As Paul saw the other vampire fall to the ground he looked in the car and saw another vampire.  But this vamp was heavily bruised and appeared to be in a lot of pain.  It looked as if every bone in his body was broken.  Paul thought about this and grabbed the man and a moan escaped his lips.  Paul hauled him out and draped him over his shoulder.  Ignoring the man's pain he sprinted back to Clara who was surpirisingly still waiting in the car. 

"I found myself some vamp.  Quick let's get him back to the conclave.  He should be healed up soon.  DO we still have those UV spotlights back there?"

Daphne washed her hand under the cool water and examined the wound. It was already healing. Daphne then checked her leg and saw that the wound was almost healed.  She decided to check on Nick before she took a shower. She found him awake and nursing his head. “How are you feeling?” she asked.

“I think a bus ran over me and backed up a few times.” Nick told.

Daphne chuckled, “No quite but I you were certainly in a bad way.”

“So what did you find out from the half-wolf?” Nick asked as he’d been unable to hear their conversation clearly.

“Not a lot,” Daphne answered then remembered that she forgot to ask him if he’d gotten the results on Tiffany’s body. “Why don’t you have a sleep? I’m going to have a shower then we can head back to the conclave.”

Nick gave a nod, “Okay but wouldn’t we be safer staying put for now? The half-wolf knows are scent and could follow us home.”

Daphne realised that Nick had a point. “Okay we can stay here.”

-

Loxley came out gun blazing and started taking shots at the vampires in the car. The others were already attacking it but Loxley didn’t want to miss out on the action. She shot one of the gunners in the head and heard a satisfying scream from one of the others. It wouldn’t kill the vampire but it’d sure hurt.

Loxley was about to shoot another when Zan decided that the car need a little charcoal finishing. Loxley got out of the way and decided it was best if he get out of the direct line of sight for the slayers. They may have been intent on killing vampires but there was nothing to say they wouldn’t take pot shots at a werewolf.

Loxley made his way back and decided to check on Daphne and Nick. As he returned to their last hiding place he found they were gone. He followed the trail and found the room they’d sheltered in. Loxley’s ire rose as he smelt Daphne’s blood. He also smelt the Halfling’s scent in the room. Loxley decided to follow the trail.

-

Clara looked to Paul, “Is it a good idea to take this piece of filth back to the conclave? If he escaped he could lead the others to our home.”

Paul scratched his head. “I suppose there’s that possibility.” Before he could say much more Joo-Eun was firing at them. Her body was bloody but she was still determined to cover her partner in crime.

((Amended as pointed out by Valthonin))

"If you can keep your head down and try not to get shot again." John said. "Wait here for a second." He ran over to his car, and opend the passenger side door. He ran back got Audrey and got her to the car. Hee got in started the car, and drove past a car with a very angry werewolf on it. He took a series of random turns, getting to a safer area. "Where to?" He asked.

((I guess so))

Daphne had just stepped out of the bathroom when Loxley showed up. She only wore a robe as she opened the door for him. She didn’t miss the look he gave her.

“Are you okay?” he asked looking around her small apartment.

“Yeah, just cleaning my wounds,” Daphne told.

“Wounds? I thought you’d only been hit once.” Loxley said as he looked at her with concern.

“I got hit in the hand, it’s almost healed.” She said as she showed him her right hand.

Loxley took her hand in his to examine it. He lifted her knuckles to his lips and gave her a gentle kiss. Daphne immediately pulled her hand from his grasp and hissed as it hurt.

Nick opened the door to his room and leant on the doorframe. “Did you get them Loxley?”

“They got backup, I left it to the slayers, Crispin and Zan. They were having lots of fun.” Loxley replied, “We should get you back to the conclave,” Loxley said as he looked at Daphne.

She shook her head, “It’s not safe, we could be traced back. We should stay here.”

Loxley didn’t look happy, “I say we finish off those vampires and go home.”

Paul looked down ashamed.  Not only had he let the vampires escape but he lost Clara's car.  He hung his head in shame.  Clara noticed this and slipped her hand into his.  He blushed.  He watched Zan toast a car full a vampires to a crsip within a span of 5 seconds.  THat looked like all of the vampires in the area.  For now.  But he still felt exremely stupid for what he had done. 

