Richards was restrained with magical chains right by the fountain of the Circus. Despite the vampire’s greater immunity to magic, these chains were forged by some of the most powerful spells found at the very edge of the universe itself.

The Circus Master meanwhile was preparing a truth spell that would force Richards to talk, but it would take a few minutes. The others sat impatiently by Richards who had already awoken from Denika's spell.

"What are you going to do to me you freaks." He asked.

"Kill you eventually, but right now the boss is just whipping something up to make you talk." Carlene said bluntly.

"It doesn't matter if you kill me, there are more like me waiting in the wings." Richards replied.

"Yeah we know darling, that's why we want you to talk so we can kill them too." Carlene replied.

Keptis meanwhile looked somewhat worried.

"We should have heard back from Florence by now. I wouldn't have thought it would have taken that long to take down a child vampire." The martian said anxiously.

"You didn't see what the little bugger was capable of," Carlene replied. "I have a new digestive system because of him."

"Well" The Circus Master interrupted. "In a few minutes we'll know just how many of those things are loose in London."

Richards tried to struggle to break free again, but it was no use. He then started laughing.

"What's so funny, or is it a side effect of the magic? That can happen sometimes." Denika said.

"Just that you lot combined had trouble bringing me in. I shudder to think how you'll cope with the others." Richard taunted.

On the other side of London meanwhile, Florence had continued to track the demon to a more remote area. Much like Carlene, Florence had an advanced sense of smell, which allowed her to pick up the demon child's scent. She also carried a large bag containing various vampire repellents with her.

The trail ended at a nearby hospital. The Siren had been there frequently as a little girl and had the most unpleasant memories of a particular Doctor named Malstrom, a famous quack who had a pathological hatred of women. According to some rumours he had murdered his mother and father, both of whom he allegedly poisoned. His first wife also died under mysterious circumstances too, but it would be for the murder of several of his patients that he was finally arrested and hanged.

Florence broke down the two rotten front doors of the hospital. Oh how she wished she had just let Carlene follow the boy now. This would be a very unpleasant trip down memory lane.

The hospital had been abandoned not long after the scandal about Malstrom. Very few people ever went there again, and eventually it shut down. It hadn't been demolished, but rather was simply left to rot right in this run down area of the city.

The whole place stunk of urine and vomit that had been allowed to congeal over the years, as well as rats that ran everywhere along the mouldy floors.

Even with the repulsive odors, Florence could still pick up the vampire’s scent. He was clearly trying to conceal himself among these horrible smells. As she made her way to the upper levels however, Florence was suddenly able to make out more strange, distinct smells. The scent of more vampires. There were clearly dozens more in the hospital, maybe even another Alpha. The little boy had actually led her into a trap. Florence slowly backed away towards the staircase she had just come up, hopeful that the vampires weren't aware she was there yet.

Unfortunately however a figure suddenly came emerging from the door closest to the stairs. As it wandered out of the darkness it revealed a hideous, bright green, slimy face. The monster had no hair, whilst its skin looked rotting and pungent. Its nails were long, almost as long as the Circus Masters unsheathed, whilst its eyes were completely round and red with a black iris. The creature also had a forked tongue that slithered out of its mouth full of razor sharp teeth.

The monster attacked Florence, but before she could fight back the young urchin vampire that she had chased in the first place managed to sneak up on the Siren while she was distracted and grabbed her by the back leg. When Florence turned around to try and push the vampire child off, the larger slimy vampire grabbed Florence in a bear hug from behind. Its slimy skin was burning to the touch, and the slime actually ate through her clothes and flesh! The monster then dragged Florence backwards into a room filled with corpses of its previous victims before throwing her to the floor.

Florence landed right in front of the body of an old man, most of whom's skin had been ripped off along with both of his arms. His guts had also been torn out and were smeared all over the nearby wall. Rats had already begun to feast on his mangled innards.

