Carmine slowly opens up her eyes, blinking back hot tears. Fat droplets of sweat course down her hairline and drip down her nose. Her entire body feels as if it's been tossed into a gigantic oven and roasted alive. Sniffing around, she realizes that the smell of cooked meat in the air is in fact the scent of her own burning flesh. Flaps of skin all around her face are peeling away, leaving behind unsightly, bloody gouges. She winces as pain continues to shoot through her jaws and a deafening ringing assaults her ears.

Carmine scans her surroundings, trying to comprehend the situation before her. She immediately sees Sebastian's body, lying crumpled on the ground a few feet in front of her. Blood is quickly pooling out of his neck and staining the yellow grass all around him.

No.

No.

No!

"S-S-Sebastian?" Carmine mews weakly. She turns to face Bill, who's groaning and writhing on the ground, clutching at his bleeding thigh. She can hear him grumble, "That goddamn asshole...shot me..."

Sebastian sacrificed his life to save me, Carmine realizes, her gaze trailing once more to Sebastian's corpse.

He died in vain. Bill is still alive...and so is his accomplice.

Carmine's vision is obscured by tears and she tries to blink them away but they keep flooding forth, drowning her from the inside. Choking, Carmine lunges forward on her elbows and knees, desperate to feel Sebastian for any signs of life. When she reaches his body, she rests her head against his upper back, hoping to hear a heartbeat. Even if it's just a faint one.

Nothing.

"He was a foolish man," Bill's accomplice says, ramming his boot against Carmine's chest and aiming the silver gun at her heart. "But don't worry, I'll make sure to finish the job right so you two can meet again in the afterlife."

Carmine grunts as her muzzle-clad skull slams against the dirt. "Scr-Screw you," she spits out.

The man cocks his gun. "Mouthy bitch, go to Hell."

But before the man can pull the trigger, a tall shadow looms behind him. He doesn't even have time to turn around before his throat is ripped wide open. Bright red blood splashes all over Carmine and Sebastian's body. The man flops forward on top of Carmine, slimy blood gushing from his neck wound and soaking through her shirt.

A foot kicks the man off Carmine. "Are you alright?" a concerned voice asks.

It's Nyla.

"How-"

"I tracked your blood scent. You had a cut on your lip from earlier."

"Where are my parents now?" Carmine groans, trying to regain some strength by licking the gore that had splattered through the muzzle and on to her lips.

"They should be arriving shortly. What the hell happened here?" Nyla asks, gesturing to Sebastian's body. "How did he-"

Carmine looks away, unable to speak.

"Did he die for you?" Nyla finally asks, shaking her head. "I thought he was probably going to do something stupid like that when I saw him with Bill earlier." Nyla hacks off the padlock securing Carmine's muzzle. The silver mask falls off with ease. Then Nyla starts working on Blake.

As the sun melts into the horizon, a chilling breeze quickly sweeps across the field. A few ghastly street lamps flicker on in the distance. "We better hurry. We don't have much time," Nyla cries.

"Sebastian was s-so stupid," Blake stutters, "B-But he saved our lives. Bill would've shot us both if it hadn't been for him." Blake shakes off his muzzle. His face is covered with blisters and lacerations. His right cheek is particularly badly disfigured. Carmine shudders at the thought of how she must look like at the moment.

"Can you save him?" Carmine pleas to Nyla, her throat constricting.

Nyla bites her lower lip. "Yes...but...do you really want to?"

"He died for me. I can't have that on my conscience forever. Please, great-aunt."

Nyla studies the silver cuffs binding Carmine's wrist as she mutters, "He's dead, Carmine. The Sebastian you know is dead. He will never come back."

"But you said-"

"-I know what I said," Nyla grunts. "But if I give him my blood, he will be turned. Do you really want to play God and turn him into a vampire? He might hate you forever for condemning him to be one of us."

"But the alternative is losing him forever," Carmine cries, slamming her shackled wrists against the ground. "I can't- I won't lose him like this."

"Nyla's right, Carmine," Blake joins in. "Do you really want to seal his fate like that? Isn't he better off dead? Do you really want him to wake up an undead beast whose sole motivation is bloodlust and mayhem?"

"Father's a vampire. He's not solely motivated by those things. He managed to control his desires and even started a family. Seb can do the same."

