abruptly ceased his grin. As she expected, he'd heard her latest thought. "Oh, no," he countered. "No, Charlotte. That is between you and Valek. If I change you, he would surely decapitate me!"

"But Jorge, it just makes sense! I could find Valek so much more easily if I were like you!"

"Forget it, Charlotte." Jorge's forehead crinkled. "You will find Valek exactly the way you are now," he concluded and sat on the edge of the bed again. He leaned in closer to her, taking either sides of her face in his hands. "I want you to take Třinozka and that little rag doll with you. You can do this. You are more powerful than you think you are."

"Can't you go with me? Lusian is going to stake you when he gets home anyway. You know it."

"It would be too complicated if I went. We'd have to constantly stop to hunt for light magic...not to mention what I'd need from you." He dropped his gaze uncomfortably. "Besides, Vampires are still so heavily discriminated against. I'm more trouble than I'm worth, trust me." He chuckled.

Charlotte frowned. She had never seen this side to the bookworm Vampire, so easygoing and charming...and talkative. It was as if she didn't know him at all. She really liked him and lamented she hadn't allowed him to be more of a friend sooner.

Jorge glanced over his shoulder for a split second and then back down at her. "They're returning sooner than I thought they would. It seems Lusian has somehow picked up on my plan. I can hear it in his mind, even at this distance. I've collected these for you, at least. I found them in Lusian's room. You'll need them." He handed her a small, lavender pouch. "We should fetch the Spider." He lifted hastily from the bed.

"Wait," she ordered before he could dash away.

He stopped, looking at her expectantly.

"I still do not understand why you are doing this for me. You're risking your own life for mine. I just can't imagine why I'm suddenly so significant to you."

His lips twitched, as if he was about to say something, though he only grinned at her. He shrugged his shoulders. "I told you, Charlotte. You're a hero. After reading about so many heroes in all of my books, I think you're my favorite. Valek needs you," he concluded before whooshing out of the bedroom.

Getting out of the bed proved to be a little more complicated than Charlotte imagined. Putting one leg over the side of it before the other, she found the room began to tilt steeply to the right, and she felt as if she might fall backward onto the mattress. A sharp stabbing pain began at her temples. This was in no way an effect of her addiction, but rather a condition of her dehydration, weakness, and exhaustion. She closed her eyes tightly for a minute and waited for the contents of her brain to shift back to their normal places.

Quickly, she opened the small, velvet pouch by its drawstrings. Just as she thought, there in her palm was a collection of about a hundred of Sarah's chocolate beads. She popped one into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. And then another, and another. She must have eaten nearly a dozen before she started to notice the strength replenishing inside her body. It seemed Lusian had been keeping her right at death's door. She gripped the edge of the bed, the cool, cotton sheets bunching up between her fingers. She needed a moment to herself-silent. Closing her eyes, she took in a deep breath of air. This was it. It was time.

"Charlotte!" Jorge's voice called fervently up at her from downstairs.

Staggering, she pushed herself from the bed, arms outstretched before her as her legs wobbled. She could do this. She could go find Valek. She could.

Charlotte stepped one foot forward. For that's how all good quests begin, she thought. She reached back into the velvet pouch and scooped out three more of the chocolate beads and swallowed them. Lusian was very smart. The strength returned more to her legs as she began journeying out of the room and down the staircase.

"Charlotte!" Jorge called for her again from out of Valek's office.

She turned the corner, sprinting down the hall to find the bookish Vampire leaning over the blockaded burrow opening in the floor. He squinted down the dark tunnel as though he were searching for something. He pressed his lips together as he looked up at her.

"I'm not hearing any thoughts down there. The coven is returning. I hear them just over the Occult border. They'll be here in minutes. I'm not sure your Spider friend is going to make it."

It felt like claws squeezing instantly around Charlotte's heart as all of the air in her lungs vacuumed out and into the room. What did Jorge mean by that? Was Třinozka dead? Though she stared silently at him for a few moments, her mind was spinning a million miles an hour. There was no way her faithful Spider friend was dead. Charlotte collapsed to her hands and knees. "Rip out the trappings in the floor!" she begged. "Please!"

