Andy dragged me out of the car with a firm grip. With his other hand, he carried the trunk as effortlessly as Michael had. If he thought I would be a willing participant to what he had planned, then he was crazier than I gave him credit for. I struggled but his grip was tighter than an iron clasp.

"Whatever sadomasochistic game you are playing with Michael, I don't want any part of it." I was not too fond of listening to someone who was potentially my ex's lover tell me about their bedroom activities, but Andy paid me no heed as he continued to pull me towards the marina.

"Are you implying that I'm sleeping with Michael?" Andy asked with a grimace that suggested his disgust. I looked away, for a moment I had forgotten about the homophobia that was often still prevalent around me. Andy scoffed with a smirk, and I could imagine him rolling his eyes at me behind his sunglasses. "Don't be rude, I didn't mean that kind of master. He's like my new boss."

There was a certain relief to hear that they weren't in a relationship, not that Michael shouldn't be. I tried to shake my arm out of Andy's hold. If I wanted to run away from him I would have to rip my arm in half. That would be unfortunate, especially since this man didn't seem to want to harm me. So far I've been kidnapped, restrained to a bed by my crazy ex, and pushed around by his equally deranged friend. But at least none of them have made a single threat to my life nor asked for ransom money, not that I had any to give, so that seemed like a positive indication that I wasn't going to be tortured or killed by them anytime soon.

Andy led me to the largest yacht parked in the marina. It was an oversized thing with three levels to it. On the side, the word "Dracula" was painted in black letters. These people had a strange sense of humor. A man in white shirt and pants called out to us with open arms and warm hugs.

"Ah, I smell a mother." The stranger said as he patted me hard on my back, sending me a step forward towards what I presumed to be his ship.

"He's kidding. He thinks he's a werewolf." Andy put the trunk down once we were on deck, but never letting my wrist go.

The man seemed harmless enough. He was taller than both of us, with a sturdy muscular build and a tan that was testament to his time outdoors. There was kindness in the wrinkles around his eyes and the laugh lines on his face. The wavy locks that tousled around his strong jaw looked carelessly handsome paired with the ten o'clock shadow. This man could definitely be straight off the cover of a DC Comic about werewolves.

"Always glad to have another mother onboard. Those vampires do yacht party in packs so it's a real bummer when they want dinner and I'm the only morsel onboard."

"He's kidding, just ignore him." Andy smiled and kissed the man fondly on the cheek, still not letting go of my wrist.

"I'm Brian." He extended his hand to me. His grip was firm when we shook. Welcome aboard the Dracula. Fear not, the werewolf thing's a joke."

"Right, the vampire thing too." I mumbled and shook his hand. "I'm Ari."

He gave me a funny look, and glanced at Andy, who just shrugged as he continued to drag me onboard. I thought about screaming; if I entered that cabin, I doubt I would get any more chances to run away, but those two looked like they could easily muffle my cries. And I saw no reason to let them disprove my theory that they meant me no harm.

Brian followed us in. "Did I miss some inside joke on vampires and werewolves?"

Andy shrugged off the question. He flipped on switches alongside the wall and stopped in front of a complicated looking circuit board. The lights came on, there was a crackling on the radio, and I heard the whirling of a fan start somewhere.

He turned to Brian. "We need to make preparations to leave as soon as possible."

"Michael's not coming?"

"He said he'll be right behind us but I think they got to him already." I wondered who they were. The tone of the conversation suggested that there was danger involved. Seeing Michael again was a stabbing reminder of how much I had missed him and despite telling myself that I didn't care about what Michael was up to, the truth was that I was concerned.

So far it sounded like he was in trouble with some sort of mafia.

"What happened to Michael?" I asked when worry got the better of me and I could no longer resist the need to know.

"Don't stress out, Michael's fine. They can't do anything to him when council's still watching so closely. They are only after the files." Andy said to me.

"And where are the files?" Brian asked urgently.

"Everything that's important is here. And we need to keep this one safe because they can use him against Michael. It's best if we leave first."

"Why didn't he come with you?"

"He wanted to get the secondary copies, or burn them before they can get to it."

"Then we should wait for him." Brian said with concern. I agreed with him.

"No, there were five cars, they've got him outnumbered and they'll know we are waiting here for him. They'll be after us once they figure out we've got the files."

They stared at each other for a moment, as though communicating through their eyes.

"Right…" I cleared throat. Whatever was going on, it didn't sound like they needed me here. "So, I don't really like boats. Can you guys go on your fieldtrip without me?"

Brian turned to me, a friendly grin returning to his face. "Don't worry; I've been captain of this baby for two decades. You won't even feel a wave. Just relax and pretend this is a vacation. You are safer here than anywhere else right now, trust me."

"And I bet you miss Michael something terrible after all this time." Andy said.

"Not quite how I would put it." I laughed miserably. Michael raised an eyebrow at that, but I didn't want to explain two years of loneliness and bitterness to him.

"I need sleep, I'm crashing." Andy rubbed his eyes under his sunglasses as he turned away from the controls, and then held up my arm. "Can you keep an eye on him?"

"Yes. Have you fed?"

"I'm fine, just need sleep."

"Alright, I'll just get acquainted with Ari here." Brian smiled as he reached to caress Andy's cheek only to remember that I was watching them. He looked at me awkwardly and scratched his jaw with the half extended hand.

They must be lovers, I guessed, but didn't comment. Instead I tried for another excuse to get myself off the yacht. "I'm sea sick"

"Michael didn't say anything about that." Andy said skeptically. I wanted to reply that of course he didn't; we were together for three months before he dumped me. But I thought it would be safer to keep my mouth shut.

Andy stood akimbo and scoffed at me impatiently, still refusing to let me go. "You must really like the role of the reluctant damsel."