"It takes a lot of time and energy to learn that type of discipline. In the mean time, there will be a lot of bloodshed and suffering," Nyla explains, picking the handcuff locks with a safety pin.

Carmine clenches her jaw. "Where's Bill?"she suddenly asks.

The three of them look around. He's nowhere to be found.

"Be on high alert," Nyla whispers. "Stay close to me."

Carmine and Blake slowly shake their arms and legs loose. They hug each other and stand behind Nyla, using their great-aunt as a shield.

"Where the hell did he go? How did he disappear?" Carmine hisses, her anxieties mounting. "We were so distracted by Sebastian we-"

"He might be a half-blood wizard as well as a hunter," Nyla explains. "They can cast invisibility spells. But he's badly wounded and he should be easy to spot if we just follow-"

Before Nyla can finish her sentence, a sly grin forms on her face. "Gotcha," she smirks, gliding to a spot about 15 feet away. "You should've concealed your blood trail. Amateur."

With that, Nyla reaches down and grabs something invisible on the ground. Bill Swanson's pale, quivering body soon materializes once more. "M-M-Mercy Nyla. Pl-Please. Don't...I have a family."

Nyla snickers, extending her fangs. "I don't give a shit, you pathetic scumbag." Without further hesitation, Nyla tears into Bill's throat, sending a fountain of blood spurting through the air. She closes her lips around the gash and starts guzzling intensely, euphoria washing over her face.

Carmine and Blake turn away. The sight is too gruesome to bear, even for them. They see Mason and Red hurrying towards them. Mason is carrying Red on his back. They stop when they reach their children and Red slides off.

"Mother! Father!" Carmine cries, throwing her arms around her parents.

"Oh Carmine, my poor baby," Red sobs, running a finger gingerly over the severe burns on Carmine's face. "I'm so sorry we're late. We had to finish-"

"It's okay mother, you're here now," Carmine murmurs.

Red reaches into her satchel and takes out some water. "Here, you must be so thirsty."

Carmine takes the bottle and downs it in one gulp. Then, noticing her mother's horrified face, she whispers, "It's nothing, mother, it will heal."

"But it will surely leave scars and lasting damage," Red moans. "We should've never let them take you. Oh, we were so stupid..."

"No, father made the right choice. We couldn't have fended them all off, especially not without taking a few innocent lives. The important thing is, Blake and I are still alive." Carmine looks to Blake, whose eyes are brimming with tears.

"So what happened?" Red asks, gesturing to Sebastian's body and Bill's massacred throat.

"Sebastian shot his own cousin to save my life. But in return, he sacrificed his life for us. This burly man killed Sebastian and he wanted to shoot me too but Nyla saved me by killing him. Then she tracked down Bill, who was trying to get away and well...now she's feasting on him."

"The important thing is you two are safe," Mason says, holding his children tight. "The worst has just begun. The police and the hunters will be chasing after us once they learn we've massacred two of their own."

"What about Sebastian?" Carmine asks. "I'm not going to just leave him in the middle of nowhere. I want to turn him."

"Oh my sweetheart," Red murmurs, holding Carmine's hand. "You can't. Much as you might want to, it's best to let the dead rest in peace. I'm sure that's what Sebastian would've wanted. I don't think he sacrificed himself hoping you would bring him back as a vampire."

"You can't turn him, even if you wanted to," Mason adds, "You're a half-blood."

"What about you, or Nyla? One of you could do it," Carmine says desperately, her voice cracking. "Please. I don't want anything else. I will never forgive myself if-"

"We could turn him but we won't. Trust me, Carmine, he's better off dead," Mason urges. "No one would willingly choose this fate. This is a road that will only lead to murder and damnation. I don't think you would wish that upon him."

"Are you in love with him?" Red suddenly hisses. "You've been keeping this secret from us? Isn't he just your boss?"

Carmine clenches her hands tightly at her sides, ignoring her mother's question. "If neither of you will help me then I'll do it. I don't care. I can't just leave him here. He's been nothing but kind and good towards me. I'm not going to let him just die like that!"

Carmine rushes to Sebastian's side, kissing him furiously on the lips. "Goddamn it Sebastian, take my blood," she pleads, pressing her bleeding mouth against his, over and over.

But Sebastian's lifeless body doesn't respond to hers.

Blake rests a hand on Carmine's shoulders. "Carmine, please, we should get going before reinforcements arrive."