Jorge clutched two of the metal pieces on opposite ends from each other. She could see that Lusian, or whoever had committed this, had done a thorough job as the ends were buried deep in the dirt foundation under the floorboards. He continued to tug until the metal started to give. The jagged ends ripped from underneath Valek's floor, pulling out chunks of dirt and wood with it. Jorge grunted as he released the rest of the heavy entrapment and tossed it to the other side of the room. He looked at Charlotte expectantly.

"All right. Go down there. See if he's okay, and leave as soon as you can. I'll hold them off up here."

Charlotte took a moment, just looking at him. There were so many things she wanted to tell him. She decided she only had time for a simple "Thank you." She wrapped her arms around him and he returned the embrace after a moment of hesitation, resting his cool cheek on the top of her head.

"You can do this, Charlotte," he whispered.

Unable to imagine what the consequences were going to be for setting her free, she could only nod her goodbye to Jorge. If she opened her mouth, it might have opened the floodgates. In spite of the breaking feeling in her chest and the salt tears gathering in her eyes, she turned her back to him and lowered herself deeper into the burrowing hole.

Carefully feeling around the dirt sides of the tunnel, she proceeded carefully. Her toe caught the end of a protruding tree root and she used it as a step. The drop was fairly steep, and she wasn't sure just how far down the bottom was. Looking up, she saw Jorge gazing at her just over the rim. He waved silently at her as she continued to descend, slipping into the dark shadows of the Spider's home. The sound of bending metal caused her to look abruptly upward again, only to see Jorge refastening the bars to the hole. That trick was probably meant to buy her a little more time. She dug her nails deep into the dirt walls to find anything she could cling to.

Eventually, as she continued, she couldn't see the house above her anymore. Though she didn't stop moving, she did try her best to quiet her breathing to see if she could hear what was going on above. There were a few faint noises, but they were fairly indecipherable to her. Nothing sounded violent yet. She knew she had to move a lot faster, however, and quickly she peered down to what was beneath her. It was still too dark to see the bottom of the tunnel, but climbing down at this rate would take way too much time.

Charlotte weighed the decision to jump, freezing for a moment as she clung to the walls. Looking down, she tried to gauge through the darkness how much farther she had to go. There wasn't much choice. If she didn't move more quickly, they'd catch her for sure. Her heart slammed hard in her ears as she made the snap decision to push herself from the wall with her arms and legs stretched out, scraping through the dirt. Clods of earth and tree roots collapsed from the sides of the tunnel down around her, only slightly slowing her fall as she plummeted. Something crashed hard into her from the bottom, causing her to collapse and tumble down through a different, much less steep, tunnel. Charlotte saw nothing as she rolled, various parts of her body bumping against stones packed in the floor, until she found herself suddenly stopped and sitting completely upright with her legs straight out in front of her.

It took a moment for her head to stop spinning. She shut her eyes tight, burying her face in her knees to recover from her disoriented state more quickly. Finally, the sick, swimming motion stopped and Charlotte stood, gazing forward down the abyss. She hadn't ever seen this entrance to Třinozka's home before. It wasn't all lit and warm like the main entrance in the forest used to be. She recalled the first time she'd seen that one-lined with warm candles that invited her in from the freezing rain one evening months ago.

"Hello?" The only sound that answered her was the sound of water dripping over the stones.

This tunnel was dismal. Dreary. It seemed entirely black and gray in the dense shadows as her eyes began to adjust. Enormous patches of glimmering, silken Spider webs clung to the corners of the tunnel. Charlotte began forward again, the stuff not failing to cling to her, especially to the material of her dress. She tried to pull it off, though it stretched relentlessly as it stuck to the palm of her hand. Desperately, she wiped the stuff on her dress, which only made matters worse. And what was more, in the dim light of the long cave, Charlotte could make out a few dozen tiny, long-legged spiders crawling up out of the web material. She let out a stifled shriek and tried to shake the creatures off. Quickly giving up, she proceeded on her journey, remembering the need to escape quickly.

