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Izzy took a deep breath, then reached slowly into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She turned it on, using the short time it took to shove the sandwich fixings back in the bag. If nothing else, at the very least, she needed someone as levelheaded as Trevor. Though, she would certainly have a fair bit of explaining to do.
Ignoring any messages or missed calls she may have gotten, she held the phone up. Lacking service in the remains of the basement, she cautiously checked the intensity of the sun beyond the door above her. Finding what looked like the old kitchen relatively shady, she jumped up onto the main floor, careful to avoid any rays of sunlight filtering in between the boards.
Once her phone showed she had service, she skipped texting and dialed Trevor's number, unsure what kind of response she would get from him, or, even, if he would pick up.

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When Trevor answered, Izzy gave a relieved sigh. Though it had not been long since she had heard his voice, it was good to know he was, at least for now, still safe.
She gave a humorless chuckle at his second question, and shook her head. “No,” she breathed. “It... it’s kinda a long story.” She paused, debating on if she dared ask him to meet her. But with the poor connection, the call could drop at any moment. “And service out here sucks. Could...” She took another unsteady breath. “Would you be willing to meet me? But not at the school,” she added hastily. “I know it’s unfair of me to ask you, after everything, but...” She gave a heavy exhale. “I need you, Trevor. You and that brilliant brain of yours.”

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As soon as she hung up with Trevor, Izzy went through the house to the front door. The gaps in the boards of the windows let beams of sunlight in, the golden streams making millions of dust motes glitter and turning portions of the house into a minefield for her. The front door was barred from the inside. To make his entrance a bit easier than crawling through a window, she set to work removing the few boards keeping the door closed.
With the boards made short work of, she could only wait. Finding a shadowy space, she sat and leaned her back against the wall. A physical and emotional weariness hung over her, and she found herself dozing slightly, only to be startled awake by the gruesome images that plagued her mind.
When a knock came on the door, making the whole house creak, she startled to alertness and jumped to her feet. She breathed a sigh of relief at Trevor’s voice.
“I’m here,” she called back to him, carefully moving to the side of the room to avoid bursting into flames when he opened the door. “Come in.”

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Izzy watched Trevor squint, reminding her that he could not see as well in the dimness of the farmhouse as she could. When his eyes finally seemed to adjust to the new lighting and his gaze settled on her, she offered him a small smile in greeting.
“That’s the least of my worries,” she muttered at his comment about squatting. She took a deep breath at his question, then told him everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours.
Finishing her tale, she placed her head in her hands from where she had since sat once again against the wall, her legs crossed beneath her.
“If the hunter hadn’t come, it would’ve just been someone else. Will be someone else the next time.” Izzy shook her head and ran a hand through the lose portion of her hair. “And that’s what I saved. What...” she swallowed hard, her voice soft as she continued, “what I could become.” She raised her head, not looking at anything in particular. “I don’t know what to do, Trevor. It’d be nice to just wake up and have this all be a nightmare, but that isn’t going to happen.”

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“I know,” Izzy groaned when Trevor paused to wipe his glasses. She took a shaky breath when he finished. The truth of his last statement sunk heavily in her chest. She was the only one who stood a chance at stopping him. A shudder ran through her at the thought of facing Cerasus.
“You don’t know what it’s like to just be near him,” she said with a shake of her head. “I can feel his power just by being at the school. Then, even if I did stop him, this, all of this, would be my life until either a hunter killed me, or I did it myself!” She sighed exasperatedly. “But if I don't even try...” Her soft voice trailed off as she leaned her head against the wall behind her with a groan.

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Izzy turned her head to look to Trevor, listening intently as he spoke, and nodding to his question.
She continued to stare at him for a moment when quiet fell. Could she really, truly slay someone, even someone like Cerasus? Someone with whom she had laughed the night away with just hours earlier? He had spared her when they first met, and even shown a shred of humanity when talking about his thrall before her. But how many innocent people had he killed? How many more would he kill before his own immortal life was snuffed out?
“Y-you’re sure?” she finally asked in a quavering voice. “Because if... if I do this, I could be eliminating my only chance.”

