With the lid in hand, Blanca peered into the box. Inside she could see two glass jars filled with small silvery pellets. Between the two jars, a stopwatch was counting down the seconds. Less than a minute remained on the dark numbers. Blanca’s eyes widened as she recognised the basic layout of a simple bomb in the box. Blanca grabbed the box and pushed back from the table in one fluid movement. The grind of the chair legs on the floor seemed to screech at the shadows and silence of the diner. The sudden movement drew the eyes of the lycan seated on the couch. As the chair slid backwards, one of the legs snagged on a small crack in the stained linoleum floor of the diner. The snagged leg held the base of the chair, whilst the seat and Blanca toppled backwards like a building toppling down into gravity’s embrace. As Blanca fell backwards, her legs flared upward striking the edge of the table. As Blanca’s legs struck the tables edge a cry of pain leapt from her lips, the box lid flying from her grasp. The box lid sailed in the air for what seemed an age as Blanca fell backwards, with a clatter the box lid hit the floor and slid behind one of the booths. The table and package slowly fell away from Blanca, the stopwatch reached the last few seconds of its life.

Blanca’s arms flailed as she fell backwards, her eye’s watching the table fall as well. As the wooden back of the chair connected with the cold dirty ground, the stopwatch display hit 00:00. In the blink of an eye a small square of explosive hidden under the stopwatch detonated.

With a large bang, the explosive ripped apart the two glass jars, the table diverting the plume of the explosion away from Blanca. As the sound ripped across the room, the lycan who was seated on the couch leapt to his feet. His eyes wide with surprise. The shards of glass and silver were spun through the air like a gleaming tornado of death. Shards no bigger than a lighter were whipped across the room too fast for the human eye to catch. As the shards spun out in a circle of death, no one was spared in a remorseless search for flesh. From her position on the floor, Blanca could only watch as the lycan’s chest was penetrated and ripped open by half a dozen shards of silver and glass. Shard after shard dug deep into the walls, floor and roof of the diner. In mere seconds the explosion had subsided. Blanca lay there on the ground, her back to the floor. All she could hear was the ringing from the explosions and the pounding of her own heart. As Blanca lay on the floor, she sucked in the singed air of the explosion. After what seemed like an eternity, Blanca began to slow her breathing and her heart. Slowly the pounding of her heart gave way to the death gasps of the wounded lycan less than ten feet from her. Gradually Blanca began to feel several searing pains in her chest and stomach. Using deliberate and gentle movements, Blanca bent herself forward slightly and ran her eyes down her torso. Her eyes were met with a terrifying sight. Sticking out from her left breast was a shard of silver, showing two inches of gleaming silver. A second smaller shard was visible, sticking out just below Blanca’s ribcage. A third shard, a deadly dagger of glass, stuck cruelly out of her navel.

With a trembling hand, Blanca took hold of the silver shard sticking out just below her right ribs. Gritting her teeth, her fingers gripped the shard. With a hard yank, Blanca tore the shard from her flesh. The silver shard gradually left her flesh, a third of it stained crimson with Blanca’s blood. Her mind and body were flooded with pain, as the first shard left its fleshy sheath. A cry of animalistic pain leapt from her mouth as her mind swam with pain. Resting for a moment, Blanca drew in a couple of deep breaths to clear her head as her trembling hand found the shard that protruded grotesquely from her navel. The razor sharp edges of glass bit Blanca’s fingers as they found purchase on the smooth surface. Blanca gave the shard a slight tug. A new wave of pain surged through Blanca’s damaged body. Another cry of pain escaped Blanca as the glass shard gradually gave way. As more of the shard escaped Blanca’s stomach, Blanca wrapped her fingers around the razor edges of the shard. The biting pain in her fingers barely registered in her pain ravaged mind, as she tore the shard from her flesh. Two inches of blood and glass slid easily from her flesh, as her fingers bled onto the other end of the glass shard. With her mind awash with pain, Blanca tore the final shard from her breast. The curved shard of silver came away slowly, tearing at Blanca’s soft breast. A roar of pain escaped from Blanca’s mouth as the hooked shard tore out of the flesh. A spray of crimson leapt like a shadow after the silver shard. Blanca tossed the shard across the room, slowly feeling the wounds closing up.

Blanca slowly rose to a sitting position, her ears ringing with the sound of the explosion, her white top stained with crimson blossoms. Her eyes still blurry from the blast began to focus on the small devastation around the diner. The table at her feet had shielded her from the blast, but a couple of shards of silver and glass had torn their way through the dirty plastic. As her eyes cleared and her hearing returned slightly, the death gasps of the wounded lycan reached her ears. Blanca could see that the lycan had a single shard had pierced the throat of the lycan. As her ears drank in the death gasps of the lycan soldier, knowing she could do nothing for him, a knot of remorse began to tighten in Blanca’s stomach, as a single tear escaped her blurry eye, and slid silently down her dirt stained cheek. With a wordless voice, Blanca whispered in the tone of falling snow

"Rest well brave lycan."