Leaning forward, she strained her eyes to see farther down the long passage. She continued on, though absolutely nothing about it seemed familiar. And it seemed too long of a walk to Třinozka's burrow, which had only been just around the back of her house. Where was this taking her? Glancing behind herself, Charlotte found that the curve up the tunnel to her house above had disappeared and she was now gazing down an infinite opposite direction. This was impossible! It was as if this tunnel were an enchanted maze of sorts, changing each time she turned her back. She had no other choice but to press forward, so she did.

Dirt crumbled from the ceiling of the passage down over her, and she decided it was only a matter of time before the entire thing caved in. Perhaps she should pinch herself in the event she was experiencing another nightmare. She might wake up in the bed with Lusian looming over her once more.

"Třinozka!" she called out as she continued to put one foot in front of the other. "Mr. Třinozka! Where are you?" Another massive clump of dirt collapsed over her head and she coughed out the bit that had gotten in her mouth. She rubbed the stuff out of her eyes and glanced over her shoulder again. "Edwin!" Jorge had been wrong. There was no way she could do this alone. Charlotte wrapped her hand around the whistle strung from her neck and remembered the words Sarah had uttered to her a while ago-When the night is at its blackest, you know that it is just before the dawn. But in Charlotte's case, which was better-the night or the day?

A new thought appeared in her mind, the little whistle glimmering under her grasp in the lack of light. She pulled the thing up on its chain, looking wondrously in front of her and wondered exactly what would happen. She pressed the tip of it to her lips and blew, the familiar, musical sound emanating all around her. It seemed to travel limitlessly down the long, dark space. It twinkled its enchanted note until it eventually faded. And Charlotte waited.

"Charlotte?" A familiar, velvety voice called out to her. "Charlotte, where are you?"

Charlotte gasped and glanced behind herself instantly upon hearing that voice. Lusian was coming after her. Her heart jump-started in her chest. If she wanted to escape, it was time to run. However, now that he was hot on her trail, running would be an attempt in futility.

But she began anyway, stumbling forward before breaking into a desperate sprint, ducking under the thick clouds of webbing. Her breath caught in her throat as she pushed herself though the darkness, not glancing even once behind herself. She didn't want to look. She couldn't, in fear that she would find him just behind her, reaching to drag her back to that hell again. She would fight it to her death.

"Charlotte," the menacing voice called out for her again. "I can smell you, Charlotte. There is no point in running!"

A malevolent laughter shattered her eardrums from down the hollow tunnel. The feeling of fear that scraped itself up the length of her spinal cord was as if it were the very tips of his icy talons dragging themselves there. It sucked the air right out of her chest and she found herself drowning in the chase.

"Leave me alone!" Reaching up to the earth-packed walls, she tore down clods of dirt with her fingernails to try and create an obstacle for him. Another useless attempt, she knew. Living with this mortal limitation was growing more difficult by the moment. However, she could at least tell she was headed in the right direction. Various trinkets began to scatter the ground and she found herself tripping over teapots and clock gears.

"Help! Mr. Třinozka!" He couldn't be very far ahead.

"You've been a very, very naughty young lady, Lottie." The beastly voice was almost a growl in her ear now.

She gasped, the air burning in her lungs. Thinking quickly, Charlotte grabbed the nearest thing by her feet. It was large, metal car wheel from decades and decades ago. Immediately, she pivoted to find herself nose to nose with Lusian, who met her with a malevolent grin.

"Lottie...I've got you now." His black eyes shimmered with some faint undercurrent of a red glow.

Shrieking, Charlotte slammed the metal wheel over Lusian's head, the thing catching around his neck, seeing in the darkness that she had disfigured his face. Dark blood rippled down from the deep slices in his skin, and even though the details of his face were difficult to make out, it looked to her like the winding, jagged metal of the wheel had permanently blinded him. A gasp caught in her throat as she released the wheel, stumbling backward. Tears welled in her eyes as the demon before her wailed in pain, grappling to pull the wheel up from around his neck. She was a dead woman.

"Charlotte!" A new voice rang out, this time before her. "Run, Charlotte! Hurry!"

"Mr. Třinozka!" she cried.

"I'm here!" His calls sounded weathered and exhausted, though he somehow still sounded as valiant as he always did. The Spider always knew when to appear, right in the nick of time. "Run toward my voice, Charlotte! Faster! He's just behind you!"

