Two weeks have passed since the demon attack, and things on campus have returned to normal. The seven of us are walking to class when we spot a familiar figure racing toward us. He nearly trips over himself as he slides to a halt, gasping for air.

"Chris....you......need......to........come......with.......me......quickly.”

We look at Adam quizzically. “Catch your breath first, Adam.” I tell him. “What happened?”

Adam slowly regains his breath. “It’s Sofie, she’s been attacked. She’s in the university’s infirmary right now. She’s badly injured.”

“What do you mean she’s badly injured?” Shizumi asks.

Adam firmly grabs my hand and pulls on it. “No time to explain. We gotta go, now!”

We race for the infirmary and head up to Sofie’s room. A police officer is standing guard outside of her door.

“Sorry, kids, I can’t let you inside. This is an active criminal investigation,” the cop says authoritatively.

“The hell you can’t!” Adam says angrily. “That’s my captain in there!”

I put my arm out in front of Adam and shake my head. “Let me take care of this.”

I look squarely into the cop’s eyes and take a deep breath. I listen for his heartbeat. “You will let us pass. And if anyone asks, you had permission from Dean Thompson.” I say hypnotically.

“Sure, go right ahead.” The cop says obediently.

We step into Sofie’s room and see her hooked up to a ventilator. Her once beautiful long pink hair is now caked in blood. Her breathing is labored as the machine that is hooked up to her is barely keeping her alive. Dean Thompson is standing over her battered and bruised body with another police officer. Dean Thompson looks away from the cop and frustratingly scowls at me.

“You’re not supposed to be in here,” she starts to say when I shadow-step right in front of her.

“What the fuck happened here?” I angrily growl.

Dean Thompson sighs deeply, and with a heavy heart, she speaks. “It seems Miss Lacroix was assaulted on her way to breakfast early this morning. An unknown assailant attacked her. She has multiple broken ribs, a broken nose and jaw. One of those broken ribs has punctured her aorta. We don’t know if she’ll even make it. We also found this.” She hands me a blood-soaked piece of paper with the words “Vampire-loving whore” written on it.

I scrunch the paper up in my hand. “I’m gonna find whoever did this and take their fucking head.” I growl.

Dean Thompson grabs my wrist. “Don’t be rash. Let the police handle this.”

I wrestle my arm away from the dean. “Fuck the police! Sofie is my responsibility! Her life is in MY hands! Speaking of which,” I bite a chunk of flesh out of my arm and spit it out. My blood begins to flow freely as I remove Sofie’s face mask and put my bleeding wrist to her mouth.

Dean Thompson looks on in disgust and horror. “What are you doing? That is not safe or sanitary!”

I scowl at the dean. “My blood has healing properties. Trust me, I’ve done this before. I know what I’m doing.”

The dean disapprovingly nods at me. “Okay, so long as you know what you’re doing. This isn’t going to turn her, is it?”

I feel the light sucking sensation of Sofie’s mouth over my gaping wound as she drinks my blood. “No,” I tell her, “It will only heal her and enhance her senses.”

As Sofie continues to drink, I can sense her aura become stronger. I hear her heartbeat begin to stabilize as her internal injuries begin to mend. We hear the broken bones crackle as they slowly start to recombine. Her labored breathing begins to normalize as well. Within a couple of minutes, the only remnant of her injuries are the bruises on her face and body. She coughs a couple of times and opens her eyes. A smile broadens her face.

I take my arm away from Sofie’s mouth. What once was a gaping wound in my arm is now barely a scratch.

“Welcome back to the land of the living.” I say tenderly.

“Merci,” Sofie replies quietly.

“Do you know who did this to you?” Aaboli asks.

Sofie shakes her head. “No, sadly, I don’t. I do know it was a male by his build and strength. He disguised himself really well. I couldn’t even see his face. He picked me up with one hand and slammed me into the ground. He pummeled me until I blacked out. The next thing I know, I’m waking up in here looking at you guys.”

The police officer scribbles everything down in his notepad. “Well, without a description of the assailant, this will make things difficult for our investigation. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll take my leave. Dean Thompson, we’ll be in touch.”

Dean Thompson shakes the officer’s hand. “Thank you, officer.”

The cop leaves, and once the door is closed, I look over at the dean.

“I mean it. I will kill the fucker who did this to Sofie.”

The dean shakes her head. “Mister Johns, revenge is not the answer. Do you really want to risk getting expelled?”

My eyes turn blood-orange, my rage swells up inside of me. “You goddamned better fucking believe it! I told you before, Sofie is MY responsibility!”

Dean Thompson takes in a heavy breath and lets it out. “Very well, Mr. Johns, such is your choice.”

I bend down and kiss Sofie. “Take care.and get some rest. I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

“Oui, my master.”

Adam stays behind as the seven of us leave Sofie’s room.

Hanneke looks up at me and asks, “So, where do we begin? We have no clue as to who to look for.”

“Agreed,’ says Rebecca. “All we know is that it was a male.”

I look at the girls and grin. “Simple. We go back to the scene of the crime.”

