“She parked near the fence and took a deep breath. Curious, she did itagain, feeling her lungs expand, then contract. She sat in silence,letting her body decide what to do next. Her lungs stayed still, but shedidn't feel as though she was suffocating.“Yep, dead,” she whispered.”

“Katie let the curtain fall back into place. Standing before the window, she felt herself let go of the old world and embrace the new. She would survive this. She would go on. That was all there was to it. She wouldn't give up without a fight. She would do whatever it took to survive.”

“She kept her hand up in a victory salute. She had done the right thing. There had been no running away this time. She had faces the monsters and she had saved the people she loved. There wasno fear anymore. Just joy. She had won.”

“You have better luck than you think you do,” Cian said firmly.Turning back toward him, she said, “Yeah? Prove it?”You found me.”Yeah, and awakening your inner vampire, scaring the shit out of yourgirlfriend, and screwing up your life.”Then that's my bad luck,” he corrected her.”

“I felt the presence of the night all about me: a living, breathing entity, whispering soft words against my flesh.  I had never before felt the silken touch of the night caress me as I did now.  It was a frightening, yet exhilarating experience.  It was as if the night itself were attempting to seduce me.”

“How did I become this monster…this creature that feasts on the blood of innocents?  I stare at my bloodstained dress and feel nothing but hatred for what I have done.  To know how callously I killed before and felt no regret, now pains me.  I killed before with no remorse.  But tonight…tonight, what I have done is unbearable. ”

“I could feel the urgency in the driver’s voice as he prodded the horses to greater momentum. The rumble of thunder could be heard rolling through the mountains as foreboding dark clouds rolled overhead obscuring the starry sky.  The sun vanished with one last glimmer through the pine trees, then night took possession of the earth. ”