Though neither too heavy nor light, Izzy did her best prop him against her, the thick wetness of his blood on her hands making a shiver run down her spine. For a moment, Izzy feared the movement had been too much for him, what remained of his body limp against her. Then, he began to move. Holding her breath, she closed her eyes and turned her head, exposing as much of her neck to him as possible.
	She inhaled through her teeth at the sharp pain that momentarily spiked near the base of her neck. The rest happened far quicker than she would have expected. Whether her stomach churned and heart rate quickened more from terror or blood loss, she could not say. As the edges of her vision blurred, she reached up to pry him lose and push him away, but her arms felt heavy, and the park around her was beginning to spin.
	Before she could so much as place a weak hand on him, her chest heaving with short, panicky gasps, her world went black.

[center]*	*	*[/center]
	Izzy groaned as consciousness slowly returned, the night a blurry memory, a dull headache lingering from a dream within a dream and an uncomfortable sleeping position. Until she realized that it was not the comfort of her bed beneath her, but a hard, rough floor.
	Inhaling sharply, Izzy’s eyes snapped open. It had not been a dream. And, at least, she was still alive. But [i]where was she?[/i]
	She looked around from where she laid, taking in the rundown place, before she realized where she must be. After all, there were not very many abandoned schools in the area. Her clothes felt stiff, the fabric stained with dried blood where Cerasus had leaned. She groaned again and tried to sit up, to feel where the vampire had drained her, but she found her arm trapped within the grasp of an oddly dressed child, his weight preventing her from getting up.
	She instinctively tried to pull her arm away, but he had stirred and gripped her arm tighter.
	[i]What in the world?[/i]
	“Hey,” she said, rolling onto her side and tentatively nudging the boy with her free arm. “Wake up. [i]Please[/i] wake up.”