Jeni punches me in the shoulder. “Easy for you to say, genius. But we don’t know where to go. You didn’t bother asking her where the attack happened.”

I tap the side of my nose. “Ah, but I do know where to go. Her blood is still fresh in the air, and I can smell it.”

“Then lead the way, bloodhound,” Jesi says sarcastically.

We make our way across the campus over to where Sofie’s penthouse is located. Sure enough, there is still blood on the ground where she was attacked earlier this morning. I take a quick sniff around in the air and recognize a familiar scent. It’s mixed in with Sofie’s scent and distinctly faint. I let out a small growl.

“What is it?” Hanneke asks me.

“I know who attacked Sofie. And I don’t want to confront him right now because I might kill him by draining all of his blood..” I angrily reply.

“Then maybe it’s a good idea to skip morning classes until you calm down.” Aaboli says.

“Sounds like a good idea. Let’s head back to the penthouse.” Rebecca agrees.

I give in to the girls’ suggestion and we all head back in the direction of our own penthouse.

Later that afternoon, the seven of us are sitting in the lecture hall listening to the professor’s lecture on battle tactics and formations. But I’m not really paying full attention. My nose is filled with the stench of Sofie’s attacker. The more I smell it, the angrier I get. I want to kill him for what he did to her.

Finally, the lecture ends, and we are all dismissed. I stalk my prey through the crowded hallway. The scent of his blood reeks in my nose. I’m a shark trailing through a sea of people hoping to catch my next meal.

I follow my prey across the campus courtyard where he breaks away from the crowd. He is now walking alone towards a dormitory building. I look around to make sure nobody is watching me. I use my speed to quickly swoop in on him and carry him to where we can’t be seen. I pin him to the ground and quick-summon Shadow Fang, point the tip of the blade at his throat.

“Alexander Chambers!” I angrily snarl. “Why did you do it? Why did you attack Sofie?”

Alexander’s face is in total shock. “What are you talking....”

I stab my sword into the ground next to his head. “Don’t fucking lie to me! The scent of her blood permeates all over you!”

His surprised look melts away and an evil grin replaces it. “So, vampire, how did you figure it out?

I tap my nose. “It was easy, I just followed my nose. When I was in Sofie’s hospital room, I could faintly smell your stench on her. I traced the smell back to where she was attacked and smelled it. I confirmed it during the lecture this afternoon when yours and her scents were the strongest. That’s how I figured it out.”

Alexander lets out an evil cackle. “That fucking vampire-loving slut got what she deserved! If she wants to fuck vampire trash, she’ll be....oof.”

I knock him out with one blow to the head. “I should kill you for what you’ve done to her! Drain your blood of every last fucking drop. But I’ll let the police deal with you!”

I pick up his limp, unconscious body and sling it over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. As I start to walk across the courtyard, people are beginning to crowd around me in bewilderment. With my free hand, I wave them back.

“Back the fuck off!” I yell. “This piece of shit attacked one us and nearly killed her! Right now she lies in a hospital bed recovering while this waste of space roams free! I could have killed for what he did, but I’m turning him in to pay for his crimes! Let this be a warning to you all, if anyone dares to try and come after me or my friends, you will suffer the same fate!”

The crowd slowly backs away and makes an opening for me to get by.I walk through the crowd and make my way across the campus to the university infirmary where Sofie is resting.

I get to the infirmary and take the elevator.to the floor where Sofie’s room is. There is still a police officer guarding Sofie’s room. I walk up to the officer and throw Alexander’s body on the floor in front of him.

“Here’s your assailant, officer.” I kick Alexander to wake him up.

The cop looks at me quizzically. “Oh, where is your evidence?”

“Ask him yourself.” I reply. “He’ll confess to it.”

The officer looks down at Alexander. “Is it true? Did you assault this young lady?”

Alexander looks up at the officer. With an evil sneer, he says, “Yeah, I did it. That vampire –loving bitch deserved every bit of it. And I’d do it again to protect the human race.”

The cop bends over and puts handcuffs on Alexander. “In that case, you are being charged with aggravated assault and attempted murder.” He picks up the handcuffed Alexander and walks him away.

I walk into Sofie’s room and see her sitting up in her bed. She has a screen open and is scrolling through social media for anything that peaks her interest. I walk over to the side of her bed and kiss her on the lips. She closes her eyes and pushes her tongue into my mouth. I put my hands on her cheeks and draw her face closer to mine as our tongues twist and curl around each other.

I pull away from her and she slowly opens her eyes. Those soft emerald eyes look at me with undying affection. A smile parts on her luscious pink lips.

As I look back into her eyes, I softly whisper, “I caught the bastard that hurt you. He’s in police custody and won’t come after you anymore. I swear that I won’t let anyone hurt you. Not ever again.”

I lay my head on top of Sofie’s. “I know. Thank you for saving my life again. And thanks to you healing my wounds, the doctors have okayed me to be released from the hospital tomorrow.”

I pull Sofie’s petite frame into mine. The only thing I can respond to her with is, “I’m glad.”