Rome was about to follow China and had just put his jeans back on when Senshi came hurtiling out of the trees. The stallion skidded to a stop, neighing frantically, nearly shoving Rome back into the river. "Easy, easy! What's wrong?" he asked, trying to calm him down. The horse pawed at the ground and touched Rome's forehead with his muzzle. Rome gasped as he was sent a brief image of China and then another of Fletcher. He let out a growl and muttered the shifting spell he had already gotten used to saying. Senshi stepped away nervously as Rome shifted into a black panther, but quickly took off into the trees in the direction he had seen Fletcher go. He had been hiding not far from the river and had seen Fletcher take China. Rome ran alongside the huge horse. He was becoming almost comfortable in the form of the black panther and it was easy for him to move on four large paws. He picked up speed and was soon almost outrunning Senshi. When the stallion lost the trail Rome managed to pick it back up. The scent was near. The moment he saw Fletcher, he let out a snarl and his claws shot out. He leaped forward into the vampire's path, enjoying the feel of power the large feline body gave him.

Thistle let out a growl as she realized Fletcher had run off. She gave a quick bark to Silva and darted into the trees, following the vampire's scent. Silva watched his demon take off. He turned to the warlock. "If you'll excuse me." he said, his voice slightly annoyed. He muttered a similar spell to Rome's and in his place stood a large silver wolf. Silva spun and quickly caught up to Thistle. The two wolves raced through the trees following the mix of scents.

Fletcher smelled them coming and hissed. He bounded the last few metres and jumped past his territory boundary. Any other creature than the owner can't get past the.boundary. It will confuse them, shifting the area around them so that their walking in a different direction. He ran in to his house, a huge, three hundred room cave. He stood just behind the boundary, holding China, knowing that nothing could get past. He smiled and stroked her hair, smirking at the animals after him. He was going to absolutely torture her.

Senshi caught a strange scent and skidded to a stop. Rome watched him and slid to a stop his claws digging into the ground. He quickly changed back to his human form. The two wolves came to a stop near them. Silva and Thislte had caught the same scent Senshi had and immediately began following it. Silva shifted back. "It some kind of barrier!" he shouted to Rome. Rome cursed and began pacing, his thoughts becoming chaotic.

A small golden light the size of a firefly moved towards China. It brushed against her cheek, sending a burst of energy into the vampire. 'Wake up. The others can not reach you from where you are. You must fight back. I can give you more strength, but only if it becomes absolutely necessary.' the woman's voice spoke only to her.

China took a deep, gasping breath and snapped awake. She looked up at.Fletcher and struggled to get out of his arms, braking his grip and falling to the ground. He.snarled and kicked her.hard in the chest. There was a dull.cracking sound and China's face went.chalk white. She slumped to the.ground in a dead faint. Her.chest spasmed with every breath she took. Fletcher kneeled down and sank his teeth into her wrist, ripping them out viciously, her wrist now pumping blood to the.ground.

The woman's voice let out a piercing shriek and a golden light rammed into Fletcher's chest with even more power than the kick he gave China. The gold light formed over China's body and healed her wrist and chest, sending strength into her. Suddenly the woman was standing in front of China, only it was more of hazy outline of her. If you looked at her you could see what ever was behind her. The only truly visible thing about her was her liquid golden eyes.

Fletcher stumbled back and his eyes went wide.What the hell?China snarled at him and lunged. He dodged, but not before she could give him a good wallop in the face. He.grunted and came to a decision. He grabbed both of China's wrists, hauled them over her head. He held them there and took out his knife, forcing it between her ribs. China stopped, her eyes going wide. Fletcher stared at his blade. He caught a hold of himself and smiled nastily, shoving her out of the border and jumping out aswell. He grinned.Tend to China, or attack me? Your choice.China lay on the ground gasping, the knife still in her chest, making lines on her heart. She struggled to breath. The poison on the blade had been plunged straight into her heart. Her skin was paling even more.

Rome yelled out when he saw China and Fletcher and quickly darted in and grabbed China, moving her away to a safe distance from Fletcher. He kneeled beside her and gasped when he saw the blade. "No, no, no!" he muttered. He whipped around when he felt someone beside him, but it was only Silva. "Kill him. I"ll take care of her." he told Rome. "But-" Rome tried to protest but was cut off. "I've got more experience in healing magic and you'll only get in the way. Go fight." Silva snapped. Rome nodded and with a quick kiss to China's fore head he shifted back to black panther and moved to confront Fletcher, snarling. Silva turned back to China, pushing her hair out of her face. "I'm going to warn you. This is gonna hurt." he told her, forcing a small smile.

