I stared straight ahead at the counter that hid my secret weapon. There wasn't any time for hesitation. This needed to work and it needed to work now. Once I reached the kitchen cabinet, I took a deep breath and tried to hold in the wailing and fear that thrashed about inside me. Never in my life would I ever have thought I'd be here. It was surreal even in my frantic, petrified mind. Something felt so wrong about it and yet, it had to be done. No one else could do it for me. I'd probably be scarred for life, but that's par for the course when planning what I was about to do, when planning to kill someone.

I just had to think about the fact that this creature was a monster. I'd seen his murder board, what he enjoyed doing, what he'd done to Lisa. She might be dead by now for all I knew. Janiel would probably be next and Leo as well even if I didn't turn.

Patrick-that monster-couldn't be allowed to continue living, un-living, whatever.

Hugging myself tightly, I took another breath of hesitation.

Would I go to Hell if I killed him? Did I believe in Hell anymore? Should I believe in Hell more now that I knew creatures like him existed?

I shook my head. Enough rambling. I was psyching myself out. As I crouched down behind the cabinet door for cover, I carefully pulled away the plastic bag and removed my ace: the lighter fluid.

All of Ian's fears and frustration over me not locking my doors and windows had come back to me and given me hope. Maybe they really were weak against fire. It would've been nice to test this out, but even though whatever-Ian-and-I-were went up in flames, I couldn't wish that on him. He'd still helped me out more than he needed to. He hadn't owed me anything.

My hand closed around the bottle and I slowly withdrew it from the cabinet. The air in my lungs trembled as it blew in and out. Tears seemed to well up in my eyes. I couldn't stop. With a little extra force, I stood up and exhaled again. Little yellow and black dots appeared in my vision. Prickling sensations covered my feet as my balance faltered. This was it. I was reaching my physical limit.

While I focusing on my breathing to ease the dizzy spell, I didn't hear the doors open, nor the footsteps on the hardwood. It wasn't until cold fingers danced up my arm that I knew I'd been caught.

Patrick's free hand reached over and yanked the bottle out of my grip. "Your sixty seconds are up."

He looked over the container before tossing to aside. His fingers continued to stroke my left arm. "And here I thought we were finally starting to get along. Looks like you need another lesson in what happens when you act out."

Slowly he turned me around to face him and reached a hand up to the side of my face. His eyes glowed brightly and a sharp pain pierced my skull. The floor wobbled. My vision blurred. I could hear someone. Words were crashing against my skull like waves, but they were incoherent over the pain. Something was trying to wrench my head apart from the inside.

"No," I whimpered, writhing under his touch. "No, no. Make it stop."

He let go and the pain ceased immediately.

My whole body trembled and tears flowed freely from my eyes. I blinked and I tried to step away, but his fingers encompassed my right arm. A cold grin met me before he turned back to the bedroom.

I latched onto the corner of the counter, desperation setting in. My nails scrapped along the marble as he continued to drag me away. The hand that was closest to him swatted and thrashed in an attempt to loosen his iron-clad grip.

"You're just making this harder on yourself. I tried to warn you. Now I have to turn you and set you loose on the building as punishment." He glanced back at my pitiful struggle. "Sure, you won't see it as punishment at first, but after a few years you may recall it in a different light, maybe."

With the slightest tug from him, my hold on the counter slipped and I flew, back first, into a wall, slamming whatever air was in my lungs out in a scream.

He didn't even pause to let me finish my pained cries.

Stumbling to keep upright, I barely avoided being dragged across the floor like a child's blanket. My chest hurt with every labored breath that I took.

The doors swung open and the soft glimmer of the candles cast a sinister glow over the golden walls and floors now. The crimson duvet lay wrinkled where we'd sat earlier. This time there wouldn't be that level of gentleness. In fact, I was pretty sure it was going to be excruciating based on how tight Patrick's grip on my upper arm was.

I clutched the door handle, feeling the ache in my back and the strain on my muscles as I held on with everything I had left. Did I want to die? No, but I sure as hell didn't want to turn into a monster like him either.

The door groaned and the knob creaked, but my arm went slack as the pull from Patrick stopped.

Both of his hands clasped my face and he locked eyes with me as the brain-cleaving pain swept through me once more. The voice was louder this time, but so were the waves of pain and ringing in my ears. It was shouting at me over and over again. Something about entering or fighting. My stomach started to tremble as the dizziness plowed right through me.

My grasp faltered and I fell to the floor the moment he released me. Gasping as I struggled to keep my eyes open, cold sweat broke out over my body. "What, what was that?"

Even though my voice was barely a whisper, he smiled at my question. "That is what happens when I force the full power of my compelling on a particular victim who's too stubborn to submit."

