Courtney's POV: Very much later that night, I lay awake, snuggling a glass picture frame of my parents. Tears dribbled down my cheeks and stained the dark colored cuscino my head was cushioned by. Duncan was already asleep in his bed, where I was also but nothing happened, and it was about two in the morning. I still haven't gotten any sleep, and I was dying to tell Duncan I Amore him without being too abrupt.

I missed my parents dearly. I never knew them, and I wish I had. I've heard so many interesting things about them from Tiannah and her Aunt Claire who were neighbors of my parents. My dad was a cop and my mom was a social worker. My stepdad... well he can fuck off, I mean it. I liked it better when I lived with Tiannah.

Uknowingly, my eyes fluttered shut and I drifted off.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The successivo morning, Duncan's side of the letto was unmade, and I knew he was up already. I stretched my arms above my head and yawned, slipping out of the letto and moving downstairs.

No sign of him downstairs.

Weird.

Well, he could be outside in a tree. That's his preferito emo spot, after all.

SHUT UP, CONSCIENCE!!!

I went ahead and poured latte and Cheerios into a bowl for myself and a bowl for Duncan, going outside to look for him.

He wasn't in any of the trees LOL, and he wasn't anywhere in the house. His motorcycle was still parked in the driveway, so he must not have gone anywhere.

I went back inside and placed the bowls on the table, searching the cucina for anything that might tell me where he was.

It was probably about an ora long cerca throughout the entire house, when I fell back onto the divano and sobbed.

Was he OK? was all that popped into my mind at that point.

Suddenly, I looked up toward the cucina again, and my breath caught in my throat.

I saw a note, taped to the hallway bacheca near the kitchen.

Getting up uneasily, I walked over and tore the note off the wall, Leggere it nervously.

"Courtney, as I wish to apply only the best for te in life, I have here your little emo friend held hostage. If te wish to free him, te must return the collana te ha rubato, stola from your mom's old room."

THE NECKLACE!!!

I forgot I even had it!

I don't even remember getting o finding it.

How strange...

"If te wish for your friend to stay alive, I will need to make a sacrifice for his bad blood. I'm sorry, Courtney, but this is the only way I can ensure te will have a sicuro, cassetta di sicurezza life."

Tears poured down my cheeks at the thought of Duncan's "sacrifice". Was he going to die? Was he gonna turn human? Was I going to die?! I don't know.

I held my breath as I read the last of the note.

"Sincerely... Dad."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Duncan's POV: I awoke, drowsy, and handcuffed to a metal pipe. I was in a basement, but I had no idea where the fuck I was besides that.

All I remember doing is playing video games with Courtney, getting tired and going to bed. Then I remember some guy hitting me on the back of the head wih a pan o something and blacking out.

And here I am!

Wow, it's amazing even in the darkest times I still have a sense of humor.

A door opened and the man came downstairs.

"What do te want!?" I hissed, my fangs dangerously close to being exposed.

"Shhh!" He detto in a hushed whisper. "I'm Courtney's father."

My eyes widened. "I thought te were dead..."

"So did I. But really only her mother died in the fire. I was badly injured, judging on how I got home from a night shift after the fuoco started."

His voice was sympathetic and deep, like he was an old man. Well, he was burned so his vocal chords could have been damaged.

"What do te want from me !?"

"I only want to make sure that if you're going to data my daughter, nothing bad happens."

He leaned in closer. "I know you're a vampire."

My breah shallowed in my chest and I turned pale. "How do te know?"

He held up the picture Courtney found in the old house between two fingers.

"I know this is you."

I nodded. "What do te want? I'll do anything te say."

"I don't want te around my daughter." He looked into my eyes, his brown hair hanging over his face a bit. "You need to be bled and left for a period of time before being filled with human blood."

"What the fuck !!!"

"I'm sorry, but this is the best for te and my daughter."

"So te want to kill me ?!"

He chewed his lip thoughtfully, as though not certain how to object. "Not kill, per say, just a rather mundane act. All that happens is you'll be put under an anesthesiatic, your blood will be replaced, and you'll wake up."

I eyed him suspiciously, trying to hide my silver eyes under my hair. "What's in it for me?"

"I'll let te data my daughter." He folded his hands.

I still didn't trust him. I didn't want to take my chances on him, so out of complete adrenaline, I swung back and slapped him hard across the face, a cracking sound erupting from his cheek.

He turned his head back and rubbed his cheek, faint black and blue spreading across it in the dark. He looked at me angrily, vehemence in his stare.

In one veloce, swift motion, he had a gleaming dagger in his hand and me backed against the bacheca - and I let out a strangled scream when the coltello forced into my side.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I AM SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY OF THIS ARTICLE, I HAD A LOT TO DEAL WITH, BUT HERE IT IS !!! !!! !!!