She yelped, for she could see nothing-feel nothing-in the darkness. But she didn't dare stop.

"D-d-d-danger," she heard Edwin's voice sputter.

"I know, Edwin! Can it!"

Finally, she slammed hard into something massive, but didn't even have time to fall backward from the impact as an enormous hand plucked her from the ground. They were already running again before she could think, starting to bullet down the tunnel. The giant hand placed her somewhere she guessed was his front breast pocket. Her body slipped down into the soft material.

"Not to worry, darlin'. I'll have ya outta here in a jiffy."

"What happened to you? Where do we go from here?" she called up to him over the rush.

"We were trapped down here-forced to dig our way out!" Edwin's call answered hers.

"Right! After that idiot beat and hog-tied us and sealed my confounded door shut!" Mr. Třinozka concluded.

"He's h-hot on our t-trail!" Edwin warned.

Charlotte could still see nothing.

"Don't worry your head! I've got an idea!" the Phaser declared proudly.

"Those last four words always mean something d-dangerous," Edwin grumbled.

"Hold on tight, kids!"

Charlotte gripped tightly to the material of the Spider's vest and shut her eyes as he leapt upward, thick chunks of packed dirt plummeting down around them.

Instantly, there was light, and as she opened her eyes, she found they were running through the dense Bohemian woods just as dawn was coming. Charlotte straightened inside of Mr. Třinozka's massive pocket. It had been so long since she had been outdoors, let alone seen the sun. So accustomed to the stifling smell of her own, drying blood in Valek's stuffy bedroom and unable to control her excitement, she leaned forward and sucked in a huge breath of the fresh, wintry air.

"We've l-lost him! He w-won't come out in the daylight. He doesn't h-have enough light m-magic in his system," Edwin cheered from somewhere above her.

"How do you know?" Charlotte asked.

"H-he's not following us, and b-besides," Edwin reached down, dangling several, small canisters of Elven blood from his satchel. "I've got his s-stash!"

"When did you do that?" Charlotte called.

"I swiped it days ago when he first barred us down here! He didn't notice in the grapple!"

"Good boy!" Mr. Třinozka bellowed. The giant Spider slowed to a halt and pulled Charlotte from his vest. As soon as her feet gently touched the ground, she ran to him anyway, wrapping her arms around one of his front legs.

"Thank you! It's so wonderful to see you alive."

"Thought I was a goner, eh?" He chuckled.

Edwin slid easily off Mr. Třinozka's back and ran to Charlotte as well. "But not n-nearly as m-much as we thought you w-were a goner, Ch-charlotte." He pulled her out of his tight embrace but continued to keep his hands grasped firmly around her shoulders. "W-we overheard all of the ar-arguing before V-valek left. Among some other things." His eyes narrowed at her. "What's happened to y-you?"

"Oh," A wave of heat enveloped the apples of her cheeks as her blood rushed to her face. She looked down at herself and was reminded of the feebleness. The weakness. The very things she swore to herself she would overcome. "I'll be fine. I only just lost myself for a minute." Her gaze locked with Edwin's concerned one again. "I'll be fine. I swear it."

"We're taking you to Valek," Mr. Třinozka interrupted. "He's the only one who can fix you."

Charlotte's gaze shot to his face as he said this, her mouth falling open. "Really?" She stopped again and thought about that. "Valek doesn't need to fix me. I'm fine. I'll fix myself." She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. She couldn't shake the bitterness. However, all she wanted was for Valek to appear in that clearing-to just be pointed in his direction, and she would start running. She knew she should be angry, and for a slight moment upon hearing his name, she was. But the vision of his face in her mind, of knowing she was alive because of his many sacrifices, diminished every other negative emotion.

Something moved in the periphery of Charlotte's vision. Though she heard Edwin continue to try to explain exactly what had locked them down in the bowels of the house, the next thing her eyes met caused the entire rest of the world to disappear into the background. It was as if she had gone blind to the world around her. The forest seemed to wane into the distance, because all she could see was his glorious silhouette waiting for her just up ahead, his long, graceful form leaned up against the trunk of a tall redwood. But she didn't understand. Had Mr. Třinozka known Valek would be waiting there for her? She didn't care. Her legs began moving even before she told them to.

