My whole body felt heavy. It was like all the blood in my body was replaced by sand or something. I tried to lift my arm, but pain shot through it and I gave up, letting it rest again.

"She's coming around!"

"Maddie?"

"Maddie!"

I could hear them, but when I went to open my mouth to reply, nothing came out. I tried to open my eyes, but they felt like they were glued shut. I struggled to open them. I tried screaming to try and get my voice to work. I began to slightly panic when nothing happened.

"Maddie, open your eyes," a gentle voice whispered in my ears.

I tried once more, using all my force to open my eyelids. Slowly, I was able to open my eyes. I could only see a bright white light at first, but than the colors came, and finally shapes. I recognized a face above me.

"Damian?" I croaked, surprising myself.

My voice was working now. But it was so different. It was quiet, but it didn't sound like me at all. "Damian?" I repeated, just to hear the unfamiliar voice again.

"Maddie!" Damian responded, relief washing over his stressed face.

His face came closer to mine and I soon felt his lips gently move against mine. He pulled away again and I tried lifting myself from what I assumed was a bed hat I was on. Damian gently held me down.

"Don't try moving yet. The process hasn't finished yet."

"Process?"

Damian gave me a sad look. "I'll explain later."

I stared at him for a moment and than nodded. That was good. I wanted to sleep now. I looked at Damian once more and he placed a hand on my forehead, brushing the hair back.

"Why don't you rest? When you awake, I'm sure you'll feel a hundred times better," he suggested, stroking my face.

I nodded, and my body felt like it was made of sand again. Holding my eyes was taking a lot of effort once more and I gave up, letting them close.

"I love you, Maddie."

"I love you too," I responded, having to force out every syllable with difficulty. As soon as the words were out, dizziness swept over me and I was out like a light once more.

"Wake up!"

I groaned and ignored the voice, rolling over and pulling the covers over my head further. "Five more minutes."

"She sound okay," someone commented, prodding at my back.

I swatted a hand around at the prodding person and made contact. I heard a loud crack and my eyes shot open wide. I sat up and pulled the covers away from my head.

Surrounding me were Callie, Damian and Ayden. Ayden was holding his finger, his expression probably mimicking me.

He shook it and chuckled. "Well, I think you just broke my finger."

I stared at him and between the other two people in the room, my jaw working but no sounds coming out. "How?" I finally managed to get out.

"Welcome to the world of vampires!" Callie cried with a huge smile.

"What... do you mean?" I asked slowly, my eyes narrowing in confusion.

"Well-" Damian started, but Callie cut him off.

"You're a vampire now!"

"I'm a what?" I shrieked, my eyes widening. "Are you joking?"

The serious faces- well, the serious face of Damian old me that they weren't joking. Callie was grinning wildly and even Ayden had a small little smile on his face.

"I'm sorry," Damian apologized, reaching out and taking my hand. "But you were dying."

"I was dying?" I repeated looking at him confused.

That's when the events of who knows how long ago hit me. How Dustin attacked me, how Reilly betrayed Dustin, and how Dustin had drank my blood. I stared at Damian who was frowning at me.

"So if I didn't change, I was going to die?"

"Exactly," Ayden responded with a nod.

I grimaced. "Is it me, or did that sound a little too happy?"

Ayden shrugged. "I'm just happy you're part of the family now," he told me with a wink.

"Well I guess it is better than dying," I muttered to myself. I flexed my arm. "And I guess the strength is pretty cool."

"You're not... mad?" Damian questioned, raising an eyebrow.

I laughed. "Why would I be? I didn't want to die! And I accepted the fact I was going to become a vampire in the near future awhile ago, remember?"

Damian still looked very surprised at me as Ayden laughed.

"And here Damian was out of his mind with worry. You should have seen him. He was so out of character."

"Shut up," Damian muttered, aiming a kick at his brother.

I laughed and then stopped when I remembered something extremely important. "Where's Reilly?"

"Dead," Damian and Ayden responded at the same time.

I could care less about him.

"What about... what about Dustin?" I asked in a small voice.

Damian and Ayden's expressions, even Callie's, became grim. I felt panic rise in me and my breathing became fast and shallow. Damian reached out and rubbed my back.

"Maddie, calm down, he's still alive," Damian said gently, trying to soothe me.

I calmed down slightly. As long as he was alive, that was good.

"We just can't figure out how to return him to normal," Ayden continued, a frown on his face. "We've been thinking of ways but none of them seem to work."

"Where is he?"

"We have him locked up in the basement," Callie answered, crossing her arms. "He's a bit scary."

"Let me see him," I demanded, starting to climb out of bed.

"What? No!" Ayden responded, pushing me back down. "I don't think you're ready."