The green vampire, roaring and hissing, grabbed onto Florence's feet and pulled her back towards it. The siren however managed to pry herself out of the beast’s grasp, and kicked the monster several times in the chest and face, sending it backwards.

As she got up to stand her ground, she heard more roars and hisses from vampires coming down the halls. There seemed to be dozens of them from the sounds of things. In fact almost every room in this hallway was filled with at least one vampire. "I shouldn't have gone on ahead alone" Florence said to herself, as she desperately tried to think of a way out.

When the vampires came in, they started firing globs of slime from their hands at her, which ate through the walls and floor of the hospital. Florence dodged their attacks, though one bit of acid splashed on her arm. It was only a tiny bit, but it still melted right through to her bone before it quickly healed.

Florence was able to trick the vampires into using their acid to burn a hole in the floor which she then escaped through.

Below she fell onto the corpse of a young woman lying on an old bed. The woman was not one of the vampire’s victims. She appeared to have been dead for a few years, and had died quite peacefully in her sleep. Sadly however it seems she had just been forgotten about when the hospital shut down. One of the vampires soon fired more acid at Florence from above, though once again she was able to dodge it, with the acid eating through the dead woman's face and the bed.

Florence then opened her bag and threw a bottle of holy water at the vampire. It did nothing. Next she lifted out a stake and managed to ram it through the first vampire that descended from the ceiling’s heart. It killed the beast instantly. Unfortunately however the stake melted inside the vampire, and Florence only had another two stakes in her bag.

"Oh dear this isn't going well is it?" She said to herself in panic. Another one of the vampires jumped down from the hole in the roof and blocked the door to the hall in front of her. Avoiding its acid attacks, Florence pulled out a cross which caused the vampire to back down a little at first, until it fired a blotch of acid at her cross, which melted it and burned her hand.

In desperation, Florence next lifted out a bottle of condensed magical flames. These weapons were created by Denika, though they were somewhat unpredictable. Denika had meant to try and find a way to perfect it, but she had never managed to get around to it, not just because the circus folk were constantly on the run, but because Denika often took on far too many projects at once. These prototypes were among the only bottles she had created.

Florence fled to the other end of the room and before the vampire could follow her, the Siren emptied the bottle of fire onto the beast causing it to go up instantly. The other vampires above backed off a little bit, allowing Florence to flee the room, running past the burning vampire as the flames consumed him completely.

In the filth ridden hall, Florence saw a window at the other end which led outside. She would have to jump about four stories out of the window to reach the ground, but that would be no problem for her vampiric constitution. Once she had escaped through the window, Florence intended to use her six remaining flame bottles to burn the hospital to the ground from outside. The Siren could tell that there were no remaining humans in the area. Even with the pungent odors of vomit, urine, rats, blood and the vampires themselves, she would still be able to pick up their scent if there were any people.

As Florence prepared to leave, she felt the roof and the walls around her shaking. There was something on the floor above, something a lot larger and more powerful than the vampires chasing her. It was the Alpha, unquestionably. Florence headed to the window, throwing one of her bottles of condensed flames at the door behind her as she ran, which held the vampires back.

After jumping to the ground below. Florence threw three of her remaining bottles at the hospital. She threw two at the upper levels the vampires had been chasing her on, and another at the door below.

The building went up very quickly, and though some of the vampires made their way to the windows, Florence held her cross up, causing them to double back into the flames. Some of the vampires tried to fire acid at her from above, but Florence avoided their attacks even more easily this time, whilst still holding the cross up.

Suddenly just as the vampires seemed beaten, a gigantic figure came crashing through the walls of the building, covered in flames.

The monster must have been about seven feet tall. Its skin was green and slimy just like the other vampires, except it had long tentacles coming from the palms of its hands. Its eyes were also black like a shark.

This was clearly the Alpha, and Florence was now going to have to face it alone.

The alpha reached one tentacle out and wrapped it around Florence's left leg as she tried to evade the other. It pulled her back and started swinging the siren around before throwing her back into the inferno she had created.