"I'm sorry.  I was stupid.  I wasn't really thinking."

"It's okay Paul. Forget about out it."

Paul averted his eyes and made his way to Crispin and the others who were approaching a new were he did not recognize the scent of.

Daphne glared at Loxley, “Both Nick and I have already been shot. We’d prefer to heal. Besides how did you manage to avoid getting shot?”

“The slayers ran interference and had most of the fun,” Loxley said grudgingly.

“I’m going to have a sleep, and then I’ll consider kicking some vampire butt.” Nick told going back into the spare room and closing the door.

That left Daphne and Loxley alone in the living area. “I'm going to get dressed,” Daphne said keen to get away from Loxley while she was minimally dressed.

“Wait,” Loxley said taking a step forward. She stopped and looked over her shoulder. “I’m sorry about the way I’ve been behaving. I know I’ve been rather over the top. I-I think it’s probably due to the Luna Eclipse. Also it’s because Thomas asked me to protect you if anything happened to him.”

Daphne froze at the mention of Thomas. Daphne had been deeply in love with him, as he had been with her. But Thomas had been killed 8 months ago when he’d been looking for his sister, Tina, who had gone missing. Thomas had been the first body found mummified and with blood red eyes. Daphne shuddered as she remembered. Thomas’ beautiful blue eyes had been replaced with ones from a horror movie.

Thomas and Loxley had been good friends. Even then Daphne had known that Loxley had been envious of his friend’s relationship with her.  “When did Thomas ask you that?” she found herself saying.

“I tried to go with him when he went to look for Tina but he was determined to go alone. He told me he wanted me to stay behind in case something happened to him and that he wanted me to look after you if he didn’t come back.” Loxley told as he reached into his pocket and retrieved a jewellery box, “He told me to hold onto this for him. He was going to give it to you when he came back.”

Daphne took the jewellery box and opened it. She bit her knuckle to stop from crying, it was an engagement ring. She lifted it out of the box to examine it, inside was inscribed To Daphne, Love Thomas.

Loxley took a step forward, “I should have given it to you sooner, but I had been waiting for the right moment.”

Daphne sat down on the lounge with the ring in her hand staring at it in shock. Loxley sat beside her watching her intently. He lifted his hand to brush a tear from her cheek with his finger. She turned to look at Loxley, “Why did he have to go?”

Loxley didn’t know what to say, “No one could stop him, not even me.” Loxley said as he recalled actually punching Thomas in an effort to knock some sense in him. They all knew that Tina was dead, a slayer by the name of John who was said to be a vampire human hybrid had gloated about taking her out.

Daphne felt her lip quiver but she’d already cried many tears over Thomas, she didn’t want to cry anymore. Loxley touched her shoulder and watched her. “Thank you Loxley,” she said quietly, “it gives me something to remember him by.” She stood up and left Loxley on the lounge while she went to get dressed.

Loxley sat on his own knowing he’d done the right thing but he didn’t feel any better for it. He knocked on Nick’s door and opened it, “You sure you don’t want to go hunting?”

Griggs slowed down just enough for Fort to jump in the truck, then floored it again.

"I ran out of bulllets..." Griggs replied calmly. "...so I improvised."

"Damnit, that's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"I meant where in the Hell did all of those vamps come out of....but too late now. Looks like that little dragon there fried them to a crisp." Fort replied

"Yea now the remaining werewolves are talking with the big black werewolf. From what I've seen, I dont think he's a part of their coven."

"No, I didn't think so either. Lets stay here and watch what happens, at the moment I cant let Crispin die. So if the other black wolf does something drastic then so will we." Fort said as he crossed his arms and put his feet on the dash board.

Daphne got dressed in a pair of jeans, a black button up blouse and a pair of ankle length leather boots. She walked to the dresser and picked up the small jewellery box. She took out a gold necklace. She threaded the engagement ring onto it and placed the necklace around her neck. It didn’t seem appropriate to wear the engagement ring as on her finger, Thomas had never actually given it to her and he was no longer alive to do so.