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Izzy took a slow breath, trying to steady herself. She leaned forward, and laced her fingers through her hair. Trevor did not need to state the worst case scenario.
“I... I could try to find out how he’d planned on changing me back, before...” She did not want to say it. She took another deep breath. “He’s got me beat in power and strength,” she muttered, more thinking aloud than directly addressing Trevor. “But if he isn’t expecting me to... to turn on him, I’ve at least got that.” She gave a humorless chuckle. Plotting someone’s murder was not something she had ever thought she would be doing.

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Izzy gave a snort at Trevor’s comment, her expression showing her agreement. She glanced to him when he stopped talking, the question of, “What’s up?” crossing her face before she could voice it. Her brows furrowed, and she looked to one of the boarded windows at his answer. Indeed, the streams of sunlight that had filtered in only moments before had faded, casting the area in the gloomy gray of an impending storm. Now that he brought it up, it was impossible to not smell the impending rain, to feel the oncoming storm. When had that happened?
She inhaled, and a look of panic settled over her at the pressure that went beyond the simple storm.
“Cerasus,” she breathed, then all but jumped to her feet. He must be taking advantage of the clouds. Unless, with how quickly they rolled in, could he have created them? Manipulated the weather? She shook her head at the thought--that was impossible--then looked back to Trevor. “You need to go. Now.” She hastily offered Trevor a hand up, trying to guess from which direction Cerasus was coming, and hoping Trevor could get out safely before the other vampire arrived.

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Izzy jumped around at the thunderous sound, flinching and glancing up as dust rained down. She swallowed hard and shook her head at Trevor’s question.
“If only,” she breathed as she went to look outside. Though she had expected to find Cerasus, the earth surrounding his ankles was a surprise. But, with the word “impossible” swiftly losing its meaning when considering Cerasus, that he had jumped the distance between them was a possibility she would not toss aside. Yet another show of his power. Of the power she would have to face, if she so chose that road.
She took a shaky breath and turned to Trevor. She motioned for him to stay inside with her hand, her gaze stern despite the fear in her eyes. Though she doubted the barn would provide any true protection for him, it was at least something. She had to get Cerasus away from here, away from Trevor. She turned back to the door, held her breath, then opened it just enough for her to slip out.
“Cerasus,” she greeted stiffly. “How’d you find me?”

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Izzy shifted her weight slightly, watching him free himself from the ground. She inhaled sharply when his gaze finally met hers. She could not look away, the illusion of emotions, of belonging, nigh intoxicating.
Her body tensed when he answered her question, and she tried with little success to hide her fear at the thought.
That can’t be true! she pleaded silently. If it was, it meant that even the element of surprise would not belong to her. It meant he knew what she had been plotting with Trevor. In the short moment before Cerasus continued, she wondered if that was what had drove him to come here, during the day.
As unsure as ever as to what to expect from him, she flinched slightly when he raised a finger. She blinked at him in surprise when he gave his apology. She struggled to keep the emotions Cerasus brought with him separate from her own as he continued in his pleasing tone. If nothing else, she needed a clear head.
Izzy held her breath when he finished. Some part of her--the vampire part, she assumed--wanted to accept, to live out the rest of eternity side-by-side with him, the King of Aberrations, to succumb to the feelings radiating from him. But every part of her that clung to humanity screamed out against it. It was true, she had not wanted to watch him die. Even now, she did not want to fight him, to kill him, but her options were slim: go against him and potentially save the countless lives of his meals, or let him continue his reign, unchallenged. Or, now, she supposed she had a third, with his offer to join him, to remain a blood-thirsty beast for an eternity. One of the images that had haunted her scant sleep while waiting for Trevor crossed her mind, an image of her in place of Cerasus over the mangled, bloody body of her only friend.
She managed to close her eyes and tear her gaze away from his. She gave a shake of her head and swallowed hard.
“Thank you for your apology,” she intoned quietly. She opened her eyes, her gaze on the ground and only Cerasus’ feet in her line of sight. “But I will not become a monster.” Though her voice was soft, her tone was resolute.