"Please," I begged him. "I need to help him as soon as possible. Please!"

Ayden looked at Damian. I turned to Damian too, giving him a pleading look. He frowned at me for a moment before sighing.

"If it's what you want..."

"It is! Please bring me to him!" I said, climbing out of the bed again. "I need to fix this."

We went to the basement and Damian flicked on the light.

"I'll go first," he said, starting down the cellar steps.

I nodded and followed after him. Dustin was sitting in the corner of the room, leaning against the wall, his head down. Upon hearing us on the stairs he looked up and growled.

"Let me hold him down," Damian offered as we reached the bottom steps and Dustin began to snarl at us.

"No, please let me do this alone."

Damian turned to me, worry on his face. "I don't know..."

"Please?" I asked, pouting.

Damian sighed. "Alright, but if it gets too rough, I'm stopping him."

"Okay. Then go wait in the corner," I ordered him.

Damian looked like he was about to change his mind, but with another sigh he went to wait in the corner. I walked out into the center of the room.

Without hesitation, Dustin lunged at me and I held out my hands, shutting my eyes, preparing for impact. There was a gently thump on my right hand and I opened them to see Dustin being held back with one of my hands.

Shocked, and a little awed, I let my guard down and Dustin was able to grab hold of my neck.

"Maddie!" Damian said sharply, making a motion to come over to me.

"I'm okay," I responded, halting him. I stared into Dustin's eyes. "Dustin, please wake up."

Nothing registered.

"Dustin! I know you are in there! Just snap out of it!" I begged him, wrapping my arms around him. "Dustin, please!"

His grip on my throat tightened and now it began to feel a little uncomfortable.

"Maddie..."

"Wait, Damian, one more try," I told him, still clinging onto Dustin. "Please, Dustin. Come back to me," I whispered in his ear, my voice cracking slightly.

Suddenly his release on my throat slackened and fell away. I stepped back and saw recognition in his eyes. I gasped and stared at him.

"Maddie?" he croaked.

"Dustin! Dustin!" I responded, a smile spreading across my face. "Dustin! You're back!"

"Kill me."

My smile slowly faded from my face. "W-what?"

"Kill me. Now," he demanded, his face darkening. "I don't know how long, erg, I can keep control of myself."

"No! I'm not going to kill you!" I responded, my eyes widening in terror. "Dustin, stop joking!"

He was panting heavily again. "Do it."

"No!"

Dustin turned to face Damian. "You, bloodsucker! You kill me then."

I turned to Damian, who looked shocked.

"I cannot of Maddie doesn't want you dead," he responded, with a glance to me. "Sorry."

Dustin groaned. "I don't want to hurt you anymore Maddie."

"It's fine!" I told him. "I'm better now, so are you."

"You've lost your humanity. As have I. I've become the thing I hate the most," Dustin retorted. "Is that better to you?"

"Yes! Because we are both still here and alive!" I cried, staring at him disbelievingly. In one-way or another, at least.

Dustin groaned and before I knew it, the wild look had returned to his eyes. In one swift movement I was knocked to the side, Damian appeared in seconds to catch me before I hit the wall.

"He's lost his conscience again," Damian informed me as I steadied myself on my feet.

I felt my eyes begin to water. "There must be something we can do!"

"Well..."

"Well what?" I asked, turning to look at Damian. "Tell me!"

"I could try sucking whatever was injected into Dustin out-"

"Do it!" I interrupted him, a smile spreading on my face. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"Because there's a chance I may end up killing him as well," Damian finished, with a frown. "If I can't get the poison, then I'd just be spreading it and if he lost all of his conscience, we'd have no choice but to kill him."

I stared at Damian. "So the choices are either kill him, or try to save him but if we fail he still gets killed?"

Damian smiled sadly. "Unfortunately so."

"Well, I know my answer," I told him, biting the inside of my cheek. "If there's the slightest chance that you can help Dustin, I want to take it. So please try."

Damian nodded in understanding. "Why don't you wait somewhere else though?"

I surveyed Damian carefully and nodded. "Alright."

I exited the room and went to sit in the living room, where Ayden, Callie and Kale were. I sat down on a free chair and joined the awkward silence.

"So can he save Dustin?" Callie asked, her voice almost as worried as my own.

"He's going to try," I told her, keeping my voice steady. "We just have to wait."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I had to change this chapter SO much. I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote it -_- then again.... eh. This was never my best story... in fact, it's probably my worse hahaha. Actually it IS the worst. I wish I did it better now... but oh well.

Ummm... Let's vote! Can you guys do me a favor and vote? We've been slacking with votes again, and it's like blah Dx soo... I'll have to threaten you >:D Vote.... OR DUSTIN DIES!! Bwahahhaha.