"Lucian!"

I woke up in the middle of the night from a dreamless sleep calling out Lucian's name to the darkness that surrounded me.

Cries of a baby startled from sleep shattered the remaining silence. I sat there staring unseeingly before me for an endless moment before the door to me room burst open and a frantic Nicky rushed in.

He stopped before the crying baby then spun around to face me.

" What is it? Kira? What's wrong?"

Lifting the baby from its cot he soothed Ian into silence as he made his way to me.

I lifted eyes stark wide with fear and whispered simply," Lucian."

Ian was placed into my lax arms and Nicky blurred away only to reappear a tick later with his phone pressed to his ear.

The call went unanswered.

"We need to leave," said Nicky instantly. Lucian wasn't answering the phone. The perimeters have been breached. Overwhelming fear for Lucian paralysed me so that it took several loud calls and then a good shake later to make me snap out of it.

I left Ian on the bed and made for the closet. Grabbing a baby bag I stuffed a change, bottle and milk powder into the bag. Then swiftly changing my own clothes into my trusty tshirt and jeans, I pulled on my jacket before stuffing the nipple of a milk filled bottle into Ian's searching little mouth. I all but ran down then to join Brian and Nicky at the door. A moment later and we were speeding away leaving behind the house empty, Lucian in the grips of the enemies and my heart hollow and thudding painfully with each widening distance.

It was dawn before the car rolled in Lucian's homebase. We were greated at the door by Damon who enveloped Brian and rushed us all in.

The situation was tense in the Palls household. Nicky had filled them in on the way here but there was no rescue efforts in the works. The Pall's have been struck simultaneously from every angle. The ambush had been well planned. Even now Damon deposited us in then hurried back into the thick of things.

Cassie took over carting Ian off to the nursery and settling Brian in. There was only Cassie left of the Palls. Her and the two younglings in my care. I exhanged a meaningful look with Nicky ignoring his instant scowl of displeasure and went after Cassie. Nicky and I had discussed strategies on the way here coming up with different alternatives for whichever situation we found ourselves in. This was the very worst case scenario.

Therefore the ultimate in our strategies apply.

That ultimate involved me approaching the only available original here, Cassie Pall and having her change me herself. It was the only way I could be of any use to anyone.

As a human I was dead meat waiting to happen but as a vampire, I will have some chance of at least defending Ian and Brian to some degree.

I made my way upstairs heading straight to the nursery and said without hesitation.

"Cassie?"

I looked at Lucian's teary mum with unflinching determination and said," I need you to change me. I need to become a vampire. It has to be done now."