“W…where am I?” asked Alice.

            “You’re in a secure facility,” said someone to her right.

            Alice looked over to see a balding, rotund middle aged man with a kindly but concerned expression.  Alice felt disoriented, her heart pounding in her chest.  On some level, she knew she’d been having a nightmare but couldn’t seem to remember what it was about.  Something about a ball, but that was all that stuck out to her.  At the moment, she was more concerned about what was going on right now.

            “Who are you?” she demanded. “Where am I?”

            “Mrs. Hayes,” he said. “Please calm down.  I promise you are perfectly safe now.”

            Now?  Alice thought, trying to get her bearings.  When was she…the vampires!

            “Where’s my family?” she asked.

            “Please, Mrs. Hayes,” he said. “Calm down, and I’ll tell you everything I can.”

            Alice, still tense, vaguely knew that panicking wasn’t going to help, so she let herself relax.  The nurses beside her finally let her arms go as she lay back in the hospital bed.  Alice looked around.  She lay in a room with white brick walls, hospital beds filling the room.  She saw her mother and her uncle tied up to life support in two other beds, a mask pumping oxygen into their mouths.  Alice immediately noticed two absences. 

            “Where’s Penny and Aunt Betty?” said Alice, holding her breath.

            “I’m sorry,” said Dr. Brown. “One of the vampires escaped with Penny.”

            It was like getting hit in the face.  Alice fell back and closed her eyes, trying not to cry.

            “What will they do with her?” she asked.

            “Feed on her and slowly turn her into one of their servants.  Given time, they will eventually drain her completely, at which point they will either kill her or allow her to be resurrected as a vampire.”

            Alice took a few deep breaths but maintained her composure.

            “Now it’s not all bad news,” Dr. Brown went on.  “The Night Hunters have already begun a search, and it takes time for a vampire to take over someone’s mind.  At first, they will only take enough blood to keep her under control, but she can make a full recovery if we get to her soon enough.  I won’t sugarcoat it, though. Your cousin is in for a bad time.”

            Alright,” Alice, just taking it all in. “What about Aunt Betty?”

            Dr. Brown sighed, “I’m sorry, but the vampire carrying her got cornered.  It must have panicked and lost control.  It fed on your aunt and drained her completely before the hunters could get to her.  She didn’t make it.”

            Alice struggled to maintain her composure, and a single tear escaped from her eye.  She held on, however.  She had a few more questions she knew she had to ask.

            “What about my Uncle and my mother?”

            “Your Uncle is going to be fine.  He still can’t speak, but there’s no permanent damage to his neck.  Your mother’s physical symptoms are fine, but I’m afraid the stress must have been too much.  She’s fallen unconscious, and we don’t know when she’ll wake up.”

            It took every ounce of willpower for Alice not to break down. Instead, as she clenched her hospital bedsheets, she kept her cool because she had one more question.

            “The man who rescued me,” she said. “The only with the cross tattoos all over.  Who is he?”

            Dr. Brown hesitated.

            “Oh…him.  That would be Agent Phoenix.  He’s…well.  He’s something alright.”

            “He could move like they could.  The vampires, I mean.”

            “So I hear.  I don’t really know the details myself, but he’s something…different.  Not a vampire, and he doesn’t feed on human blood, thank goodness, but he’s something on their level. 
From what I hear, he’s something called a crucivire.  That’s all I know.”

            Alice swallowed nervously.

            “The vampire,” said Alice.  “He…He thought this Agent Phoenix was my brother.”

            “Your brother?”

            “Arthur.  Vampires took him.  He was only thirteen.”

            “I see…I’m afraid I can’t say anything about that.  Agent Walker might be able to answer your questions.  I’ll see if he’ll talk to you.”

            Alice didn’t respond.  She wasn’t sure how to feel about this.  Alice had a small sliver of hope that her brother was alive.  At the same time, however, she feared this was all some sort of cosmic joke.  This Agent Phoenix didn’t seem to have even recognized her.

            “Well,” said Dr. Brown. “There is one thing I might be able to do for you now.”

            Dr. Brown went over to a table in the corner and picked something up.

            “This was found in the grass outside the farmhouse.  Given that we fight vampires, it’s the kind of thing we take seriously.”

            He showed her the item in his hand.  It was her father’s silver cross.

            “Agent Walker mentioned that one saved you before.  Is this it?”

Alice slowly reached out her hand and took it from him.

            “Yes,” she said. “It belonged to my father.

            And Alice knew that if she hadn’t worn it that night, she’d have been taken, just like Penny was.  Suddenly the weight of everything that had happened and all that had been lost came crashing down on her.  Alice clutched the little cross to her chest and turned to her side as she began crying in earnest.

            “We’ll give you some time,” said Dr. Brown.

            He drew back and pulled some curtains around her.  Alice didn’t even notice as tears fell down her face and all her emotions washed over her.