As Daphne walked out of the bedroom she noticed that Loxley was gone. She knocked on Nick’s door before opening it and found that he was also gone. It didn’t take a genius to figure out where they were going. Daphne grabbed her keys, a shotgun and some ammo before leaving the unit.

After a brisk walk Daphne arrived back at the Murk Motel. She spotted Zan and waved to him, she’d always liked the dragon. As she continued on she spotted members of her conclave surrounding an unknown wolf. For a moment she wondered if Nathaniel had transformed but then decided it was unlikely as he had seemed reluctant to let the animal side of himself loose.

Daphne cocked the shotgun as she walked. She scanned her surroundings and noticed Nathaniel and the other slayer in a truck watching the other werewolves. She decided not to wave.

Loxley and Nick were with Crispin, Clara and Paul. Crispin was trying to have a conversation with the unknown wolf but Daphne was pretty certain that this wolf was not friendly.

As Daphne began to approach the others a familiar scent touched her nose. At first she thought it was Nathaniel then she realised it was Anita. She was here somewhere. Daphne discretely lifted her nose and trace the direction. She spotted Anita in the park opposite, the other she-wolf locked eyes with her and ran. Daphne immediate darted after her. She threw the shotgun to Nick, “Hold that for me, would ya?” she said as she raced after Anita.

Daphne ducked and weaved through the park as she chased Anita. Thankfully Anita didn’t change to wolf form. Daphne chased her for three blocks before she caught up. She latched onto Anita’s hair and brought her to a halt. Anita turned and hit Daphne in the face. Daphne managed to move slightly and only caught the blow on the chin. She yanked Anita’s hair harder which resulted in a high pitched scream. “I just want to talk to you,” Daphne told.

Anita stopped struggling, “Let go of me.”

In an act of good faith Daphne did let go. Anita quickly straightened her dishevelled hair and glared at her. “Why can’t you leave me alone?”

“Because your son wants to talk to you and he asked me to find you.” Daphne said and watched as Anita’s eyes grew sad.

“He’s better off not knowing me,” Anita said quietly.

“Don’t you think that’s his choice?” Daphne said feeling angry. Why couldn’t Anita talk to her son?

D was bored. He hadn't heard anything from Ashryn, it usually didn't take him this long to find someone. He called in one of his servants.

"Striker, go and find Ashryn, find out what's taking him so long."

"Milord, couldn't you just call him?"

"I've lost my phone, now go."

"Yes, milord."

Ashryn awoke in pain, feeling the burning in his leg just as strong as when he'd first been shot.
<Holy water...> he hissed in pain as he grabbed a discarded knife and pried the bullet from his smoking, festering leg wound. He allowed himself to scream. Soon the burning dulled to allow him enough anger to clear his thoughts.

He rose slowly, and lifted his shattered weapon. The reinforced guitar frame was unsalvagable, but the weapon itself was perfectly intact. <Well done, Slayer. I owe you one.> Ashryn extended his senses to pick up on the scents of the female and the halfling slayer. He still felt a bit slow, maybe the effects of his body purging the traces of holy water from his system.

<Sun will be up soon, must hurry.>

He forced as much of his unnatural ability, honed to peak condition over his two centuries as a vampire. and burst from the motel at top speed, in pursuit of the woman. He picked up her scent quickly, mingled with the slayer's and the smell of rubber and gasoline. <A car, they're on the move and desperate. I smell her fear.>

At top speed, he'd managed to catch up with them quickly enough. They were speeding ahead, and the slayer was turning a corner. Ashryn slowed enough to aim and lifted his weapon and shot at the vehicle's rear tire on the inside of its turn. He was rewarded with a satisfying explosion of rubber and metal sparks as the car veered into its turn, tipping wildly as it threatened to flip on its side. Ashryn decided to take no chances and shot through the driver's side. <The bullets may only be silver, meant for werewolves, but that should keep him busy.> He sped for the passenger side at full vampire speed and tore through its rooftop, grabbing the vampire female. <Not much time...must hurry.>

He and his prey were gone from the scene, leaving the slayer in the side-flipped vehicle...