I woke to burning pain. My skin felt on fire, and when I tried to open my eyes, a stabbing pain forced them shut. It exploded into my skull.I kept my eyes closed, and instead used my hands to feel around. I was lying on top of something. It felt soft, yet firm. Uneven. It couldn’t be a mattress. I ran her fingers along it. It felt like plastic.I opened my eyes, more slowly this time, and peeked down at my hands. Plastic. Black plastic. And that smell. What was it? I turned my head just a little, opened my eyes a little more, and then I realized. I was sprawled out, on my back, on a pile of garbage bags. I craned my neck. I was inside a dumpster.I sat up with a start. The pain exploded, my neck and head splitting with pain. The stench was unbearable. I looked around, eyes open now, and was horrified. How the hell had I wound up here?I rubbed my forehead, trying to piece together the events that got me here. I drew a blank. I tried to remember last night. I used all my force of w

The three wheeled and stared at the cops.They then, slowly, walked towards them, completely unafraid.“I said FREEZE!”The leader kept walking, and the cop fired. The noise was deafening.But, amazingly, the leader didn’t even stop. He smiled even wider, simply reached out his hand, and caught the bullet in midair. I was shocked to see that he stopped it in mid-air, in his palm. He then held up his hand, slowly made a fist and crushed it. He opened his hand, and the dust slowly poured out onto the floor.The cops, too, stared back in shock, mouths open.The leader grinned even wider, reached out and grabbed the cop’s shotgun. He yanked it from him, wound up and struck the cop across the face. The cop went flying backwards, knocking over several of his men.I had seen enough.Without hesitating, I turned, opened the window and climbed through. I jumped onto the fire escape and raced down the rickety, rusted steps.I ran for all I was worth, twisting and turning. The old fire e

“Forgive these harsh accommodations,” the man said, running his hand along the thick metal chain that held me to the wall. “We’d be more than happy to let you go,” he said, “if only you would answer a few questions.”I looked back, unsure what to say.“I will begin. My name is Kyle. I am Deputy Leader of the Blacktide Coven,” he paused. “Your turn.”“I don’t know what you want from me,” I answered.“To start with, your coven. Who do you belong to? Or shall I say…your pack? Which is it?”I wracked my brain, trying to figure out if I had lost my mind. Was I imagining all of this? I thought I must be stuck in some sort of sick dream. But I felt the very real cold steel on my wrists and ankles, and knew I was not. I had no idea what to tell this man. What was he talking about? Coven? As in…vampire?Pack? As in werewolf?“I don’t belong to anyone,” I said.He stared for a long while, then slowly shook his head. “As you wish. We have dealt with rogues before. It’s always the same

The water covered my entire body, making it hard to breathe, or open my eyes. After about ten seconds, though, after my entire hair and body and clothes were completely drenched, I blinked my eyes. I braced myself for the pain.But it didn’t come.I blinked, then looked up at the cauldron, wondering if it were completely empty. It was. I looked back down at myself, and saw I was drenched. But I was completely fine. Not an ounce of pain.The leader, suddenly realizing, stood in his chair, jaw dropping. He was clearly shocked. Kyle, too, turned and looked, his mouth open. The entire assembly, hundreds of vampires, all stood, and a gasp spread through the room.I could see that this was not the reaction they had been expecting. They were all dumbfounded.Somehow, their water had not affected me. Maybe I wasn’t a vampire after all?I saw my chance.While they all stood there, too shocked to react, something happened.My strength came roaring back.I felt my body stretching again,

I landed on my back in the water, and looked up to see him pouncing again, right for my throat. I rolled out of the way just in time, springing back on my feet. He was fast, but so was I.He fell flat on his face. He got up and spun around and squared off in a rage. He clawed his right hand right for my face. I dodged it, and his hand barely missed me, the wind of it passing right by my cheek. His hand hit the wall with such force that it lodged into the stone.I was mad now. I felt the red-hot rage pulse in my veins. I walked over to the stuck vampire and wound back my leg and planted a strong kick right in his gut. He keeled over.I then grabbed him from behind and threw him right into the wall, face first. His head hit the stone hard. I was proud of myself, figuring I had finished him off.But I was shocked by a sudden pain in my face, and found myself backhanded once again. This vampire had recovered quickly—much more quickly than I had thought possible. Before I knew it, he wa