Florence however managed to jump out of the flames just in time and tore a large flaming two by four out of the rubble as she fled.

Florence used it to hit the Alpha several times in the face, but the superior vampire batted it away. As Florence continued to evade the monster’s strikes, she noticed a sense of familiarity in its face.

She didn't have time to figure it out now however. In between the beast’s strikes, Florence made a dive for her bag of weapons, but as she tried to grab it, one of the vampires that had managed to escape the hospital surprised her from behind. It held her in place for its "father", but Florence was able to swing around with the vampire still holding onto her, causing the Alpha to strike its underling instead. Florence then rammed the lesser vampire into the Alpha, knocking them both back before she dived for the weapons bag.

Florence threw the bottle at the Alpha who, not knowing what it was, managed to knock it out of reach, but it still broke when it hit the ground, which unleashed the flames on the Alpha anyway.

As the Alpha struggled in the flames, another lesser vampire managed to escape the inferno and started to attack Florence. This creature struck Florence's weapons bag with an acid attack, but Florence pulled a stake and a silver blade out of her bag before it all melted, and then threw the stake straight into one of the lesser vampire’s hearts.

Evading the last vampire minions’ acid attacks, Florence then sliced its arm off with her blade. Sadly however even the blade still melted from the monster’s acidic slime, but Florence, thinking quickly, picked up the flaming two by four from the wreckage of the hospital and drove it through the vampire’s heart when it tried to attack her.

The Alpha meanwhile, unable to put the flames out collapsed onto the floor in pain.

It still wasn't completely dead however, but Florence, using what was left of the two by four prepared to stake the vampire through the heart.

Just as Florence was about to strike the killing blow, she was struck from behind by one of the vampires. It was ironically the urchin that Florence had chased to the hospital in the first place. The child demon hit Florence with a led pipe, hard enough to knock her to the floor, and when she tried to get up, the Alpha, seizing its chance, jumped up and struck her in the face, knocking Florence out cold.

The Alpha then put the flames around itself out.

"You're going to pay for this bitch" the Alpha said as its charred flesh started to repair itself.

Meanwhile back at the Circus, the magic had begun to affect Richards. Despite his best attempts to fight them, they were simply too strong.

"Curse you! I swear, I will make you all pay for this." He shouted.

"I thought you were confident your master could tear us apart? Anyway can you please tell us who created you and where are they?" The Circus Master said in an annoyingly smug tone. Even Denika found it hard to take.

Richards spat a horrible yellow slime in the Circus Masters face before continuing. "I was made by Marcozia Agner in the small seaside town of Lourouse. That's where he is creating all of us. The town was abandoned 100 years ago. We have children all over this country however. You can't stop us now."

"Marcozia Agner?" Carlene replied in shock. "I know who that is. He must be lying."

"I assure you he is not." The Circus Master said.

"Marcozia is a vampire hunter. He is one of the greatest I've ever met. He's a total prick mind you. Tried to stake me several times. Even after I saved his life one time. Still I find it hard to believe that he would ever allow himself to be turned. Even if he became one, he'd definitely stake himself." Carlene said.

Richards smiled "You have no idea. He is our leader, our commander. He has united the vampires like none before him."

"How the hell do you know you've only been a vampire for a day?" Denika replied.

"Well that's what he told me." Richards said sheepishly.

Carlene still couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"This is not good. A vampire hunter that has turned over to their side. He knows all of their weaknesses and how to overcome them." Denika continued.

"Well I know Marcozia" Carlene replied "and if there's one thing" suddenly a noise from outside interrupted Carlene.

It was a young boy’s voice shouting on the Circus Master to come out. Carlene recognised it as the young urchin vampire.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"That little prick. I thought Florence would have got him by now". Carlene said.

"She hasn't and that's very worrying" the Circus Master said. "Stay in here. This could be a trap, and no use in all of us walking into it."

