"This is just one of the reasons I told you two not to go," Reuben stated. From the tone of his voice I could tell he was stressed and worried, but he was also doing his best not to let me know how stressed and worried he was.

He added, "I can be there by tomorrow evening. I just need a few hours here to make arrangements at the club, then I can be on the road."

I was standing alone next to the creek while I talked with Reuben on the phone. Samantha had wandered into the trees to my left, for some reason she wanted to find the spot where she died. And Jessica had gone to speak with Daniel and Kathryn, I could see the three of them about twenty meters away, standing next to the baseball diamond.

Jess was explaining to the other two that the five of us were going to team up and save the Family, and she'd be telling them the terms that Sam and I dictated.

My attention returned to my phone and I shook my head, "Sam said not to, and I agree with her. We'd both be a lot happier if you stayed put Reuben. I know you want to help and it probably sucks feeling left out? But we'd rather have you there keeping an eye on things at the club."

He sighed, "I don't like it Tara. I'm going to come out and say it, I don't trust Jessica right now. The situation is too risky."

"We're being careful," I told him. I cut my voice to a whisper and added, "Anyways right now I think our only option to just up and leave would be to kill Jess, Daniel, and Kathryn. Neither Sam or I want to do that, and I'm sure you wouldn't want us to kill Jessica."

After a few moments of silence, Reuben said "If it comes down to it, you two do what you have to do to stay safe. I liked Jessica, but you and Samantha and I are family."

That brought a smile to my face, "Thanks Reuben. And that's why we want to keep you out of this. If things go really badly here we want to know at least one of the three of us is safe."

"Just don't let that happen ok?" he stated. "I know you and Samantha made an offer to Megan, you two are obligated to come back here and follow through on that."

I grimaced, he didn't even know about Phoebe but he was right. Sam and I both had candidates waiting for us, and we weren't going to let them down. "I promise we'll be back Reuben. Two weeks at the most, and we'll be in touch. I have to go now."

Jess was heading back towards me with Daniel and Kathryn in tow. It was time for the five of us to start making plans.

I wasn't particularly happy to be working with Kathryn again. She was part of Cynthia's clique and treated both Sam and I like crap. Daniel wasn't actively an asshole to us, but he never spoke out against the others when they were.

"Ok Tara," Reuben said. "Keep in touch, stay safe."

I disconnected and tucked my phone into my hoodie pocket as the other three joined me.

Jess asked, "How is Reuben?"

"He's fine," I replied. "He sends his regards."

Daniel spoke up next, "Hello Tara. You probably won't believe me, but it's nice to see you again."

Kathryn wasn't as cordial, "What the fuck is Samantha doing wandering around the woods?"

"Let's go find out," Jess suggested, and the four of us moved into the trees to join my girlfriend.

Sam was standing next to a gnarly older tree about four or five meters away from the creek. She looked up as we joined her and said "Hi Kathryn, hi Daniel. Has Jess filled you in?"

"She told us you two agreed to help us," Daniel said. "Now I'm hoping we're about to get to the 'what the fuck is going on' part of the conversation."

My girlfriend turned and leaned against the tree as she nodded "Yeah ok. Daniel, Kathryn, listen up and don't interrupt. This might sound crazy but Jess can back me up on at least some of it."

Samantha then dove right in with the lecture. She told them about Isabelle's letter and journal, but she skipped the stuff about the ancient blood and the old book, and she didn't mention the money or all the experiments and other evil shit our matriarch did to her. Basically she told them about Isabelle's suspicions and observations about something nasty happening to our Family's elders.

Then she explained our theory that the elders were possessed by Slúag Marb. We believed these creatures had taken control of the Family and were basically acting like farmers, keeping the Family as free-range livestock. After a hundred and twenty years none of the vamps knew how to hunt or fight, none of them knew their own history or their own abilities. They didn't even know they were essentially slaves.

Sam pointed out that our matriarch all but confirmed that at the end, when she said she, Molly and James were going to consume Reuben and Sam and me. And she said that the real Isabelle was long gone.

Jessica told the other two vamps that she saw Isabelle's letter and Sam was speaking the truth. She also acknowledged what our matriarch said at that final meeting. And Jess explained that at the time, she'd been coerced by Cynthia and Isabelle to turn the three of us in. She knew we were to be executed, and she saw Cynthia was the one using the silver-lined crossbow bolts. She agreed with me and Sam, that Cynthia likely killed the other enforcers, at Isabelle's order.

After all that, there was a minute or two of silence as Daniel and Kathryn both processed everything they'd just heard.

Kathryn spoke up first, "So was Cynthia one of these Slub Marge things too?"

"I don't think so," Sam replied. "I'm pretty sure she was just the same old Cyn. She collaborated with them though. They probably stroked her ego, told her how she'd be one of them, one of the elite. She probably didn't even know what they were. I know you were friends with her Kathryn, but you're not stupid. You know she thought she was better than the rest of us. She'd have been all over it if they talked her up like that."

The blonde vampire started to scowl but it quickly shifted to a sigh. "You're right. She hated that you were promoted ahead of her Samantha, and she never understood why you kept pounding the pavement even after you were in charge. And once she replaced you, she'd go on about how she was a leader and her place was with the elders, not out on the streets with the troops."

"So I'm not sure I believe everything you've just said," Daniel stated, "But I've seen with my own eyes what's been happening over the last few years. I'm wondering now what we're actually going to do about it? What's the plan?"