China could barely make out the images in front of her. All she could see were fuzzy figures. Her breath was strained and irregular. She was running out of time. Her arm reached out and grabbed Silva's wrist tightly, as her last reserve of partially fresh blood pumped around her body with agonizing slowness. Her eyes began to.roll back in her head. Her chest was on fire. Fletcher smirked and rolled up his sleeves.

Silva looked down at China worriedly. No matter what he thought of her, Rome loved her and that meant he'd help her. He could tell by the grip she had on his wrist that he didn't have much time. His eyes turned silver as he began to ricite several healing spells that would stop bleeding and increase the amount of blood in her body. He muttered a quick spell for pain and without warning he yanked out the blade from her chest and winced when he saw the deep gash. He muttered another spell to close the gap and blinked as his eyes turned back to green. He leaned over China and looked at her face. "China? Are you still with us?" he asked.

Rome snarled and his tail lashed back and forth as he crouched down low. When he shifted his weight his new feline body rippled with muscle. He bared his fangs as his paws flexed, the long claws digging into the ground. He started to circle Fletcher and lashed out with his claws any chance he got.

China's heart fluttered as her eyes closed. Her whole body lay still as her grip on Silva dropped. Her face still pale, her sense of feeling gone. Her mind raced in her head, telling her to keep fighting, for Rome, for Silva, for Ayra. She was standing on a cliff, the cliff of death, and teetering on the edge. Fletcher whipped around and slashed at Rome with his razor sharp nails.

Silva panicked when China's grip on his wrist dropped and grabbed her arms. "Don't you dare give up! You can't leave Rome. If you do that it will be the end of him." he snapped, his voice a mixture of worry and panic.

Rome snarled and dodged. He leaped forward and slashed at Fletcher's torso with his claws.

China couldn't feel his grip but she heard his voice, and she fought harder. Her body stayed annoyingly still as she started to fall down... God, no... please... I can't die... Wake up! Come on! She fought inside of herself while her skin started to go cold. Fletcher stumbled back, raked deep from Rome's claws. He coughed blood on the grass and fainted from blood loss.

"Rome!" Silva shouted. Rome snarled once at the unconcious form of Fletcher before shifting back and running to China's side. He fell to his knees and carefully grabbed her in his arms. He looked up at Silva, the question visible in his horror filled eyes. "I've done all I can. It's up to her." Silva told him. He wasn't going to lie to his friend but he also wasn't going to tell him that he didn't think there was much of a chance she would live. He couldn't destroy his friend like that. He turned away from them and called Thistle over. He sent her his thoughts and she nodded. Silva's eyes flashed silver and his mouth barely moved and suddenly a woman stood stood in Thistle's place. She had long black hair, tan skin, and golden eyes. She wore tight black jeans and a black long sleeve shirt. The only reason you could tell she wasn't human was because on top of her head were two black dog ears that flickered, a long tail, and two sharp canine teeth that stuck out over her bottom lip. She nodded at Silva before moving over to stand watch over Fletcher. Silva glanced over at Rome and winced when saw a single tear fall from Rome's eye to land on China's cheek as he held her.

China was falling... into the darkness. She had failed. Her life was over. She fell down and down, beginning to let go... and then she felt something. She felt a small amount of water drop on her face, a tear. A tear? Rome! No, no she.couldn't die. For Rome. For Rome... China's heart spluttered, then slowly started beating again. Her skin warmed up slightly. Her eyelids fluttered. Her chest spasmed and she started coughing heavily. There was a tremendous amount of blood in her lungs. Her eyes were not yet open properly.

Rome gasped as he watched China start to cough. He jumped when Silva crouched down beside them and had to hold back a growl when Silva placed a hand on China's chest. Silva's eyes flashed silver as he muttered a spell to clear her lungs then he stepped back. He walked away without a word and stood beside Thistle. Both of them whispered under their breath as they looked down at Fletcher. Rome leaned over China and pushed her hair out of her face with shaky hands. "China? Can you hear me?" he asked quietly.

