The werewolf either slipped through or broke the remaining chains. This animal held no resemblance to the docile creature the vampires knew. She bared her teeth and growled viciously. Victor yelled, "It can't be!" He tried to run, but she pounced and clamped onto his neck with her huge fangs. Within seconds, she had decapitated him and sent the disembodied head soaring across the room.
The vampires holding Sarah and Connor scattered. Cassandra's group had not seen Elisabeth yet. One of them caught sight of her and screamed, "Werewolf!" as he ran. Cassandra fled with the others, but not before driving a stake into Jackson. He lay motionless on the ground.
The werewolf jumped to Jackson's body and pulled the stake from his chest with her teeth. She nudged him with her nose then licked his face, her demeanor shifting to the gentle wolf he knew. She sat, lifted her muzzle to the sky, and let out a mournful, grief stricken howl that stabbed both Sarah and Connor through to their core. As they approached Jackson's body, Sarah sobbed uncontrollably. The wolf looked up at them, then lay on the floor with her head on Jackson's chest, whimpering.
Her body began to morph back to human form, so Connor grabbed a sheet and wrapped it around her. Elisabeth rose to her knees and gazed at Jackson, then to Sarah and Connor, shaking her head. "No, no, please, no!" She collapsed onto Jackson. "You can't leave me, you can't, please!" She lay with her hands and head across his chest heaving painful, soul-shattering sobs. Connor and Sarah sat on the floor, helpless to comfort her. All three mourned as they hovered over Jackson's lifeless body. Elisabeth knelt again and touched her left hand to his face. "My ring. I have to find my ring, it's all I have left."
Connor held her shoulders. "I'll find it. You stay here."
Sitting cross legged, Elisabeth held Jackson's hand in her lap, gazing at his face. "We have to take him home."
"We will," said Connor returning with ring.
She stood and put it on. "Let's go."
Connor moved to pick up Jackson, but she stopped him. "Let me." She gently lifted him, as if he were a sleeping child, and carried him to the car.