My breathing quickened. The fog was lifting, making me even more confused. I was thinking everything twice, almost as if trying to filter the world through an interpreter. A wave of fear took me when I realized it was the curse. I wasn’t just holding it, it was a part of me. The damned thing was alive?

“Rachel…” Ivy said, and I winced. Pain iced through me as a wave of panic I didn’t understand rose. I could move, but I couldn’t, wrapped up tight.

“Where…where are we going?” I managed, then opened my eyes wide when we turned a corner and I almost rolled off the seat. Ivy was up front, and Edden was driving, his neck red and his motions quick.

“The church,” Ivy said.

A barrier of plastic separated us. “Why?” I had to get out of here. Everything would be better if I could just run. I knew it.

Her eyes were black in fear. “Because when vampires are afraid, they go home.”

The curse inside me was gaining strength, and I wiggled. “I have to get out,” I breathed, knowing it was the curse but unable to stop myself.

Jenks squeezed between the ceiling and the divider, and I blinked when he stopped inches from my nose. “Rachel,” he coaxed, “look at me. Look at me!”

My darting eyes, following the passing building, returned to him.

“You’re okay,” he soothed, but his voice was making me nervous. “The EMTs gave you something to relax you. That’s why you can’t move. It will wear off in about an hour.”

It was wearing off now. “I have to get out,” I said, and Jenks darted back when I threw off the blanket and sat up.

“Whoa!” Edden said from behind the wheel. “Rachel, take it easy. We’ll be there in five minutes, and then you can get out.”

I wiggled the door latch to no avail. It was a cop car, for God’s sake. “Stop the car,” I demanded, looking for a way out and not finding it. Panic was settling in. I knew I was safe. I knew I should ease back in the seat and sit. But I couldn’t. The curse inside me was stronger than my will. It hurt, and when I moved, the confusion was less.

“Let me out!” I shouted, smacking a fist into the plastic.

Edden swore when Ivy turned in her seat, and with one motion, broke the plastic with a sharp back fist. “Tamwood! What the hell are you doing!” he shouted, the car swerving as he tried to watch the road and Ivy both.

“She’s going to hurt herself,” she said, clearing the shards and wiggling over the seat.

I pressed into the corner of the car, scared of her. “Stay away from me!” I exclaimed, trying to get control of myself, but I couldn’t.

“Rachel, relax,” she said, but her hand was reaching for me.