"Valek!" she cried and bolted desperately forward into a sprint again. She could see his tall, shadowed form just on the edge of a sun-soaked clearing. "Valek! I'm here!" All of the bitterness she had harbored against him for leaving, all of the anger completely subsided.

She ran to him, throwing herself against him, at long last feeling his arms around her. Finally, she thought. I am never letting you leave my sight again.

"Charlotte, n-n-n-no!" she heard Edwin call from somewhere behind her.

"Who is Valek?" an unfamiliar voice asked her.

Abruptly, Charlotte backed away, though the strange boy continued to hold her by the wrist. Her heart sank. Looking up into his face, she found he was not at all the person she'd thought he was. Now that she was close enough to decipher the details of him, she was made certain he was definitely not her beloved guardian, though his facial features and the length of his body were eerily similar. And what was more, he wasn't even like Valek, or so it seemed. In fact, she didn't think he wasn't magical at all. Charlotte was staring face to face with another human, with Edwin and Mr. Třinozka, two monsters from the Occult, not too far behind. What were the consequences going to be of another human being witnessing the appearance of these two creatures? How was she going to get out of this one? They'd surely have to kill him.

A screech sounded suddenly somewhere above them, and before she could look to see what creature had created it, a falcon swooped down from one of the trees and landed obediently on the mysterious boy's shoulder. She continued to stare at him, though with a new question arising in her mind.

The boy only stared dubiously back at her. Those eyes were the same crystalline color as the rest of her strange Vampire family, though they were not as ungodly illuminated. She frowned upon noticing that they were just a mere beautiful, normal blue. His jaw clenched into an intense sort of grimace, as if he were fighting himself over some impulse, a strange and angry line forming between his eyebrows. It made Charlotte take another step back.

Her heart slid up into her throat with the grasp of his hand around her wrist, the touch of his hand warm on her skin. He wouldn't release her. The hair on the back of her neck lifted on end, her lips parting. She could feel her scar begin to throb at the side of her neck again. Oh God, she thought, it was starting to happen again. She winced. But why was it happening in the presence of a human? Was he a Vampire? She was so confused.

Finally, he let her go.

"I apologize...." Shyly, she dropped her gaze. Again, all of the sounds of the forest disappeared and the only things she could hear were the sound of her own frantic pulse and her static breathing. "I thought-I thought you were someone else." Nervously, Charlotte took another step backward, tucking a stray curl behind her ear.

The boy was devastatingly adorable, with a face that was eerily similar, though much younger than Valek's. She guessed he was around eighteen or so, as she was. Such peculiar similarities. The same square jaw line. The same chiseled cheek bones. But his complexion was just a normal pale. His hair was cropped short, bangs feathered over to one side. And he wore a rather beat-up looking sweatshirt and a torn pair of jeans. He looked like any one of the victims she would have brought home for Valek, though she probably would have ended up developing a crush on this one.

"It doesn't matter." He shrugged, though his apathetic front did not match the suspicion in his eyes. He looked at her like Valek did when she had done something that confused him-as though he were searching for something. There was also something sort of...sad about him.

"I'm Nikolai." He offered his hand to her.

"Charlotte!"

Edwin and Mr. Třinozka slid up behind her simultaneously. The strange boy didn't seem at all affected by them. What kind of magic was this? He could not have been any normal person.

She glanced over her shoulder a moment to see them studying the boy as well, probably half expecting him to run away screaming. When Edwin didn't seem to nervously combust as a result of any sort of impending danger, Charlotte turned back to Nikolai and finally shook his hand.

"I'm Charlotte." She froze a bit when his skin met hers again. Her scar instantly reacted, and she retracted her hand.

Again, the falcon at Nikolai's shoulder screeched at her and cocked his head.

"This is Ears." Nikolai gestured to the winged beast as it continued to stare at Charlotte like it was about to fly at her and peck her eyes out. She hated birds.

"Ears?" Charlotte lifted her eyebrow at the same time Ears cocked his head at Nikolai as if also wondering why on earth that would be his name.

"What brings you about these here woods, Nikolai?"