"You can't just leave him here! Not like this!"

"We have to," Mason insists, "Please, Carmine. Let's go."

Nyla drops Bill's bloodless body to the ground and joins the rest of the Redozas. "Oh screw all of you, the girl's in love." Extending her fingernails, Nyla digs through Sebastian's wound until she scoops out the round silver bullet. Then without another word, Nyla sinks her still bloody fangs into his bloody neck and injects him with her black vampire venom.

The Redozas watch in shock and horror as Sebastian's eyes fly wide open. As if resurrected by a defibrillator, he opens his mouth and starts gasping for air. His eyeballs are stained pitch black as they glisten in the dim light. Sebastian blinks rapidly, as if waking up from a nap. Thin red and purple veins radiate out from the sides of his neck. "Wh-what happened?" he croaks, coughing out some residual blood. He absentmindedly rubs the back of his neck but the bullet wound is already healed.

"You got shot," Nyla explains. "And you died."

"Nyla? W-What are you doing here? If I died...How..."

Before Nyla can explain further, Sebastian's mouth drops open. "Are you-Did you-"

His head snaps back with a crunch, and he clutches his jaw with both hands. "Argghh, it hurts! Make...it...stop...!"

Sebastian's jawbone dislocates as his canine teeth begin growing larger and pointier. Panting heavily, he runs his finger across his lips and then feels the sharp points of his teeth. "Who-Who did this to me?!"

Nyla raises her hand. "That would be me."

"You're one, one of them? Why?! Why did you do it?" he cries, slamming his fists against his skull. "I'd rather be dead than to suffer like this! Take it back! I don't want this!"

Nyla looks to Carmine, who is on the verge of hyperventilation. "Carmine didn't want you to die," Nyla shrugs, holding out her hand.

Sebastian's now blood red eyes bore into Carmine's as he seethes, "I will never forgive you." He pushes Nyla's proffered hand away.

Before Carmine can explain herself, Sebastian stands up and starts running away. A weak limp at first, then faster and faster.

And faster.

Carmine tries to chase after him but Mason holds her back. Sirens start sounding in the distance, drawing closer.

"We need to go, Carmine. They're coming for us," Mason says. "We need to go. Now."

Sobbing uncontrollably, Carmine lets out a feral scream that pierces the still night air.

Then, she reluctantly follows her parents, Nyla and Blake as they start running West. She looks back one more time and the abandoned field and all she can see are the massacred bodies of Bill and his accomplice.

Sebastian is gone.

How will he survive without any help? He's a mere fledgling, confused and unaware of his own strength. He will never survive a hunter attack. Worse, what if he's caught by the police?

All these thoughts and many more surge through Carmine's brain as she begins to sprint. Soon, the Redoza family forms one gigantic blur against the backdrop of whipping grass and fallow fields. Carmine pushes past the pain in her ankles and calves. She pushes past her heartbreak and exhaustion. There's no time to feel anything. No time for tears or to even catch her breath. They need to get away from this town. Run as far away as possible and never come back. Richmont is no longer their home and if they're not fast enough, it will be their grave.

{End of Book One}

Please, please spare a few minutes of your time and write a review for this book on Amazon, Goodreads or my Facebook page.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25998685-cutthroat-carmine
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cutthroatcarmine?ref=hl
Amazon US (Other countries available too): http://amzn.com/B012LM7X18

(You don't need to buy the book to leave a review! Just mention you read the first draft on Wattpad for free! The first thing buyers look at is REVIEWS! They are CRITICAL to this book's success!!)

It would mean the WORLD for me. I don't earn any money from the books I write on Wattpad and I'm trying to sell my books to earn some money to support my writing. I am a full-time mom and a freelance writer so being on Wattpad is great and I meet a lot of wonderful readers and fellow authors. But at the end of the day, I need to pay bills and support my daughter. If you have $2.99USD to spare, please, consider buying the published copy of this book on Amazon. I will love you forever for it. Also, the paperback version will be available for about $8 USD.

You can now PRE-ORDER the extended, fully edited version of this book exclusively through Amazon:

http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B012LM7X18

The published version has bonus chapters, extended scenes as well as a sneak peek at Book 2 of the series! More details in the next update!

Subscribe to my email newsletter via http://jackiewang.weebly.com for news about Book 2, discount days, bonus free stories, exclusive chapters and swag!
Love you all,

Jackie