“No! No, dad. Not tonight. I'm so tired. So tired." Jenny mumbled. "Can

Larry stay? Just for tonight? I'LL go to the hospital tomorrow.”

Both of her parents gave each other a wary look and then turned to look at me. I nodded back at them.

“Alright sweetheart, Larry can stay. If you start up again we're dialling nine, nine, nine straight away." Ben said.

“Ok, dad." Jenny nodded.

“You need a shower." I noted as I kissed her cheek.

“Urgh. I really do." Happy to talk about anything but what just happened, Jenny gave me a quick squeeze and let me go.

She stood up and slipped out of her pyjamas in front of me as we both heard her parents' footsteps descending the stairs. I noted there wasn't a scratch on her anymore. Even the skin upon which the Locket had come to rest was still smooth and unblemished. It was amazing to see and part of me was grateful even though it only served as a reminder that things were becoming worse and worse.

Whilst Jenny showered, I went into the bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit from the cupboard. My hand was starting to hurt like hell now the adrenaline rush had calmed down. I looked at the injury and saw my ring finger was definitely broken. I sat on the toilet and gritted my teeth as I pulled the digit straight again. White fire shot up my arm and I grunted in pain. I shoved the hand under the cold water tap for a minute.

“Oh my god! What happened?" Jenny's voice lifted from beside me.

Her head was poking out from behind the shower curtain. Her hair was all wet and matted to her skull and her eyes looked worried.

“Stuart was watching the house outside. I punched him. I'm fine, you finish up in there." I dried my hand as painlessly as possible and then tied my ring finger to my middle finger with some bandages and used a few cotton swabs as a makeshift splint.

“Larry? I... I didn't bite you did 17"

“Nope, you just nipped me. Didn't get through the skin." I tried to sound cheerful as I spoke. "Take your time in there."

As Jenny towelled off, I went to change the sheets on her bed. I noticed the little flecks of blood that had splattered over them for the first time and quickly crumpled them up to hide from view. When she returned she seemed much better, albeit still incredibly drowsy. I disrobed down to my underwear as Jenny crawled into bed and joined her a few moments after. She quickly settled into my arms and I made sure to hold her tightly against me.

It wasn't long before she was contentedly snoozing in my embrace. I didn't sleep quite as well, fearing the return of those yellow eyes during the night whilst I slept. It was the early hours of the morning before darkness finally took me.

When we both awoke we were a little shocked to find that it was mid morning. Jenny brought me back to reality by stirring in my arms. As I looked down at her I saw she'd changed. Thankfully this change was much more positive. The constantly worn look about her features and the pallid aspect of her skin had vanished. The sleepy smile she greeted me with was warm and genuine. It wasn't long before I could feel the surge of fresh energy inside her.

It also seemed that her sex drive had lost none of its potency. I felt her lips cushion up against mine, her soft breasts squeezing against my chest and then,

“Ow!" I yelped.

“What?" Jenny was a little puzzled. She'd squeezed my butt. It wasn't exactly an action worthy of a yelp of protest. Plus, it wasn't Like she hadn't done it before.