Charlotte could hear the bitter skepticism in Mr. Třinozka's voice from behind her. Perhaps there was something magical about this boy.

Nikolai shoved his hands in his pockets, glancing down for a moment. Charlotte's breath caught in her throat. Even his mannerisms were weirdly similar. She hadn't been so far off in believing for a moment he was Valek.

"Actually, I'm not sure," he began. "I just sort of found myself here after wandering around for days." He sounded tired. Vexed. He looked boldly and directly into her eyes. Charlotte frowned at him again, her heart thudding hard once against her sternum.

"I...haven't...been like this for very long," he struggled to tell her.

Edwin gasped behind her. "D-do you mean, you're n-n-new?"

"Newly created, he means to say," Mr. Třinozka abruptly amended.

Nikolai frowned again, averting his gaze. "Well, not exactly. I don't remember much. My family was murdered in the night. The attack was the last thing I remember before waking up...like this. And now I really don't know what I am." His gaze flashed to Charlotte again. "I mean, I suppose I have an idea." Discreetly he eyed her throat, though Charlotte missed nothing. After all of her years of living through what she'd lived through, she was definitely used to Vampires eyeing her as though she were a meal.

Charlotte clenched her jaw, her pent-up frustration with Valek finally letting itself show. "Wait." She whirled to Mr. Třinozka and Edwin, who each carried a grim look on his face. "I'm not sure if I understand exactly what's going on."

"Th-this man is only half ch-changed," Edwin indicated. "You're a fledgling is what you are. Not really a Vampire. Not really a h-human. It's like you're in your l-larval stage."

Charlotte looked back to Nikolai, who tightened his lips in a thin line and shrugged. "I remember being attacked. I have...certain abilities." When Charlotte refused to respond to that, Nikolai quickly reached into his sweatshirt pocket. Charlotte backed away at the abruptness of his movement, but he looked at her with wide eyes and moved more cautiously. He pulled out a hunk of bread. "See?" He offered. "I still eat...normal things. Here," he held it out to her, "it looks like you can use this more than me."

Charlotte took it from him and quickly tore into it, not having eaten anything solid in days. "But how are you so calm?" She seethed. "From everything I've heard it shouldn't be so easy when you're so...new." She couldn't stop herself this time. She noticed that she talked to the strange boy as though he were Valek. Boldly, she stepped forward. "I mean, don't you want to do anything? You know...." She shoved her wrist out toward him and waited for his eyes to immerse in shiny black.

"Charlotte!" Mr. Třinozka barked and she pulled back.

"Not really." Nikolai shrugged apathetically.

"It just isn't like that y-yet for him, Ch-charlotte," Edwin stammered.

Valek always explained to her that it was a huge reason why she would never want to become what he was. The loss of control. The merciless killing. The bloodlust. But this person seemed to not be that far advanced in his transition. She was already suffering from the loss of control and the merciless killing, though the last part was mostly for Valek's sake. She didn't understand why Valek refused to turn her. It just wasn't fair.

"Th-that's why y-you're out at d-dawn, isn't it?" Edwin added.

Charlotte pressed her lips together.

Nikolai sighed. "I don't know. To be truthful, I don't really understand all the rules yet. When I finally opened my eyes I was in a place unlike anywhere I've ever seen. It was so strange." He leaned his back against the trunk of the nearest tree as though he really was exhausted. "I didn't know if I died and was in hell, or if somehow I was still living." Absently, he stroked Ears' wings, causing the intimidating hunting bird to coo softly. Charlotte didn't trust him yet.

"So where'd you get the bird?" Charlotte folded her arms over her chest and lifted an eyebrow.

"I was being hunted. There was this...boy. He followed me, along with his pet." He indicated the falcon. "He was strange...like you are."

"I resemble that remark." Mr. Třinozka chuckled.

"And he had these odd, pointed ears. He started throwing things at me-balls of fire. I couldn't figure it out." Nikolai's eyes narrowed at the memory. "When he got too close...I killed him." Nikolai unsheathed a pocket knife from his jeans. It was stained with a blue-black sort of blood. "The falcon adopted me, so I named him Ears-for his strange owner."

