We had only gotten a few steps, when there was a click from the door. Dani tensed and readied his knife, pushing me farther behind him. My door swung open and the vampire stepped in, grinning. To my horror, he held up an all too familiar ID card.

"I should thank you for this, Miss Maddox," he said. His tone sent a chill through me. "And of course, your delicious roommate was all too happy to let me in."

He had changed out of the burned and ripped clothes he had been wearing on the deck, but I could still see the burns from Charlie on his face and hands. They were just fresh-looking scars, not the blackened wounds they had been just minutes ago. I couldn't believe how fast he healed; no wonder vampires were hard to kill.

"Jen, vampires have to be invited in," Dani whispered. "This is your room, so you—"

That was as far as he got. The vampire moved in the blink of an eye. He crossed the room in a split second, grabbed Dani, and slammed him up against the wall. He had a firm grip on Dani's wrist, preventing him from using the knife. His other hand was clamped over Dani's mouth, like he hadn't wanted Dani to finish what he had been telling me. I didn't think it mattered; I knew vampires had to be invited in. Laurie had, and obviously, the invitation was still good. For a moment, Dani's eyes were a pale shade of hopeless blue-gray, and I knew that there was no way we could win this. I realized that I was shaking, but I couldn't help it; the vampire could kill us both!

Then, Dani's eyes churned and blackened, and he started to fight back. Mariana had been right when she said that Dani was downplaying his martial arts skills. He grabbed the vampire's arm with his free hand, pulled himself up, and slammed both knees into the vampire's stomach. The vampire gasped in pain, and his grip loosened enough for Dani to wrench his other hand free. He slammed the knife down toward the vampire's chest. The vampire dodged, but Dani was free. He hung on to the vampire's arm and yanked the vampire off balance. Then, he slammed his elbow into the vampire's throat. The vampire gagged, Dani's hand shot out, and I heard a crack. Blood spattered from the vampire's broken nose, and he staggered back.

I couldn't believe it! Maybe we actually had a chance! Dani tried to stab the vampire, again. This time the vampire caught his wrist. For one awful second, they seemed motionless. Then it was over. I didn't even see the vampire move, but I heard a snap. Dani gasped in pain and dropped his knife. The vampire hissed and I felt a chill. Then, he grabbed Dani by the neck with one hand and, even though he was much shorter than Dani, effortlessly lifted him completely off of the ground. Dani kicked desperately at the vampire, but while the blows had to be hurting him, the vampire didn't flinch. Dani's fist slammed into the vampire's broken nose, but still the vampire didn't let go. Instead, he hissed again and tightened his grip. Dani kept fighting, but his breathing had turned into short, choked gasps.

I never felt so helpless in my life. The vampire was going to kill Dani, and there was nothing I could do. No, there was! God, I was such an idiot! I had a wand, didn't I? I knew I couldn't cast a spell strong enough to hurt the vampire, but maybe I could at least distract him.

"Mar!" I cried.

A couple of weak sparks appeared on the vampire's shirt. He looked worried for a moment, but when nothing else happened he laughed and patted them out.

"Not very strong are you, little witch?"

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Useless. I wanted to cry, but didn't want to give the vampire the satisfaction. I watched in terror as Dani's attacks started to slow.

"Let him go!" I screamed. "You can drink my blood, just let him go!"

The vampire turned to look at me, avoiding a weak punch from Dani as he did. "That's tempting," he said. "Then again, I'll drink it either way."

I tried to set him on fire again, instead of his shirt, I aimed for his hair. Maybe it was a better target, or maybe my fear and desperation made my magic stronger, but this time a small flame caught. The vampire jerked in surprise and snarled. He swatted at his hair until the flame went out, but didn't let go of Dani. He glared at me; I hadn't done anything but make him mad. And then, with one last feeble gasp, Dani went limp. The vampire chuckled and smiled at me. But, to my horror, he made no move to loosen his grasp. A stupid, naive part of me had hoped that he was just going to knock Dani out to get him out of the way, drink my blood, and then go. We'd both be hurt, but we'd be okay. I couldn't stop my tears from falling as that hope faded.

"Please, stop," I sobbed. "You'll kill him!"

The vampire laughed. "Lose the wand, and I'll let him go."

What choice did I have? I obediently tossed my wand away. The vampire smiled in satisfaction and started to lower Dani to the floor. Then he paused, and his smile widened.

"You set my hair on fire." Then he turned and slammed Dani's head against the corner of my desk. There was an awful crack and then he let go.

"No!" I screamed, as Dani fell limply to the floor. He didn't move, and it didn't look like he was breathing. Dark blue blood started to pool up by his temple and run down his face.

A split second later, I was on my back on the bed with the vampire on top of me. I smacked and punched frantically, hoping maybe I could hit his broken nose or something. He only laughed and pinned my arms down.

"Settle down," he whispered. "This can hurt, or I can make it painless. Your choice."

I didn't believe it would be painless, but I stopped struggling. He licked his lips and bared his fangs, before lowering his head to my neck. I closed my eyes and shook in fear as he brushed his nose against my throat, taunting me. How much would it hurt? Would he kill me? I was so afraid and helpless, I could hardly breathe. The fight on the deck had been frightening, but Thomas, TS, Charlie, and Dani had all been there, helping each other. There was nobody to help me now. Charlie was still unconscious, TS and Thomas had no idea what was happening. And Dani... My tears fell harder.

The only other person I had cared about whose death I could remember was my father. His death had been upsetting, but it was different. It was an accident, and I hadn't been there. Dani had been killed, slowly, right in front of me, while I was helpless to stop it. Now I was probably going to die, maybe painfully. And what after he killed me? I couldn't imagine the vampire leaving the others alone. God, Charlie. He'd lose it, when he found out about Dani. Wait, what if he wasn't unconscious? What if he was recovering? In one last desperate attempt, I screamed. I knew it wouldn't matter; the walls were so thick the people right next to us probably couldn't hear me. The vampire's hand clamped over my mouth in an instant. His grip was so tight it hurt.

"Not in my ear," he snarled. His fangs grazed painfully across my neck. "I don't get witch blood often, and I want to enjoy this in peace. But one more sound, and it will hurt."

He removed his hand, and I stayed quiet, but my thoughts were racing. His hand over my mouth had reminded me of when he had first grabbed Dani. I was pretty sure he hadn't wanted Dani to finish what he had been saying to me, but why? Dani knew that I had already been told the invitation thing, why tell me again? It didn't matter once the vampire was already invited, right? Oh my god. What if vampires could be uninvited? That's what he had been trying to say! He'd specifically said that it was my room. He couldn't uninvite the vampire, but I could.

"Get out!" I gasped. If this didn't work...

The vampire pulled back and looked at me, eyes wide. He was shaking!

I gathered my confidence and yelled. "Get out of my room!"

He groaned like he was in pain and jumped off of my bed. He staggered away, closer to the door. I sat up, half-afraid he was just pretending.

"Get out and don't come back! I don't want you in my room!"