China's eyes opened. She saw Rome above her. Rome... She whispered, her voice strained and soft. Her hand moved up to stroke Rome's cheek. Where...She paused, clearing her throat. Where is he? Her voice remained in a whisper.

Rome heard China's question, but couldn't answer her for a moment as the tears he'd been holding back finaly fell. He closed his eyes to try and hold them back but the kept coming. His shoulders shook as he tried to get control over himself. The terror of seeing the blade sticking out of her chest then the relief of knowing she was alive rolled over him. He managed to get control over his shaking and cleared his throat. "Silva and Thistle are watching him. He's not dead yet though." he told her, wiping his hand across his face to try abd get rid of the tears.

China had to hold back her own tears as she watched Rome cry. She reached up and brushed the tears off, her hand shaking slightly.Rome... I am SO sorry... She wiped a crystal tear off her cheek.

Rome smiled shakily down at China and shook his head. "You have no reason to be. I'm sorry that I let this happen. It was my fault. Can you forgive me?" he asked quietly. He finally stopped trying to stop the tears. He had been so terrified that he was going to lose her and now he could do nothing but cry like a baby in relief to be able to see her alive. He suddenly scooped her up in his arms, being careful not to hurt her, and held her to him.

She made a small sound of disbelief.Rome, you couldn't of stopped it. I was stupid. I let my guard down. She relaxed against his body, leaning her head against him. Fletcher suddenly jumped up and, quick as a blur, ambushed Silva.

Rome was about to reply when he saw Fletcher jump up. Without stopping to think he moved over and crouched over her. He held her close to him and used his body to protect China's.

Silva shouted in surprise and fell back as Fletcher attacked him. He glanced over and saw Senshi rear up in fright. His eyes flashed silver and suddenly a black haired man was standing in the stallion's spot. The man reeled back in shock, tripped, and fell backwards. "Senshi! Get up and protect Rome you stupid horse!" Silva snapped. Out of no where Thistle leaped forward and wrapped her arms around Fletcher's shoulders. She had been turned human so many times she was used to it. Her tail lashed back and forth and she growled as she bared her fangs close to the vampire's neck. "I'd watch it if I were you. I bite." he whispered in his ear, her soft voice deadly. Silva got back to his feet and watched Senshi do the same, although with a little more trouble. He drew his silver sword and held it in front of him. "What's the call Rome? Kill him or wait for China to do the honors?" he asked as he saw Senshi standing beside his master.

China sat up in surprise and fell back into Rome's arms. Vertigo. She sat up more slowly this.time and eventually got all the way up, a little unsteady for a minute, and then balanced. She swallowed, her eyes full of pain and decision, and said in a soft whisper.Me. I'll do it.She moved slowly towards Fletcher and stood behind him, laying her hands on his shoulders. Fletcher didn't move. He was defeated.

Thistle moved out of China's way and stood a few feet away with her teeth bared at the male. It didn't matter that she had liked him at first, he attacked Silva and to her that meant death. Rome stood up and moved towards China, but stopped when Silva put an arm out in front of him to stop him. "Let her do it." Silva whispered, his eyes cold. Senshi came up behind them, as wobbly as a newborn colt.

China held back a sob. Fletcher closed his eyes. She breathed in and out quickly, and without warning snapped her head forward and sank her teeth in to his neck. She pushed them in further and then ripped them out. Fletcher fell to his knees, and finally on to his side. China knelt beside him. He coughed up blood and looked at her.I love you. His head dropped and he died. China bent over him, leaning her forehead on his. She broke into heart wrenching sobs, the.sound dripping with loss, pain, agony, remorse and pure sadness.

Rome stepped forward, wanting to comfort China, but Silva grabbed his arm. His friend's eyes were cold as he looked down at Fletcher's body. Rome suddenly remembered Silva telling him about how his parents had been killed. Silva had talked about watching two men with unnatural strength and speed kill his mother and father brutaly. Silva had been only five when he showed up at Rome's home covered in his parents blood, crying uncontrolably. After that day Rome had never seen him cry and now he understood that it had been two vampires that had killed his family. Rome looked up at Thistle to see the same look in her eyes that were on Silva's. He turned his attention back to China. He wished he could go to her, but Silva's grip on his arm held him still.