"Ha!" Mr. Třinozka instantly burst with laughter loud enough to cause little flurries of snow to rain down from the lower tree branches. "You killed an Elf! Come 'ere, boyo!" The Spider grabbed Nikolai up off the ground in a giant embrace. "Any Elf-killer is a friend of ours. Ain't that right, Charlotte?"

Charlotte's mind flashed to the image of Valek clinging desperately to Aiden's throat on her almost-wedding day. The horrified look of death in Aiden's face-the dark, bluish liquid that had seeped from his throat...Valek's skin had cracked and singed to smithereens, and she'd thought she'd never see either of them again. Could that Elf be Aiden? Had this mere half-human really dispatched Aiden?

"Charlotte?"

She pulled herself away from her reverie to find the three creatures staring at her. Nikolai, in particular, looked at her with the strangest curiosity, the intense frown distorting his features again. The way he looked at her with so many questions. It was as though he knew her.

"Are you all right, there, girly?"

"Yes. Of course." She forced a smile and shrugged, a tad embarrassed.

Of course Nikolai looked at her that way. He was probably wondering what another mortal could possibly be doing with the likes of these odd two.

Sorry, she thought in his specific direction. He didn't respond. His eyes only slanted further at her. Maybe he was unable to read thoughts yet.

"Great! You can join our band of misfits, Nikolai! After all, we can't just leave ya out here in this awful chill, can we?" the Phaser offered warmly. "You'll catch your death...well...you'll catch your life, I suppose." He laughed louder at his horrid joke, pulling Nikolai up onto his back and then Charlotte. He tucked Edwin into his breast pocket this time.

"I hate riding up front," Edwin mumbled.

"Fantastic. Wandering around alone was growing tedious," Nikolai admitted. "I didn't know what to do next."

"So, you have no idea who your creator is?" Charlotte asked, already gripping tightly to Mr. Třinozka's scarf. "What I mean is, the one who killed you and attempted to turn you?"

Something else flashed in his eyes, but quickly dissipated. "I don't know. It was too dark. The memory is too hazy."

Mr. Třinozka's massive body rocked as he moved over rocks and knolls. Awkwardly, Nikolai wrapped his arms around Charlotte's middle. Surprised at his bold action, she stiffened against his touch. Noticing this, he instantly released her.

"I-I'm sorry," he stuttered nervously.

"No." She shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. That was my fault. Just an initial reaction." She smiled politely and faced forward again. "No, you need to hold on, or else this guy will throw you off at full speed. Trust me."

Mr. Třinozka chortled his response. She thought she heard Edwin harrumph. Again, though a tad more cautious this time, Nikolai wove his arms around her middle to secure himself there. She tried very forcefully to guard her thoughts, just in case, as she felt his breath stir against her hair. The muscles in her throat tightened. Her stomach turned upside-down.

"So, is that what I am, now?" he murmured to her. "A Vampire?"

The tiny hairs on the back of her neck prickled. Her skin tightened into goose bumps and she hoped he wouldn't notice. She cleared her throat. "Well, not if you don't want to be. It seems the choice is yours," she whispered back.

"Look!" she heard Edwin cry.

An odd abode appeared through the trees just ahead of them, the smokestack billowing up into the sky. The house stood, rickety and unkempt, on sets of huge chicken legs. Charlotte's eyes grew wide at the sight of it as she cocked her head. What the heck kind of a place was that?

"Eew," she heard Nikolai say from behind her. Ears cried just above them. Charlotte looked to see that the trees in the forest were enchanted-strange eyes were carved into the bark, blinking back at her. These woods seemed heavier than the ones in her Occult. Somehow, they were more malevolent. How far had Mr. Třinozka's tunnel stretched and where had they ended up?

"Mr. Třinozka, where are you taking us?" she called.

"I just followed the smell of tea and crumpets. It's a friendly smell. I know my tea and crumpets, lass."

From below, in Třinozka's breast pocket, Edwin gasped at something in the distance. Her gaze snapped up to spot him. This time she knew it was him. It had to be. Stepping through a thicket of trees into the large clearing, his tall form eclipsed the light filtering in, freezing Charlotte dead. Her heart leaped into her throat. Nikolai went rigid behind her as well. Tears pricked in her eyes, the anger and every ounce of bitterness returning. She did not expect that reaction. That was not how she'd reacted earlier, when she thought Nikolai had been him.