"What do you want? demon child," the Circus Master said with disdain after he left the Tent.

"It’s simple. We have your little siren friend. If you want to see her ever again in one piece, you'll face us unarmed in the village of Lourouse. If you can beat us without any tricks or weapons, then we'll let you go." The boy repeated whilst barely able to contain his laughter.

"It’s a fair fight. We knew you wouldn't just surrender. This way are giving you a fair chance. No weapons on either side" the demon said mockingly.

"Yeah real fair, five of us against what? Hundreds of you monsters?" The Circus Master replied.

"Well your blue friend tried to kill me and I'm just a poor little orphan boy, that's not exactly fair. You have one hour to agree to our terms. If not we'll start to send you bits and pieces of the siren. Oh and tell the creepy lady to ditch that beehive as well. Not just because it looks stupid, but we know what it actually is."

The demon child then jumped through the air and back into the darkness.

"It seems we have no choice." Keptis said with regret.

"What are you saying?" Denika asked.

"If we don't stop those vampires then they will spread across all of London. There could be millions of them, new breeds, with unknown weaknesses and strengths. In a couple of decades they could take this world. We have to destroy them now and make sure the book stays buried." She continued

"If we go into that village all geared up, they'll kill Florence in a second." Keptis protested.

"So you want us to go in there unarmed? Do you really think those things will keep their word, even if we somehow managed to overcome them? Florence is dead either way." Denika argued.

"God I knew you could be a cold bitch, but I didn't think you'd be this callous after all we've been through!" Keptis snapped.

"Do you want this world to end up like your own? You of all people know how quickly vampires can spread." Denika said back.

The argument started to get more heated at the mention of Mars. Carlene tried to break it up, but the Martian and the Witch both ignored her. The Circus Master meanwhile ignored the petty squabbling as he tried to wrack his brains about what to do.

"I've got it." The vandal shouted. "Carlene, can I see your beehive please."

The others looked at him, completely puzzled.

"My beehive?"

"Yes, we both know it’s not just a wig. It's a weapons chest, bigger on the inside than the outside, am I correct?"

"Well yes, but that little git said we couldn't bring it. They know what it really is too."

"Yes but the magics used to create it. We could perhaps duplicate them to create another tiny space to hide dozens of weapons to sneak into the village. Well when I say we, I mean you Denika."

Carlene lifted her beehive wig off of her head and handed it to Denika. The front of the beehive opened to reveal a massive weapons chest. There must have been well over 100 different knives alone, each designed for a particular breed of vampire or demon.

"Amazing. I've never seen anything like it." Denika said.

"Well I didn't create it. Everyone was wearing a beehive back in the 60s when I died."

Denika gave her a look.

"Well I can't promise anything, but I might be able to create some crude replicas." Denika said as she examined it further.

"You've got 20 minutes," the Circus Master said to Denika.

"We'll need to get back my Mansion darling. I have more advanced models of the eh, beehive. Plus I need to check on the kids." Carlene said to Denika.

The Circus Master meanwhile went back into the "Tent" to deal with Richards.

"We just have one loose end to tie up first" The Circus Master said as he pulled a silver knife out of his coat.

"You have no idea what's waiting for you in that village. We are the future!" Richards protested.

"Trust me I've seen the future and your kind are just a horrible annoyance as always. It's horrible enough in the next few decades without having to deal with millions more of your lot running around." The Circus Master replied as he stabbed the silver knife through Richard's heart.

Meanwhile back at the mansion, Ashlei was starting to become a bit agitated. More than usual.

"I wonder what's taking them so long," she complained.

"I'm sure that vampire lady's got everything under control." Daniel said as he looked through Carlene's book collection. Daniel had actually come from quite an upper class family initially, but his parents lost their wealth when he was just a boy, before abandoning him as a load.

Still in the brief time he enjoyed a luxurious life, Daniel had learned how to read and had developed a real appreciation for the arts. He had always been somewhat condescending to the other urchins he came across however, and here was no different.

