Prologue: This is the story 18 year old Nathan Dean and his younger sister Erin (16) as they come to Morganville. This is set in a new generation of Morganville…the members of the Glass House, save for Michael, are full grown adults. A lot has changed in Morganville and yet not so much at the same time; some people are frozen in time while others have aged and moved on. Claire and Shane have a smart and sassy daughter called Carrie Alyssa Collins who is currently the same age as Erin. Michael and Eve are struggling with a difficult life as a human-vampire married couple but it is more or less happy.

I have read the books up until Book 13: Bitter Blood so I am going off a fanfiction story as of that point.

Chapter 1: Welcome to Morganville

'Nate, did you see the sign' Erin said from the seat next to him as they drove into the town.

'Yeah, I saw it' Nate replied, not taking his eyes of the road 'so what?'

Erin shrugged 'I don't know, it just seemed a weird thing to say, even as a prank "Welcome to Morganville, just don't stay out after dark?" what kind of cheesy line is that?'

'Don't bother yourself about it sis, drifters like us have got to stay somewhere…and I heard a rumour this is a good place, at least for a little while' Nate replied.

Nate and Erin had been drifting for as long they could remember; their parents had died when they were fairly young…though how and from what they couldn't remember. Erin had been too young to remember much, but Nate had remembered hiding in a closet with her…and someone had broken into their house…and killed their parents. After that they had been taken to an orphanage and been given to a couple but after a few years with foster parents…they had run away. Now here they were, between his street smarts and Erin's intelligence, which was no meagre thing for someone of her age, they got by. Staying in motels, small towns, the occasional pick pocketing to keep their funds up…it was an ok life. They never stayed in any town too long, but Nate had stayed in the one town long enough to learn how to drive, that had helped a lot.

'So what do you know about this place' Erin asked uncertainly 'I've never heard of it' she looked at the map 'in fact it's not even on the map.'

Nate shrugged that off 'not much, but it's out here, we passed the sign didn't we?'

'Yeah' sighed Erin in a resigned voice, she folded the map up and leaned on her arm.

After a few more moments the town and houses came into view 'there we go, told you we had nothing to worry about.'

Erin gave a "Mmm-hm" sort of noise that just showed she was agreeing but not willing to admit it.

'So where are we going to stay' she asked curiously 'this town doesn't look like it has many options.'

'Well let's just drift around ok, see what we can find' Nate replied, trying to be positive.

They noticed something fairly significant though in the fading light of the afternoon as they went around…there was hardly anyone around, no one walking the streets, no civilians, no police officers, no cars, no one riding bikes just the odd dust ball blowing around.

'Whoa…this is creepy, it's like a ghost town' Erin muttered 'where is everyone.'

They continued to slowly drift around the streets but saw no one, not even the UC campus had anybody, but then it was a weekend 'you sure this town is occupied' Erin asked Nate curiously.

'Should be' Nate replied 'been rumours about it for years, vague things mind you…'

Just then Erin shouted so quick it almost made Nate lose control of the car 'wait stop!'

'Jesus sis, you almost made me crash, little warning next time…' he sighed then said 'what is it?'

Erin pointed 'over there, between those two buildings…is that…a person?'

Frowning Nate moved closer to her side to look out, it might have been, he was half in shadow in the alleyway, leaning against one wall, watching their car, standing perfectly still.

Nate got out of his side of the car and stood by his door 'hey over there…where is everyone…hello?'

The figure just stood there, staring back, his hair was blowing slightly in the wind.

Nate frowned for a moment 'hello? Sir?'

Feeling Erin pulling on his shirt Nate bent back down 'what?

'I don't like this…something is wrong.'

Nate reached over to the glove compartment and pulled out a revolver, Erin looked at him 'where the hell did you get that, and why didn't you tell me you had it?'

'You're my sister I'm responsible for you, for us both' Nate replied 'stay in the car, lock the doors.'

Erin looked at he guy, still standing in the shadows, then back at Nate 'oh you are so not going over there.'

'I've got a gun, what do I have to be worried about' Nate replied.

'Famous last words' replied Erin with a cautious tone.

Nate ignored her, closed the car door, moved around the car and headed over the road towards the man.

'Hey…you there, where is everyone' Nate asked curiously, he had his gun raised slightly but wasn't pointing it directly at the man, he didn't want to be unintentionally hostile.