I glared at him.

"Anyway, I suggest you learn to overcome your sea sickness because we'll be on this thing for a very long time."

"Or you can let me leave." I insisted more aggressively, raising my voice to emphasize my point. "I'm already missing work today and I need to study for my midterms. I don't understand why I'm here."

"Look, princess. Michael and I just risked our lives to get you turned and transported here. If you can't spare us a 'thank you' at least don't be a dickweed." Andy grabbed both of my shoulder and shook me, hard. In that moment, his sunglasses fell, revealing two very red and pupil-less eyes. I bit back a shiver. There must be some weird red eye virus going around.

Brian interrupted with a hand over Andy's. Andy relaxed and loosened his grip on me.

"Andy, I'm sure Ari's had a hard day too. Why don't you go to bed and I'll take care of him."

Andy picked up his fallen sunglasses and left, slamming the door behind him in the process. I was left alone with Brian. His eyes were kind and his smile was gentle when he invited me to sit down. I eyed the door.

"I apologize for Andy. He's not a morning person." He said with a wink. "Do you want to sleep? I've heard Michael talk about those drug they invented for turning new bloods, but I never got to experience how well they work. Are you feeling tired?"

I stared at him and frowned, wondering if they were some strange cult of drug addicts. My mind went back to the night before. I remembered a dark basement, being tied to a bed, and an IV drip. But when I woke up I felt well enough that it didn't occur to me to check over myself in great detail. Other than the bruise on my arm from when Andy was dragging me around, I felt fine.

"I'm fine." I decided.

"I'm going to get the boat moving. Do you want to check out the audio visual room? It's my pride and joy."

"I'd rather go home." I knew that I was starting to sound like a broken record player. "My boss is going to flip out if I miss my shift. I'm also near the end of winter quarter, and only one more semester from getting my college diploma. I have no interest in joining your cult so please—"

"Ari, calm down." Brian shushed my rambling. "Come check out my VHS collection. You might as well try to reap the full benefits of your unexpected vacation."

He led me to the down the deck into what looked like an expensively decorated living room. An entire wall of VHS tapes lined the built-in shelves.

"Why don't you relax down here while I get the boat going? When Andy's up, I'll have him show you a tour of Dracula."

I stood in place, staring around and wondering if I could make an escape if Brian left me down here by myself. He patted me on the back, unknowing of the plan I was trying to hatch in my head.

"You are probably still in a bit of a shock at all that's happened so I'll leave you here to process things. If you need anything, I'll be upstairs."

I sat down on the sofa while he went to the shelf to pull down some tapes for me. In order to look less conspicuous, I settled myself between some fluffy pillows and pulled a blanket over myself. I was the perfect image of a content audience member waiting for a movie to start.

After he got the movie started, I said my thanks and watched as he went back up to the pilot house. Here was my chance. If these people won't let me go on the basis of reason, I might as well let myself out. Afterall, I could trust my own judgment and sanity if theirs were failing them.

I stealthily ran up the stairs behind him.

The cabin door was full length fiberglass but Brian's back was turned to the navigation table, so I was able to make it out to the fore deck without him noticing. I kept my footstep light, but my sneakers scratched against the floor. The yacht was already moving, albeit slowly, but there was already a large gap between the deck and the dock. I glanced into the murky freezing water that separated me from land.

It was either risk being held hostage by Andy and Brian or facing the unknown once the boat started heading to wherever it was heading. There wasn't time for hesitation when I decided that I needed to jump before the yacht pulled away further from the dock.

There was a banister so it wouldn't be possible to give myself a running head start. I climbed up to the banister and swung my arms back to give myself some momentum as I leapt. The wind rushed past me in a loud whooshing sound as I propelled myself forward, but as soon as my feet was in midair, I realized that I wouldn't make it across. The water swirled up to meet me in a moment of vertigo. A moment's prayer flickered through my mind.

Suddenly I felt someone pull me up with an arm around my stomach. I turned my head in confusion but what I saw only further perplexed me; Andy was holding me in one arm and pulling us up with the other. It wasn't possible. He was barely taller than me and nearly as thin, how could he have such strength. I squeezed my eyes shut, wondering if I was finally going crazy.

But when I opened my eyes I was already back on the boat. He swung us over the banister so easily that I barely felt us land. I twisted away with a hard push and turned back to see Andy staggering back, falling to the ground with a soft thump. Just then a door slammed and heavy footsteps announced Brian running towards us.

"What happened?" Brian shouted when he saw Andy falling over on the deck, and went to him to check for injuries.

I said nothing, my mouth gapping open idiotically. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have thought that Andy was superman. His strength was impossible

"I heard someone out here and thought to check. I told you to keep an eye on him." Andy grumbled weakly. He looked like he was going to pass out. His skin was blotchy and looked like it had suffered from bad sunburn.

Brian looked at me. I was too stunned to say anything. What had happened had defied the laws of physics. I was no physics geek but I just knew that it was humanly impossible.

"Are you alright?" Brian asked Andy.

"I bloody hate the sun. Somebody should shoot the damn thing down." Andy frowned at the sky. It was barely sunny, the fog was just clearing and there were still clouds shading the sun. Then he turned to me with a glare that made me twitch. "Don't you dare try that again, or I'm throwing you into the water next time. Screw orders."

Although I could feel that he meant his threat, I was too troubled by what had taken place to care. "How—how did you do—I jumped…" I stuttered

"We are vampires. We've been telling you that." Andy said impatiently. He got up and dusted his jeans, then turning to Brian, said, "You better make sure he understands what we are, or he's going to try that again."

But I didn't need them to explain anymore, because I was starting to finally believe them.