"Stop, please," she said quietly to the Spider. She saw Valek's silhouette freeze from where he stood up the path. Though still unable to see the details of his face, she knew he was looking right at her. A lump swelled up in her throat again, but for a completely different reason this time.

Mr. Třinozka plucked her from his back, silently setting her firmly on the ground. She wound her fingers into tight knots at her sides, the tears streaming down her face in those moments of utter stillness. They felt so warm on her skin in spite of the fresh winter air she hadn't smelled in days. She could only stand there, studying his silhouette against the...light. Apparently, Valek had been keeping up with his own addiction to the daytime. She wondered how many Fae he'd slaughtered. The dust particles filtered in the golden stream of sun around him. Her knees were locked, refusing to push her forward. If this were another mirage, she would be heartbroken.

He began advancing toward her again, slowly at first, beginning in a staggered, broken walk before breaking into a human-paced run. She couldn't move-could barely breathe. She could only stand there and let the tears burn into her face. But it was Valek this time. She recognized the insurmountable guilt that weighed down each of his movements. The fluid, almost human movements.

He finally reached her, his body striking her as lightning would. His arms enveloped her, crushed her-swallowed her into him. She couldn't have dreamed this in a million years. Her mind wasn't capable of making up so much fantastic detail. The familiar, musky scent of his hair. The honey smell of his breath. The cold feeling of his skin and the electricity that lived in his fantastic, inhuman eyes. He was really there before her again. He set her feet back into the snow, though continued to cradle her face with both of his hands. His gaze bore into hers so sadly.

"Lottie, I am so sorry. I should have never left." He crushed her lips to his, which caused her jaw to instantly go slack as she sighed, feeling his fangs slide along the edge of her bottom lip. Her heart raced as her blood did, her joints liquefying to gelatin.

Valek stopped the kiss, slowly moved away to look at her. There he stood, in all of his magnificence, before her. An angel of both death and mercy. He had returned to her, and now she was going to give him hell.

She struck him across the face with the open palm of her hand. Apparently, he had not listened to that plan within her mind, for he looked down at her, absolutely befuddled. She suspected it probably felt as though he had been pelted with a sheet of paper, however. "How could you do that to me?" she growled through gritted teeth.

Valek pulled away from her, a deeper sadness instantly filling his expression. "Lottie, again, I am sorry. It was such a mistake. I believed I was doing the right thing-"

"Do you what know I've been through without you this past week? How could you just leave me alone in a world I don't understand? Just like-"

"Please, don't say it."

"My parents." Charlotte silenced herself and dropped her gaze from his. He moved in, grasping the sides of her face again.

"Charlotte, you have to know, I would never just leave you. I had every intention of returning. I would never leave you alone if I knew you would be in any sort of danger. By now, you must know that."

"Really?" Her tears stung at the bridge of her nose. "And what if something happened? What if you found yourself in some sort of trouble? Or what if-" She dropped her words and wrapped her arms around herself, stepping back from him.

"Lottie?" He moved a hair closer, lifting his hand to her chin, but she instantly shoved it away.

"Please, don't touch me," she murmured.

Valek fell silent. She didn't miss what he was doing when she felt that slight, however familiar, pulling headache at her temples. Any other human would not have noticed the sensation at all, but she recognized instantly that he was tapping into her mind.

"And please get out of my head," she warned with a glare up at him.

"Charlotte," he began, affirmation filling his eyes. He had already heard the thing she wanted to hide. He paused for a minute, studying her face. "Lottie, did...someone...hurt you?"

There was a dangerous energy in the way he said those words. Charlotte bit her lip, tears rolling over her lower eyelid. She turned away from him to look back at the Spider, Edwin, and her newest friend, who continued to watch her in wonder. Immediately, Valek grabbed her shoulders and whirled her around, pulling her close to him again. She felt his cool, soft cheek rest atop her head. They fell silent as he held her for a long moment, listening to her mind anyway.

"I'll kill him," Valek whispered, his voice cracking.