Tom and the girl had entered the mansion and were firing away at the wolves from a window in the hallway. “We should set up a barricade to keep them out. We’re too vulnerable here.”
Tom nodded in agreement as he took the left door. Ten of the refugees, including two small children were barricading the door, throwing everything against it they could find. “You two shouldn’t be here now. Go upstairs and wait until we’re done.” The children obeyed and ran upstairs. Tom thanked the men for their help and quickly followed his new partner into the main hall from where they had a perfect view on the main door. The wolves tried to break down the door by repeatedly running into it. The refugees managed to hold them outside but didn’t know how much longer they could handle the pressure. Several crack started to appear in it as Tom and the girl found their way to the huge amount of refugees and sleeping bags. They heard a loud noise coming from the hallway. The old and fragile door had given up sooner than they thought. The refugees could make a run for the main room before the wolves had a chance to tear away at them. Tom moved back into the hall and fired away at the wolves that came storming in. One or two managed to break through the rain of hail that came down on them and went for the girl. Two shots and they were dealt with. Alexander stood there, his guns smoking.
“Glad you could make it in time.” Tom said as he shot the last of the werewolves.
“We made it.” The girl shouted in excitement, but a lone wolf leapt up and slashed through her throat, Tom fired a few more shots at the wolf but it was too late. Death had claimed another one of their comrades. The people in the room were relieved to be saved from their assailants, but a bittersweet taste was left by the blood flowing from the girls neck.

Another fight that no one was aware of still went on outside of the mansion. Louie was running for the fountain but arrived but a moment too late. The sniper had fired his gun and the bullet pierced through Louie’s right eye. He fell down to the ground, there was little left of his face. Dry blood and pieces of soft tissue surrounded the hole that had taken away his right eye and a part of his mouth and nose. He did not move and the sniper was pleased. He quickly dismantled his sniper rifle and put it in a backpack which he swung around his shoulder. The rabbit removed her bandana to reveal long flowing dark hair that came to rest on his shoulders. He took a small box of cigarettes from his baggy trousers and put one between his lips. The dark green furred rabbit did not light it as he descended off the stairs quickly, taking large leaps. He walked over to the fountain and stood over the body of the dead vampire. It wasn’t until he made sure that the beast was dead that he lit his cigarette, the dancing flame smoldered the tip and he inhaled deeply. The rabbit closed his eyes to enjoy a good ending to another hard day’s work. Louie opened his left eye and grabbed the rabbit by the ankle.
The rabbit was horrified; the vampire should’ve remained still for at least another hour, which would’ve given him plenty of time to inject him with the lethal dose of nitrate.
He had been wrong and now the vampire was gently crawling up. The sniper reached for the needle that contained the nitrate. It wasn’t too late yet to dispose of him. He just had to move a little faster. The rabbit pushed his cigarette into the gaping hole in Louie’s face. Louie’s rage and anger had gone beyond control, he grabbed the wrist with which the rabbit was holding the needle and snapped it. He then snapped the other one and managed to pull himself up. The hole in his face was slowly regenerating, but came to a stop when his mouth was finished. “This is all I needed.” Louie told himself and he sank his fangs into the rabbit’s neck draining him from all of his blood. With every drop of sweet essence he took another piece of his skin tissue was restored until he had drained him completely. Louie let go off him and the dead rabbits head landed on the cold marble, his eyes turned towards the bright moon above. “You couldn’t resist biting an innocent could you?” He heard, followed by the click of a gun. “It’s not what you think it is Alexander.” He said, truthfully in his defense. “These bullets are filled with a dose of silver nitrate; your dead will be inevitable.”
Alexander fired but Louie quickly dodged the bullet and jumped into the fountain. A trace amount of nitrate landed behind his ear and it stung. Louie had just fed and all of his strengths had restored to its fullest. Alexander ran for the fountain but could not find the vampire anywhere in it. “Come out and fight like a man.” Alexander shouted.
“Listen to me and then decide whether you want to shoot me.” Alexander fired in the direction where the voice had come from, but all he hit was the bark of a young tree.
“He was the sniper that was part of their group, he started to fire away at me and hit me…” He got cut short since Alexander fired another round. “… He walked over to me carrying a needle with a lethal dosage of Nitrate. It was either him or me.” Alexander lowered his gun when he looked the man in the face. “Cooper.”
“You know this man?” Tom had caught up with them and placed his hands on his knees, gasping for air. “He’s with my organization. An aural sniper, enhanced vision and the ability to detect monsters from miles away. He probably could not tell Louie apart from the other monsters and decided that he’d make a good catch, something to brag about around the water cooler.”
“An innocent misunderstanding then?” Tom asked when he noticed Louie stepping out of the shadows. He looked healthy and more alive than during the fight.
“It seems so.” Alexander put his gun away. He should probably apologize, but he was only doing his job and decided that an apology wasn’t necessary.