I shuddered, letting more tears soak my cheeks and shirt.

"It's just one of the methods I use to break someone whom I really don't want to kill. So you should feel honored. That's a highly exclusive group. Now get up or I'll break your arm. It'll heal once you've had your first blood meal anyway."

My body didn't move.

"I said get up!"

"And I thought you didn't like to repeat yourself," I snapped as I leaned forward onto my wobbling arms, trying to gain some support enough to stand. That was probably the only reason he wasn't snapping my arm already. I was trying.

He bent down and grabbed my shoulder. Then he nodded towards the hallway with a greedy smile. "Sounds like someone's back. We better get on with this. You don't want to make your food wait. It's rude."

Without waiting for a response from me, he threw me onto the bed and turned to shut the doors. "Ah, the woman, finally. Do whatever you want but don't leave the room. We'll be needing you shortly."

I tried to scramble off of the bed, but the door closed with a click and he was lurking at the side of the bed in half a breath.

"I thought you wanted to do it on the bed. Having second thoughts already?" He teased, then clutched my neck and yanked me towards him. "It'd be such a waste to bleed all over these nice sheets, but after the mess you'll make tonight, we'll need to move out before dawn."

"No, don't. Please, I'd rather you kill me," I whined, trying to wrench his fingers from my throat.

"I know," he said, slithering his fingers away from my neck and dragging down one of the straps of my tanktop. With a quick turn, his cold hand circled back around and pulled my bra strap to my shoulder. Then he ogled me with more hunger than normal. "That's why I can't kill you now. I'll kill you later, after you've massacred thousands of innocent people and bathed in their blood. I'll kill you when you won't want to die."

My body shook as sobs fought to escape from me. Yes, my face was drenched in tears. Yes, I was terrified of this monster, but, I didn't want to give him that sick satisfaction of knowing he broke me so I bit my trembling lip and stared him down through tear-filled, blurry eyes.

He shoved me back onto the bed and crawled on top, pinning me down with just a hand and a leg. "It's that fiery spirit I see in you that's going to make the next twenty to thirty years entertaining."

Then he leaned forward, using one hand to hold my body still and the other to twist my head to the side, and bit me.

I screamed as something wet and sticky dripped down my neck. Even with my hips thrashing about in protest, his strength held him in place. My voice broke when he clamped down even harder. Was he going to tear off a chunk of my neck and let me bleed out? In the silence I heard my pounding heartbeat, my labored breathing, and his greedy slurping.

Slowly my arms stopped flailing. One hand bumped something warm, one of the candles. It had been a stupid plan. All this could do now was just irritate him more, if I could even land a hit. My fingers wrapped around the warm glass and lifted it off the nightstand.

Patrick released my neck for a moment to stare at me. "Really? You're just going to burn yourself."

He was right. The weight was too much. It slipped from my grip, rolled over the mattress, and spilled hot wax on me and the bedsheets. I whimpered as the burn brought a bit of my consciousness back.

Then the doors groaned from across the room and something pungent sprayed over both of us.

I twitched as I was struck again, blinking to prevent it from splattering in my eyes. The wax burn was nothing compared to the terror when my brain finally recognized the smell. It was the lighter fluid. With a quick shove, the candle rolled off the bed and far away from me and my now highly flammable clothing. It had blown out, but even still, I'd been hoping to be on the other end of this ordeal.

Patrick had jumped off of me and sprinted to the door. He snarled and hissed like a wild animal caught in a trap.

Why had he stopped there? It took a great deal of effort for me to sit up and even more for my eyes to focus on the open doors and Janiel standing on the other side of them. I tried to speak, but my pained neck and sore throat gave me only a cough instead. "Don't look..." It hurt to breath, let alone speak, but I had to warn her. Fresh tears dripped down my face as I attempted to hold my head very still. "Don't look him in the eyes."

She might be somehow protected from him, but I wasn't. My legs wobbled as I slid off the bed as quietly as I could. The lighter had been left in the kitchenette so my only option was another candle. But what good was a candle against a raving beast? With one hand gripping onto the bed for support, I reached for a smaller candle to hold. Cold air blew against my sticky, wet, and exposed chest causing me to shiver and wince, repeatedly.

The duvet cover at the end of the bed would suffice for keeping me warm enough. I never did understand what its purpose was before. Thankfully it was light and already red so bloodstains would be less noticeable. With the blanket wrapped around my shoulders and the candle tucked close to my side, I silently approached the doors and Patrick, whom began barking orders.

"Put that damned thing down. You aren't going to use it. You're going to do as I say and remove this barrier."

But Janiel looked anywhere else than at him until she saw my trembling gait. Our eyes met and then Patrick finally took notice of me. He grabbed and dragged me to the doorway, holding me between himself and Janiel's weapon, the lighter.

