It is with great horror as I watch Zachariah move towards Josiah and Anastasia with a stake in his hands. But that is not what frightens me; what scares the daylight out of me is the direction he is pointing his dagger at. The Vampire Hunter is going for my beloved.

Has the man gone completely insane? Does he truly intend to hurt Anastasia? Well, that shall be the day. I immediately block his path, and in a flash, I have his back against the wall. But now he is pointing the stake at me. I see as the fury consumes Anastasia; if I were this man, then I would not mess with her.

So while Connor and his brother take on Josiah, Anastasia strides her way over to us. This is when the Vampire Hunter realizes that he has just overstepped a boundary, but itis too late. My beloved has been infuriated, and as she turns in her true form again, I can yet not stop myself from thinking how elegant she is. Then she takes him by the throat and slowly starts to rise him off his feet. In an instant, he drops his stake to the floor.

I see the terror creeps up in his eyes, and I have the urge to tell him, 'I told you so.'

But then I watch as my beloved drops him to the floor, and before she walks away, she calls for his attention.

"If you ever hurt Sebastian, then I will kill you."

Then she turns around to see that Connor and Ethan have defeated Josiah. I see the Vampire Hunter rush over to his father, that has one single breath left in him. And with that single breath, he does not choose to speak, but instead, he snarls at him. And if Anastasia's words are not enough, Zachariah realizes what consequences his actions have brought.

And to cement them even more, Anastasia turns to me.

"Let's go home, Sebastian."

With those words said, the Hunter and I come to see that Anastasia has just made her choice. Guess you can't say the best man won; is it more a question of who did not try to kill her today. Even though I should feel joy, my heart is sad for the Hunter, for he was only trying to protect his father. Both Josiah and Anastasia are Ancients; the difference between them is that the one is not a monster. And it is the monster that has died today.

And with that, we leave the Hunter behind next to the body of his dead father. I hope that he will one day come to see that this had to be done. But even if he does come to realize this, his hatred for me and perhaps Anastasia shall always run deep.

So as we walk back to the car, I am burning with curiosity, for I shall not rest until I know what the real answer would have been.

"My beloved, were you always going to choose me, or this makes up your mind?"

"What do you think, Sebastian?"

"I would be a fool if I thought that it would have been me."

"Then you are a fool, for it always was."

"But why?"

"Do you like hearing people tell you that they love you over and over?"

"Well, now that you mention it."

She punches me, and with that, she hooks her arm through mine, and we walk side by side back to the Windchaser's car.

But then two very distinct things happen at almost the exact same time. From behind, we see the Vampire Hunter came charging back towards where we have come to stand. But that is not what alarms us the most; from one alley down, the horrific screams of a woman echoes the street.

I look at the Windchaser brothers that have just joined our side again.

"God, please do not tell me that he had another Vampirewith him."

And then Ethan shocks the horror into me.

"We suspected that he was traveling with a woman, but we were not certain."

"Suspected? Did you not think this was important information that you should have shared with us?"

"We did not wish to alarm yourself unnecessarily."

"Well, I am alarmed, now please do not tell me that it is another family member of him."

I watch as Ethan looks to his brother, and I swear I can see a damn smirk on his face. This truly is a Hunter thing. But as with all these Hunters, every word that comes out their mouths spells trouble. And as Connor opens his, I feel like slapping it closed.

"Have you ever heard of the tale about the Vampire that impregnated a young woman?"

"Yes, but I thought that it was just that, a tale."

"Well, it is true. He entered her room one night; his desire for intimacy was far greater than his one to feed. So nine months later, she had his child."

"So let me guess, they are living happily ever after?"

"Not quite. The Vampire came for her and the child the day the child was born."

"So he took the child?"

"He wanted to, but he only got away with the woman, which he then turned."

"So they are living happily after?"

"No, the husband hunted them down and killed the Vampire."

"So, what does this have to do with Josiah?"

And I swear that smirk even gets wider by the second. I am going to smash the damn thing into his face.

"Josiah is the man that killed the Vampire."

"Of course, the man is a Hunter."

"No, he was the woman's husband."

"Okay, just get to the point; I am starting to get old."

Anastasia chuckles at me while she keeps an eye on what Zachariah intends to do. So much to my frustration, Connor carries on with telling his tale.

"Josiah's wife was the one that was impregnated. He killed the Vampire and let his wife live."

"So what you are telling me is that this woman Vampire might be his wife?"

"Yes, but that is not all."

"Great, there is more to this twisted tale."

And it is so obvious that I could nearly slap myself.