“It seems like it’s over.” Majo said worried. Had all of them survived?
She was glad Michelle was alright, the young girl who she had so much in common with, except for the fact that she was still alive of course. She felt rather guilty about that. How would it feel to be so young and dead, and knowing that you’d never live the same life again as your outer shell rots away around you, hiding for the ‘normal’ people. She was worried about Tom as well. He had been such a good man to all of them, giving them a place to stay and sharing his food with them.
Alexander was the grumpy one but she was absolutely sure that he wasn’t as cold hearted as he seemed to be. He was fighting on their side while he could’ve headed off long before the werewolves came. He had risked his life for the well-being of the refugees and for them.
And Louie, would he be alright? Would he be pleased to see that she was alright as well or would he walk past her and be this cold and lonely shadow of a man again? She’d soon find out. Tier opened the door and walked out. “They’re all here.” He was more pleased then he thought he thought he would be. Majo ran to Louie and jumped at him holding him tight. A faint hint of a smile could be seen on his face as he put her arms around her too. How bad could it be to show a little affection every now and then he thought as let his defenses down and felt some warmth for the first time in years. Susan cried as she saw Tom enter. “My brave man.” She whispered. “I’m so proud of you. You brought them all back and you returned in one piece.”
Tom knew he had done well. If it was only for the affection Susan showed him. The love and pride she felt from her made him feel this way. And she was his friend, his best friend.
“How is he doing?” Alexander asked while looking at his young pupil.
“He’s a strong guy; he will be alright thanks to Susan good care.” Tier said while looking at Michelle. She seemed to handle things well. Tony opened his eyes to look around the room. “You did well, kid.” Alexander said as he stuffed his pipe. He’d been longing for this thing on the way home and was glad to finally be able to take a hit. The young man put his hand on Tony’s shoulder.
“Thank you.” Tony coughed a little, which seemed to hurt. He closed his eyes again to get some more rest. Serenity like no other filled the room, absolute peace of mind now that something had become very clear to them.

After tonight, every person in this room knew they stood a chance.

“The refugees have invited us to come celebrate our victory with them, I think we should take them up on their offer. We deserve a party. After all, this was only the beginning.” Alexander said. Tom had removed himself from the group and went through a small container that kept several boxes. “Carroleum, Animorpills, ahh.. Absentis.” He took out the small box that contained a flask of transparent liquid.
“We have to attend to the party tonight, Alexander. Would you please be so kind as to empty this bottle in the water tower, east of the mansion? Behind the Greenthorpe family tomb, it will make sure that everyone who drinks from the water will have forgotten the past few hours. Making it seem like the werewolves attack never happened.”
“We will join you guys later.”
Louie seperated himself from the group as well, he wanted to check in on Yakira.
He opened the door to her bedroom to see her sitting up straight in her bed.
Her mortal cover had been ripped open in several pieces. She pressed the sheets against her chest when she heard the door open.
“I was wondering…” Louie paused. How could he think that this innocence could have anything to do with Estella, apart from her being torn up by his enemies claws.
“I’ll be fine.” Yakira said and she stepped out of the bed, wrapping the sheets around her body. “Your voice, you’d look over me. But I haven’t seen you here in a while.”
“I did not break my promise. We took care of the wolves; they had us heavily outnumbered…”
He got cut short again. “Don’t apologize.” I would be dead by now if you people had not taken care of me.” She lost her balance and fell on her bum, onto the bed.
“Are you alright?” Louie asked concerned.
“My skin itches and burns.” She said. “I know, you gave poor Tony quiet a scare.” Louie smiled. For the first time he really smiled and there was no one around that could see it.
He brushed off several patches of Jade Dawn that were still covering her skin and slowly burning it away, preventing it from healing. His hand started to burn the moment it made contact with the chemical. His hands would heal fine by themselves and the pain did not outweigh the fact that she’d be feeling better by the morning.
“Stay in bed a little while longer.” He said softly.

“Welcome to our humble settlement my dear saviors.” One of the child refugees said.
His parents probably made him study that line over and over.
The Diamondians had done their best to make their settlement as cozy as possible and when they entered the main room, Tom noticed that the Diamondians had brought several bottles of booze with them. Carrot ale (one of his favorites), a couple of bottles of Hash’kin wine (Home-brew most likely) and even a bottle of ’82 New Diamondiuan Cider.
“Should we really be sitting with them, drinking their wine, while they have so little left?” Susan asked Tom. “It would be impolite to refuse a drink, we saved their lives and they want to repay us for it. Let there be no worries on your mind tonight and just enjoy the party.
Louie fired up his old gramophone player as Alexander went through his record collection.
“It seems like we do have something in common.” He said as he held up ‘Ode to the Earian bay’ by ‘Jaggin Banks.’
“It used to be a favorite of my mother. I’ve always been fond of the piano in it.” Louie said.