"Yes of course she does, that's why there was an angry mob right on our front door." Ashlei replied.

"Well they're away now aren't they?" Daniel said as he flicked through more books.

"I suppose. It's just as well, if something happens to her, or those other circus, eh folk. Then what chance will we or anyone else in this city have of stopping those things." Ashlei said.

"We can't think like that. We just have to hope they really do know what they are doing as much as they claim. Frankly though it’s not the monsters that scare me." Daniel continued.

"What do you mean?" Ashlei asked

"After this is all over, and the streets are 'safe' for us to sleep on again, I can't see the vampire lady keeping us around." Daniel replied.

"You don't think she'll just dump us back on the streets again?" Ashlei, who hadn't even thought about this up until now asked.

"Why not? No one else cares about us. My own parents dumped me when I became a burden. I don't expect a vampire that doesn't even know me to be any better."

"We got on fine before her, and if need be we can do it again." Ashlei said proudly.

"You don't understand. I did have a group of friends. A gang if you will. I was their leader. I was supposed to look out for them, but those monsters. They killed them all. My friends trusted me, but I wasn't fit for it. Now when I go back I'll be alone." Daniel said in a rare moment of self reflection.

Ashlei held Daniel's hand.

"No you won't. Whatever happens you have us now. After what we've all been through, we have to stick together."

"Thank you," Daniel said. "That means a lot to me. Maybe you can cope with anything if you have the right people around you."

"Oh don't get all sappy" Ashlei responded in an uncharacteristic light tone.

"You never know," she continued. "The vampire might surprise us. She already has. I'd have never thought before today that the creepy lady we always swerved to avoid, would end up showing us more concern and kindness than anyone else."

Just then Tom came stumbling into the room from the kitchen, looking terrified.

"Tom, what's wrong, love?" Ashlei asked.

"Brian. He threw me out of the kitchen. I was just getting something to eat, and he screamed at me to get out. He was wild."

Just as he finished Ashlei, Daniel and Tom could hear the sounds of plates smashing.

"You weren't locked up in that sewer." Daniel interrupted. "Trust me. Those monsters, what they did to people. It will stay with him for the rest of his life."

"I'll have a talk with him. All this time I've just been so glad she got Brian out, I haven't thought about what it did to him. He needs me more than ever." Ashlei said.

When Ashlei entered the kitchen, she saw that Brian had made a terrible mess of the place. He had smashed the table in half, broken the chairs, and thrown knives, glasses and plates all around and smashed them.

Brian himself was sitting in a corner, holding a knife and crying. Ashlei ran to him.

"Please, please Brian just put the knife down."

"Ashlei, I have to do it. It's inside me, it's wanting to get out." Brian tried to thrust the knife into his chest, but Ashlei grabbed his arm. She had to use both of her arms to stop him. Brian's strength had seemingly increased dramatically.

Brian however with just a shove, sent Ashlei flying to the other end of the room.

Daniel came bursting in having been alerted by the sound and he helped Ashlei up. Unfortunately however Brian thrust the knife into his chest. Ashlei screamed out in anguish and looked away in horror, but little did she know the worst was to come.

The knife didn't kill Brian. Instead he started to spray a yellow, thick slime from his mouth as his body shook violently before starting to swell. His skin started to turn grey, whilst his hair fell out in large clumps.

The vampires that had captured Brian in the sewer had infected him. Daniel had suspected it for a while. The reason he and Brian had been kept separately from the other prisoners in the vampire’s sewers was because the monsters were clearly planning on turning them. They hadn't shared this information with either of course, and when Daniel saw the vampire infecting Brian (just before Carlene had rescued them) he had assumed it was just torturing him. However, given how strange Brian had been acting, he had his suspicions, but he didn't want to believe it. He had also hoped that Carlene would have been able to sense it if anything was wrong. Quite why the vampires had selected Daniel and Brian to turn he had no idea, though he didn't want to put too much thought into it. Ironically it may have been because Brian had been abandoned. Vampires often liked to turn those with more anger and bitterness into members of their own kind.

