SEVENTY-FOUR | FIREFLIES

I slammed my foot on the brake, hurtling too fast towards the next bend in the road. Time was ticking by, and I needed answers. With every passing second another innocent person could be taken by the darkness. I swung out of the corner and forced the accelerator down, as far as it would go.

I’d shoved my head through the doorway when I’d stopped at home to grab my car. My Dads needed to know what was happening, and I’d wanted to get changed. Veronica’s blood was soaked into my thin jumper, and it coated the sleeves of my jacket. Then I’d remembered the trick I’d used the night my face had been cut, leaving it forever scarred: blood was the best bait there was.

With blood covering my torso, there was no way Cyrus would be able to hide his vampiric nature from me. It would give me a definitive answer, one that even his charm and seduction could not evade.

“What’s going on, Ca