Sam glanced at me then Jess, then looked at the other two enforcers. "I believe your last two elders are possessed, the way Isabelle, Molly and James were. They are Slúag Marb, but for whatever reason they're not as capable or militant as the other three. Whatever, the point is they're not vampires, they're not your elders, and they're not acting in the interest of the Family."

She took another deep breath then stated "The solution is to eliminate them both, and any vampire loyal to them. Like a cancer, they need to be removed so the rest of the Family can become healthy again. Once the pair of them are gone, Jessica can take over as your new matriarch. The two of you can be her lieutenants, and together the three of you can save the Family."

Daniel's eyebrows went up and he asked "Are you insane?"

"If you don't want our help," I stated firmly, "Sam and I will be happy to head on home right now. Jessica has been begging us to come back and help. We're here, this is what we're offering."

Kathryn asked "You don't want to stay and take over? You used to be top enforcer Samantha, you could rule the family yourself once the last two elders were gone."

My girlfriend shook her head, "Not interested. Me and Tara have a better life in Winnipeg, and we'll be heading back there in fourteen days or less."

Daniel demanded, "So how the hell are we supposed to kill two vampire elders, who may or may not be vampire-eating supernatural creatures?"

I shrugged, "We've already killed three of them. They're just as susceptible to silver as we are, maybe even more so."

"About that," Samantha said as she looked from Jess to Daniel to Kathryn. "So you're all carrying guns now, loaded with silver?"

Daniel and Kathryn both nodded, Daniel replied "After what you did to Isabelle and the two elders, Olivia ordered that we had to start using the same weapons."

I asked, "So what are you carrying? What's it loaded with?"

Kathryn pulled a large heavy-looking revolver from under her jacket.

"Ruger Super Blackhawk in forty-four magnum," she stated as she held it up for Sam and I to see.

It was a single-action revolver, it looked like the sort of thing you'd see in a Western movie. It appeared to be almost brand new, the blueing was sharp and the dark wood grips didn't have any signs of wear.

She added, "Same sort of thing you two used, hollow-point bullets with a pinch of powdered silver in the tip."

Daniel revealed the shotgun he had under his overcoat, "Winchester Defender, twelve-gauge pump-action. Loaded with assorted silver shot."

The shotgun looked like it had been around. There was a light brown patina on the barrel where tiny rust spots had taken hold, I could see plenty of scuffs and scratches on the receiver, and the black plastic of the pump grip and stock showed substantial wear and tear.

Sam seemed to be impressed as she commented, "I definitely don't want to be on the wrong end of either of those."

I nodded noncommittally as I looked at the two weapons. It was ironic that I wound up being the gun expert. Four years ago I didn't know the first thing about firearms, but after hanging around a gun range for an evening every other week I'd picked up a lot of knowledge.

I knew that model shotgun Daniel carried was old, and wasn't highly regarded. It did the job, but it definitely wasn't high-end. And it probably wouldn't be accurate or effective past fifteen or twenty meters, depending on the skill of the shooter. I had no idea what sort of ballistics he'd get with 'assorted silver shot' but I doubted they had an experienced reloader preparing the shells. I figured anything over ten meters would be a stretch for him.

On the other hand, under five meters it would make an absolute mess out of someone. I also knew it held seven or eight shells, and in experienced hands could have a pretty good rate of fire. It'd be slow to reload though once empty.

Kathryn's six-shooter would probably have a similar range to my forty-five, assuming she had as much practice as me. Her rate of fire would be a lot slower, and she'd be even slower still when it came to reloading afterwards. I knew the bullets were smaller diameter than mine and would hold less silver. Maybe a lot less if she didn't know to manually bore out the tips first. On the other hand, her bullets would hit harder and have much greater penetration than mine. I realized that could mean most of the silver would go clear through and out with the bullet, rather than being deposited inside the target.

In the end I wondered how much training the two of them had, who prepared their ammunition, and how they'd manage in combat.

"What about you two?" Daniel asked. "What are you shooting?"

I lifted up the hem of my hoodie so they could see my holster, "It's a knockoff Colt nineteen-eleven, in forty-five ACP."

They both nodded quietly, but I got the impression neither of them were familiar with it or knew what I was talking about. Which made me think they didn't spend much time hanging out at a gun range. Or if they did, they didn't do it surrounded by firearms enthusiasts who loved talking about guns.

I might have been wrong but my intuition told me if it came down to it, neither of them were going to be as good as I was in a fight. I had a lot of knowledge, and a couple hundred hours of practice and training. I also had my enhanced speed, strength, and reflexes, and I had experience using my weapon in combat. Not that I wanted to put it to the test, but I doubted either Daniel or Kathryn had any of that going for them.

Kathryn looked at my girlfriend and asked, "Samantha, I assume you're armed too?"

Sam shook her head, "I don't have one. Never saw the need, since Tara's packing heat."

Jessica raised an eyebrow, "You're unarmed?"

Sam shrugged, "I still carry a knife."

"What about you Jessica?" I asked as I looked at the redhead.

She shook her head, "I won't use or carry a silver weapon, so there's not much point in giving me a gun."

"To be honest," she added with a frown, "I'm not happy you two brought silver weapons into play. And I'm not happy our remaining elders ordered us to follow suit."

Samantha scowled, "Considering Cynthia was using silver-lined crossbow bolts to kill us all off, we needed to do something to level the playing field."

Jess sighed, "I understand. I still don't like it and I refuse to take part."

I raised an eyebrow, "Even if it leaves you at a disadvantage?"

She looked at me a moment then addressed my girlfriend, "Samantha I know you won't have forgotten what Isabelle had to say on the subject?"

"No," Sam replied. "I haven't forgotten."

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