I scour the room, looking for an exit, a way out, something. If I wanna get out of here alive, I need to find an exit. I stop. My eyes land on the familiar vampire in the back, eyes wide, edging on his seat.

“Beats me.” I return my gaze back to the tall vampire before me. “Was told I would learn when I’m ready.” The vampire's smile returns.

“And you being here?”

“Let’s just say a door opened up, and I took the chance to walk through.” I steel my gaze. The vampire's smile falls.

“Doors don’t randomly open. Not unless you open them yourself.”

“Well, this one did, twice, I might add.”

“Ashlyn!” the same vampire rises to his feet, cautiously walking over to the tall, long-haired vampire. Ashlyn straightens himself and waits. “Infiltrate the Stirling Coven. See, if you can get any dirt, those bastards would have heard something through their web.”

“So you’re the big dick in charge.” Ashlyn’s eyes widen as Ricky lips curl into a cruel smile.

“Well, I am the so-called appointed leader of these fuck heads. Ricky Roderick. I look after this shit show and the affairs of my coven. Syrus looks after his own, just as Trick does, but what Syrus says goes. Much to my fury,” he growls, and the bar gives a chorus of slurs to destroy the king.

“Why not try to take him down? You scared?” Ricky turns to me, eyes ablaze.

“We’re not suicidal. Killing him is a death sentence for all of us.”

“I don’t know. All I hear is a pussy, big talk, no execution.” A snarl ripped from his lips, his hand gripping my shirt and lifts me off the ground.

“Wanna say that again?”

“Yeah. You know you can’t take him on. What’s worse, you can’t justify killing him because he hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“He let you live.” Ricky drops me and stomps to the bar, grabbing an entire bottle of vodka and drinks out of the bottle. “What's so special about you?” a low growl rumbles from his throat. “This god forsaken universe brings you into existence and makes you a smart mouth bitch.” He skulls another mouthful. “I wonder, can you drink blood? Do you crave killing like we do? Or are you more human, are you prey than predator?” A cruel glint glows from his red eyes.

“Killing?”

“It’s ingrained in us, from the moment we are turned we relish the kill, take pleasure in the hunt and thrill of taking life. It’s in every vampire's nature.” A low rumble comes from his throat. A frigid chill run down my spine. I remember this feeling, this dark urge vibrating beneath the surface. I’ve felt it before. The guard, how I so easily took his life and relished in it, I wanted to feel that again. In the last four months I have been fighting this urge. A chuckle breaks my train of thought. “You seem more like feeble human than an ingrained killer like us, a waste if you ask me. Why keep something weak alive? I’ll be doing us all a favour if I eliminate you.” a clawed hand wraps around my throat, the sharp nails digging into my skin, and warm droplets bleed down.

“Ricky.” His eyes tear away from mine, lips turning upward snarl.

“What!”

“I’m gonna need the half breed.” Ashlyn returns to our side, his expression like stone.

“What do you need it for?”

“Bargaining.” Ricky's hand tightens on my throat.

“Bargaining?”

“Yeah. Sometimes cash isn’t enough. If Trick learns we have the halfbreed, he might be willing to hand the information over.” Ricky’s eyes fall back to mine, fury burning beneath as we stare.

“You better not be wasting my time.”

“You know I wouldn’t dare to cross you. Besides, I was the one who heard about the rumour, remember?” With a final growl, he throws me from his grasp. I land on the floor, coughing, sputtering, and gasping for air.

“Get it the fuck out of my sight,” he stomps away, grabbing the half drunken vodka bottle and head to the door in the back. The door slams with a resounding smack and the bar falls into silence.

The bartender grabs the remote and turns the music back to its original volume and everyone returns to their business.

Ashlyn watches me with contempt as I struggle to get off the floor. I cough a little more before stumbling up. I grasp my throat, feeling where Ricky's nails dug into my skin. Already the skin begins to heal, and the pain recedes quickly.

“What with people grabbing my throat today?” I glare at the door where Ricky disappeared to.

“Get moving,” Ashlyn answers with a snarl and pushes me to the door back up to the street.

We make it a few blocks away from the bar, the music no longer in earshot for both of us. The vampire keeps looking over his shoulder, up on the rooftops, he moves a few feet ahead of me, surveying the area around.

“Thanks for saving my ass back there,” I mumble. He pivots back to me, eyes glowing in the dark.

“You should have left where you came from.”

“I would, if I fucking knew how!”

“What, you can’t see the sigils?”

“No, I don’t know shit – A door opened up and I went through and before you say ‘dOoRs DoN’t OpeN bY tHeMseLvEs,’ this one fucking did. Okay!” Ashlyn just stares at me like a fish out of water, eyes glassy and mouth open.

“Why jump through if you don’t know how to get back?” I let my shoulder fall and look over to the busy road.

“I don’t know. Maybe because I didn’t want to go back to my boring job, deal with the hate day in and day out from the other vampires. Something different. A chance to escape the monotony that is my existence and hope to feel something other than despair.” Silence befalls us. Ashlyn looks away from me, his fringe hiding his eyes as the rest of his face becomes unreadable. “Whatever. Forget I said anything. I’ll be getting out your hair.”

Ashlyn grabs my arm before I could take another step.

“Do you even know where you're going?” I note the warmth spreading on my skin. It is unusual for a vampire to feel like this. He tears his hand away, flexing his fingers, and gives a cautious glance before returning his gaze back to me.

“I don’t, but I usually find my way around.”

“How? You don’t have the sight.” I raise my brow.

“The sight?” he let his shoulder slump before rubbing his face with has hands.

“The witch's sight it gives us the ability to see the Sigel’s on the doors.”

“Oooooh, so that’s how you all know where they are.” Ashlyn facepalms.

“How the hell have you been surviving?” I give him a shrug. “How are you so calm about this!” he bares his fangs of me. My face remains deadpan, our eyes stayed on each other.

“I’m calm because I had time to think, I am calm because this reality is better than the shit show I was dealing with a year ago. I’m calm because I had to accept my best friend becoming a vampire, the existence of the supernatural and me being the only fucking hybrid in existence without a single explanation to how it fucking happened!” Ashlyn turtlenecks his head in as I raise my voice with every pitch. He swallows, his gaze softening a little.

“So dad wasn’t a vamp huh?”

“No, and neither was mum. Both human, and me, a freak. No explanation, no reason. I’m just here.” With a shaky breath, I turn my back and swallow the tears before they fall.

“I can’t imagine what you’re feeling, but that’s rough,” looking over my shoulder, Ashlyn is less hostile. More relaxed in my presence.

“Yeah. But I’m not looking for pity, I just . . . I don’t know. I just want to leave this world and go see another one or home, whatever comes first.”

“Well, I can take you to the world I’m planning to head too, I can’t exactly take you back to Rickys bar. He’ll just kill you.” I give a wary look. He gives a sigh and gives out his hand. “I can’t promise your safety here, but I can somewhere else.”

“Why are you being nice to me?”

“Cause I know what’s it like to feel like an outsider.” I stare at his hand a little longer, remembering the warmth from his touch. Slowly, I reach for his hand, gently taking his grasp in mine. Again, the same warmth returns. He stiffens at the touch, swallowing before letting out a shaky breath.

“Right, let’s get going.” He gently leads me through the busy roads and loud lights before heading down the quiet alley.