"We need to go now. That's not your brother any more. He's one of them." Daniel said.

"No, no, we can help him, we just have to wait for Carlene to come back." Ashlei protested.

"There's nothing she can do. We have to lock him in here." Daniel insisted

Brian pulled the knife out of his chest. It was dripping in yellow slime. By this stage he had morphed completely into one of the vampires Carlene had faced in the sewers.

"Let’s play a game of tag!" Brian laughed, as slime sprayed from his mouth, before he burst into a fit of heinous cackling.

Daniel pulled Ashlei, who cried and begged Brian to fight the demon's influence out of the room, and slammed the doors shut.

"What's wrong?" Tom shouted as he jumped up.

Daniel paused for a minute, whilst Ashlei sobbed.

"I'm so sorry Tom, your brother." Before he could finish, the doors to the kitchen suddenly came crashing down. Brian emerged, still holding the knife and roaring.

"This is all your fault. Both of you. You always treated me as a burden, another mouth to feed. You both left me to get eaten by those things and you were angry when that bitch saved me."

"Brian please, you know that's not true. We love you" Ashlei said through sobs as she clutched onto Daniel.

Brian simply ignored his sister however and went for Tom first. Daniel tried to stop him, but Brian stabbed his knife right through Daniel's arm, causing him to faint from the shock.

Ashlei was forced to leave Daniel as she went to help Tom, but her vampiric brother got to him first.

Brian easily overpowered his brother and held the knife at his throat.

"Please Brian, don't do this. Just put the knife down. I promise we'll do everything we can to help you, just please, put the knife down." Ashlei pleaded.

"Okay fine" Brian said as he dropped his knife.

Both Ashlei and Tom paused for a minute as Brian simply stood beside his brother, grinning, and revealing his new, hideous, fangs. As Tom reached out for Ashlei, Brian suddenly rammed his hand through Tom's back, pushing it out through his chest. The vampire held Tom's heart in its hand that stuck out through the other end.

"I said I wouldn't stab him." The demon cackled.

Ashlei collapsed into a heap on the floor, hoping any minute she'd wake up from this nightmare.

Brian started to lick his brother’s heart, as Tom's lifeless body collapsed in front of him. Ashlei looked up to see the twisted demonic caricature of her little brother gnawing on Tom's heart. She knew both her brothers were gone now and she wanted to make the demon that had taken them both pay

"Where are my manners sis." Brian said as he threw his brother’s heart in Ashlei's face. "We're always supposed to share aren't we?"

Brian went for Ashlei next who stumbled back onto the dining table. She picked up a plate and smashed it over the vampire’s head to no effect. Brian then pinned Ashlei to the table.

"You left me to become this. I hate you!" the monster slobbered as it prepared to sink its fangs into its sisters neck.

In desperation Ashlei grabbed a fork from the table and stabbed it into her brother’s eye as he went for her neck. Brian doubled back in pain and whilst he was distracted Ashlei then picked up a chair and smashed it over his head knocking him to the floor.

Ashlei ran to Daniel to try and wake him up, but Brian reached out and grabbed her by the hair. He pulled hard, but Ashlei managed to tear herself out of the demon's grasp, losing a lot of her hair and some skin in the process.

Sadly once again Ashlei was forced to leave Daniel as the vampire got between her and her unconscious new friend’s body. Fortunately for Daniel the blood sucker seemed to be more focused on its sister now.

She headed up the main staircase with her brother in hot pursuit. At the top the bloodsucker cornered Ashlei against a wall, but thinking fast she grabbed a vase from a nearby table and smashed it over her demon brothers head, which deterred him for only a few seconds that she used to escape.

"Come on, I just want to see what your insides taste like!" Brian said with a perverse glee.