"She's not turned yet," he snarled at her and shifted me in his arms. "Toss it away or I'll rip her throat out."

I tried to bite back another whimper, but there wasn't a thing that didn't hurt. The blanket had slipped from one shoulder before getting pinned between Patrick and me. More chills sprang forth as pain and the air conditioner kicked in, but I shook my head.

Her eyes widened as she nearly dropped the lighter. "Let her go."

Patrick's grip tightened on me instead of him saying anything.

My fingers clutched the candle with all my might as I slowly lifted it to a corner of the blanket on my one shoulder. Janiel met my gaze as I accepted what had to happen. I watched as she shook her own head, tears streaming down her own cheeks as well.

The smell of burning paper hit my nose.

He readjusted me, knocking the candle from my hands. It fell and went out as it hit the floor and spilled wax about.

The corner of the blanket was singed, but hadn't lit.

I looked back up at Janiel with pleading eyes. She just had to hit a spot that was soaked with lighter fluid and we'd catch.

Patrick pulled up on my neck and shoved my chest out, trying to draw her attention. "Don't look at her. Look at me. Put the lighter down and end this stupid conspiracy. Neither of you are going to make it out alive."

She started to look up at him, but I grabbed a wet part of the blanket and yanked it up to her reach. "Light me now."

In surprise, her hand dropped just enough to graze the duvet and as expected the material burst into flames. I released it, but held on to Patrick's arm to try to keep him close.

The flames consumed me in seconds and the blanket around my shoulders burned my back. Something smelled kind of sweet with a chemical stench. Then I started coughing.

Patrick flung me away, but it was too late, part of his suit had caught fire and he frantically began patting it out.

Janiel caught me, ripped the blanket off, and shoved me to the ground, trying to roll out the flame. It worked and what was left of my tanktop remained mostly intact, although it glowed softly along the charred edges.

My screaming had settled into sobbing, which made me cry out more as my still bleeding neck and shoulders shook. Why wasn't I dead yet? I could still feel the lapping of fire on my skin and everything else hurt.

Janiel stepped out of my sight as I writhed in pain on the floor.

Then something cool and wet brushed my skin, forcing my eyes to open and look for the source.

"This should help with some of the burns." Janiel knelt above me, laying a water-logged white towel on top of me. "Try not to move."

"How'd you..." I coughed and whimpered, but forced myself to breathe. The feel of the cool towel on my skin was a blessing. After a few, short, calming breaths, I tried to speak again. "How'd you trap him?"

"Your friend went all rigid the moment she saw Lisa and told me to line the doors and windows with salt. It was weird, but I went with it since I was trying to delay my return. You know, trying to fight it off." Her eyes watered and she smiled at me. "I can't believe it worked. I'm finally free."

"Free? You think you're free of me?" Patrick laughed as he continued patting out the flames on his shirt and pants. "You won't get far before I'm out of here and then you'll both be begging for death. You can't run from me."

She stood up and turned towards the bedroom, but didn't look at him. "I'm not done with you yet."

With that she bent down, grabbed the bottle of lighter fluid, unscrewed the cap, and shook it at him. More liquid splattered him and the little embers reignited. His curses filled the air before they turned into a yell. Everything within reach had been doused and caught on fire. Smoke began filling the room.

Janiel returned to my side and grimaced. "I might have gone a little overboard. We need to get out of here now."

Patrick's cries of pain ended as he saw us get up. He then resumed flinging curses at us and smashing furniture.

With a lot of help, I managed to get my feet underneath me. Several bright dots began littering my vision, but I stayed upright and we carefully made our way to the hallway. Then beeping filled the air as the fire alarm went off and sprinklers sprouted from the ceiling to the rescue.

My heart dropped into my stomach. What if those destroyed the salt barrier?

"Careful of the line." Janiel said, grabbing the door and pushing it open for me, her hand a counterbalance as I wobbled over the second salt barrier and into the hall.

I cleared the thick line of salt and looked back up to see something protruding from her chest. Blood pooled and dripped down the fabric of her shirt while I stared at the wooden chair leg sticking out. My eyes snapped to her frozen, pained expression.

"Go," she whispered, then coughed up blood. It dripped from the corners of her mouth.

Patrick's cruel eyes appeared from behind her. His face was barely recognizable as his hair had burned off completely and the skin of his face was burned deep enough to reveal muscle and possibly bone. He sneered at me, but even with his mouth shut, I could see his fangs sticking out. "Yes, go. Run. The chase is the best part."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Can you feel it? The end is coming. Will anyone else die before all this is over?

And yes, I'm feeling positive and motivated by everyone else right now so I posted a day early. Enjoy!