"Our Vampire Hunter is the child. Which..."

"Makes me half human and half Vampire."

We all turn in shock as a somewhat furious Zachariah joins us. Now what I am not certain of, is this the very first time that he has heard this tale, or has he been aware of this the whole time.

"How long have you known?"

"I had the unfortunate privilege to discover it while I was in an intimate encounter."

"Ah, that sounds familiar."

I watch as Anastasia gives me an evil eye from underneath those fluttering eyelashes. Guess that she is not going to allow me to make fun of the Vampire Hunter. And just as his words turn cold, we find him rushing off in the direction of the screams. Well, this is not happening.

"I do not care much for who this Vampire is; they shall both die today. Nobody shall come to make my city as their playground."

With that, we make haste into the direction where the Hunter has set off. And in no time, we find the female Vampire of which I believe is his mother called Annabelle. And as we anticipated, he is standing by her side. And my god, is he standing, our little uselessHunter is an Ancient just as what his father was. And I am referring to his birth father and not that man that is lying dead in the valley behind us.

So once again, our tired bones find ourselves at a battle. Guess joining forces is becoming second nature, and killing our own kind is just becoming as frequent. I can say that since I find myself out in the streets more often, I see that my reign over this city needs to be tightened.

With Ethan and Connor next to me at the left and Anastasia by my right, we slowly take cautious steps forward. I do not wish for this to become a fight between Anastasia and Zachariah, but my heart knows that it is, but it remains if I shall allow it.

It is with this in mind that I turn to a tired and fearful Anastasia.

"My beloved, I know that you are the only one strong enough to fight him, but I beg, please let one of the boys take him."

"Sebastian, I am not going to lie in a hole. He is my friend; he has lied to me for all these years. I can now see why he was so desperate for me to stay with him."

"The man is selfish, and if anything, he is the monster around here."

And then so it starts...

There is one loud thud as the Hunter comes crashing down at our feet. He throws his head back and growls like an animal.

"Leave us alone! We are not hurting anybody."

"Then what are that dead woman in the dumpster? A midnight snack?"

He stomps his feet forward and goes straight for Anastasia. The man has made his mark; he will not back down until she is dead. And as he approaches, she turns again. I can only imagine how painful it must be, but she gives me a smile with that godawful fangs. I can but only give her a nervous one back.

While he is distracted by Anastasia, the boys move around and take Annabelle. Thank the pope; she is not an Ancient also. I watch as she nearly crawls up the wall as she tries to getaway. Then she shouts out for her monster of a son.

"Zachariah help!"

He swerves around to face her, and Anastasia claws his back. He howls as he cries in agony. He lunges forward and scratches the skin off her arm. She only flinches and aims to kick him off her feet. Then she loses her balance, she topples over, and he comes to stand over her as she turns back. Much to my relief, he does so himself, but it does not stop the fact that he wants to kill her. So I keep a close eye on the side; the first wrong step he makes, I shall rip his head off.

For a brief moment, I look at the boys to see if they still have everything under control. Ethan has Annabelle firmly pinned to the ground, but then everything comes apart.

Zachariah has Anastasia pinned against the wall, running his grabby paws over her slender waist. The look in her eyes is pure disgust; she wants to rip his throat off. But just as I want to step forward, I have someone pulling me back. It is not the hunter, and it could not possibly be one of the Windchaser boys.

So as I look to my side, I watch as Ethan is pulled of Annabelle, but it is not by his brother. Connor is being held by what I fear is another Vampire. That makes me to believe that it must be, and as I get his scent, it is another Vampire that is holding me back.

Then it hits me, as I am sure it does the boys, too; this was an ambush; they were waiting for us. The only thing that they did not count on was that we would kill their stupid leader. The question begs, though, did the Hunter play a part in their plan, or did he also walked into it himself?

But that we shall ponder later, what does concern me is what they plan to with us. I know for sure their intention is not to kills us, well, at least not for now. I know what that pesky Hunter's intention is though, if he does not get his paws off her, then I shall rip them off the very first chance I get.

And with that said, I hear a car fast approaching. There is a black van that comes to a stop in front of us. Even a man with the brain capacity of our Hunter knows what is about to happen next. We are being captured.

With that firmly in my head, they start shoving us one by one in the van. I watch my beloved, she might appear that she is strong, but behind those blue eyes, I know she is terrified. I move as close as possible to her in the corner at the back of the van. I take ahold of her hand and squeeze them really hard.

"My beloved, everything will be fine."

And then it goes black...