Ashlei ran to the nearest door and slammed it shut behind her, but Brian effortlessly started to smash his arm through the door. In desperation Ashlei pulled a nearby cupboard in front of the door, but the vampire started to smash down the cupboard too. Ashlei searched the room for anything she could find. There had to be something in Carlene's house to fight off this monster.

She soon spotted a chest by Carlene's bed. It was a weapons cabinet. Only problem was Ashlei didn't know how to use any of the weapons, or even if any of them were effective. She picked up a bottle of holy water and started to splash it on Brian just as he was about to enter the room.

Brian's body caught fire and he quickly retreated. Ashlei waited for a few seconds more before she made it to the door. She looked around only to see no sign of the vampire, except for a few yellow bits of slime.

"Did he melt?" Ashlei thought to herself. She looked down the other end of the hall however, where she saw the slime led to a smashed window on the other side.

"He can't get out into the streets. I have to stop him." Ashlei thought. Even though he was a monster, she still felt he was her responsibility.

Ashlei picked up another bottle of holy water as well as a cross from the chest and went towards the window. It led to a balcony outside. Hopefully Brian was still there and she could finish him. When Ashlei crawled through the broken window and onto the balcony, she found her brother curled up in the corner, his skin steaming and covered in burns, whimpering in pain.

She slowly unscrewed the bottle of holy water, but Brian noticed her, just as she was about to throw the holy water on her twisted brother. The monster knocked it out of her hand, but Ashlei however still used her cross at the vampire, and though it appeared to have an effect on the monster, it wasn't enough to deter him.

As the fiend cornered her against a nearby way, he was suddenly distracted by the sound of Carlene's voice below.

"Ashlei, Brian please answer me." Carlene called out.

Ashlei screamed for help and Brian knowing that he wouldn't stand a chance against the more experienced vampire killer, jumped off the edge of the balcony and through the streets below, vanishing down a dark alley.

Carlene had arrived at the mansion with Denika, who was busy trying to help Daniel, whilst Carlene searched the mansion. Ashlei came running down the steps and collapsed into Carlene's arms. She was crying so hard she couldn't even tell Carlene what happened.

Daniel suddenly awoke screaming in pain. Denika pulled the knife out of his arm and prepared to heal his wound, but she couldn't.

"My magic's not working. He's been infected." Denika said. "The monster’s blood was on the blade he was stabbed with. Mixing blood must be how they reproduce."

"Oh god please no" Daniel whimpered. "Kill me now, I don't want to end up like Brian."

Carlene headed upstairs to her weapons chest. She pulled out a machete and a make shift flaming torch she had made from a piece of wood and her lighter. Carlene then sliced off Daniel's arm and used the torch to cauterize the wound. Daniel screamed and passed out a second time, but Carlene didn't waver. She burnt the wound until the flesh was completely black and crispy.

"I might have got it in time. In 12 hours if you can't heal him then." Carlene said unable to finish.

Carlene went back to comfort Ashlei, who was now a completely broken woman.

"I'm so sorry Ashlei, I." There was nothing Carlene could say. She felt completely responsible for what happened. She had left them without even realising that Brian had been infected by the monsters.

Ashlei couldn't bring herself to feel any kind of anger to Carlene or anyone else however. All she could feel was just despair.

"Brian, he, he killed Tom. He's a monster" Ashlei said through tears. "Now he's out there, as one of those things. I tried to stop him, I tried, but I."

"I promise you Ashlei, I may have let you down, but I'll make sure your brother isn't left in that state. I promise." Carlene said as she hugged the poor girl.

Meanwhile in Lourose.

"They seemed to agree to our terms master." The urchin said to Marcozia.

"They'll try and trick us of course. I don't blame them. I'd do the same thing. Even if I were still a human. I know how Carlene thinks though. Poor sad creature. Fighting for people who would kill her. Still even if they destroyed this village it doesn't matter. Enough of my children have made their way into London now. The way this society is going, people will be only too eager to become one of us."

To Be Continued