Slowly and stiffly, Blanca rose unsteadily to her feet. As she reached her full height, the room spun madly. Blanca’s eyes closed as she swayed. Blanca staggered a couple of steps towards the booth where the box lid had drifted. Suddenly her leg gave way under her. Blanca dropped to a knee. Drawing air deep into her lungs, Blanca steadied herself. Casting her eyes forward, Blanca searched for the lid of the box. At first her probing eyes saw only the dozens of glass and silver daggers erupting wildly from the chairs, tables and walls. As Blanca’s eyes slid over the damaged furniture of the diner a single corner caught her eye. Blanca staggered forward, her legs shaking and unsteady underneath her. Reaching down, Blanca’s fingers gripped the lid. As she lifted the box lid, her eyes drank in the small note stuck to the underside of the box lid. Silently her eyes read off the note.

St Mary’s church had been torched nearly ten years ago. The fire had been intense, eating away at the wooden walls of the building. The blackened ground belched four large wooden posts, all of them not more than six feet high and tattooed with the scars from the arson. Blanca crept through the shadows of the trees near the ruined church. The moonlight illuminated the ruined structure, revealing three figures in its silvery shroud. Blanca edged nearer, using the shadows as a blanket. Hiding in the shadows, Blanca’s eyes scanned the scene. Two figures were hunched over in what appeared a kneeling position, with the third figure standing over them, a single light from a cigarette casting a gloomy light over the scarred face. All of a sudden the standing figure turned slightly and looked directly into Blanca’s hiding place. With a deep booming voice that echoed across the empty space

"Blanca! I know you’re out there, now show yourself. Unless you would rather watch your parents die on their knees." Blanca remained silent, weighing up her decision.

"Last chance Blanca," the figure cried out. Blanca rose from her hiding place and called back

"Alright, I’m coming out." With those words, Blanca began moving forwards, down the slight slope to the ruined church. Without appearing hurried, Blanca moved faster into the ruined church.

Blanca made her way through the tangle of beams that had once been the main entrance to St Mary’s church. Blanca slid past a warped beam and entered what had been the main part of the church. As Blanca stepped into the belly of the church, her eyes were drawn to the kneeling couple off to one side. To Blanca’s right, the third person stood taking a deep drag of his cigarette. The dim light from the cigarette tip illuminated a single curved scar upon the forehead of the smoking figure. The figure let the cigarette fall to the floor before grinding it with his foot. The figure moved closer, his eyes glowing an unholy red.

"Hello Blanca, I assume you need no introduction to these two?" the smoking figure spat, motioning to the two crouching figures to Blanca’s left. Blanca’s eyes drifted to the two figures, one male and one female. Both wore tattered remnants of high end clothing, both were aged in their mid forties. The male was balding, and what little hair remained on his head, was silver streaked with black. The man’s torso had once been firm and muscular, but the muscle had long since given way to fat. A scruffy layer of stubble coated the lower portion of the man’s face. The woman had once been pretty, but her face was caked in dirt and scratches. Tangled strands of red hair hung over her face, as her dark eyes glared up at the Vampire. A tattered and ripped blouse hung around her shoulders.

Blanca shook her head in disbelief, for many years she had lived thinking her parents were dead, yet here they were kneeling in the dirt mere feet in front of her. Slowly she felt her rage building, deep inside her. Suddenly it dawned on her what she had been seeking all the time she spent in the gutter and in Wolfgang’s home. With a cry of pure hate, Blanca charged and swung her left fist at the vampire.

"Release my family, now!" she cried, spitting fury at the vampire. The larger vampire caught her punch in one hand and glared at her.

"Whatever begins in anger ends in shame Blanca." With those words, the vampire began crushing Blanca’s fist inside his own. A cold fury descended upon the red eyes of the vampire as the sound of grinding bone filled Blanca’s ears. An almost involuntary scream tore itself from Blanca’s throat. As the pain tore up her arm, Blanca felt her legs giving way. The force of the vampire’s grip drove Blanca to her knees. As Blanca dropped to her knees, her head lowered in a gesture of submission. In a voice that could have chilled ice, the vampire spoke

"What do you want most of all Blanca?" in an almost inaudible whisper Blanca spoke

"To see my parents free, and to spend the rest of my life with them."

"And what would you do to see that come true?" asked the vampire

"I would give my dying breath to see that happen." Replied Blanca

"Then you need to hear what I have to say"