The man stepped out of the shadows to show his face more clearly, he was grinning 'oh…them, their inside…doing the smart thing…unlike some Humans I know.

The man had dark hair, pale skin and was wearing jeans a dirty grey shirt and a dark jacket over the top.

Nate frowned at his words 'what are you talking about?'

The man laughed softly 'I love the naïve…so much fun…you really think that is going to help you' he nodded at the gun.

Nate pointed it at the man 'I think you should back off, before I do something I'll likely regret.'

'Oh you'll regret it alright' the man replied, his voice rising slightly.

Suddenly there was a voice that yelled from further down the street 'hey, get away from him!'

Nate turned to look, the man who had yelled was a young male about his own age, with long blonde hair. He turned back to look at the man but he had moved and was now right in his face, his eyes red and his teeth like fangs.

There was a slam and the blonde guy crashed into him, pinning him against the alleyway 'Glass' the man hissed at blonde angrily 'you meddling dog.'

The one called Glass turned to Nate 'run, take your friend and get out of here now RUN!'

Nate wasn't sure he should leave this guy alone…but he did as he was told, he ran back to the car and leapt into the driver's seat 'what the hell was all that' Erin asked uncertainly.

'Never you mind, come on, we should get to the police station and speak to them' Nate said, putting down the pedal full speed, leaving the two quarrelling young men far behind.

However when they got to the police station they didn't seem highly interested in the situation.

'Michael Glass can take care of himself' the officer on duty said after Nate re-counted the story.

'I don't know who it was' Nate argued 'he just called him Glass.'

The officer laughed 'you clearly aren't from around here are you; there is only one person by the name of Glass in Morganville, the only other Glass was a Sam Glass and he died several years ago.'

'This guy that was going to attack me he…wasn't normal' Nate said 'he looked…odd.'

The officer shrugged 'we have quite a few junkies and criminals wandering about, some of them can be pretty messed up…you from the University kids…you look like you could be.'

'No we…just arrived here' Nate explained.

The officer gave them a long hard look 'I see, one moment' he made a telephone call then came back 'is this your car registration' he showed them a number he'd written down while on the phone.

'Yes' Nate replied 'why?'

'Just checking, welcome to Morganville I guess, word of advice to you, it gets dangerous around here after dark, we discourage people from going out, but we don't stop them…their look out of they do though.'

Nate nodded 'is there somewhere we can stay?'

'We have a couple of apartment buildings…not very luxurious but then…nothing is in this town…I'll give you a map' he handed them a map.

'Thanks' and with that the two of them left, Nate had the feeling there was a lot more to this town than they were telling them.

They opened the door to their new apartment and Erin sighed 'so this is our new home huh?'

Home smelled, home was dank and musty and home needed some serious cleaning.

'This is the best room they had' Nate replied 'I hate to see what their usual was.'

Erin dumped her bags and said 'ok…so what is the plan?'

'First thing tomorrow I'm going to try find work of some kind, something simple but relatively good pay, we have enough money to get by so we don't need a massive income' Nate replied 'and you are going to see if they'll accept you at the University.'

Erin gave him a look of incredulity 'you can't be serious.'

'Hey you are smart and deserve a good education, I can't educate you much more than I already have plus it is a good cover and it is probably safer on the campus' Nate replied.

'I think if I want to be part of the University I have to be in a dorm' Erin replied 'isn't that how these things work?'

Nate shrugged 'there is no harm in asking, if not I'll try and find you a job somewhere and you will study here.'

The next day Erin got up, dirty blonde hair falling around her face as always, and put on some simple yet appropriate looking clothes, hoping she would look ok when she went to speak with the head of the University. Her shirt was black and her jeans blue and clean from the wash she had done the night before. She tied her hair back in a ponytail in an attempt to look more formal and headed towards the University, ignoring the blazing hot sun best she could.

When she got there it was crowded, filled with tall supermodel like girls, jocks, some nerdy looking guys and girls and a fair few skater punk types. Strangely there were none that dressed in the goth or emo style…maybe it was not in fashion here in Morganville, Texas or maybe people had something against it.

On her way to the Head Master's office she passed through the coffee shop area, she wouldn't have stopped or even slowed down but one girl caught her attention, she was smaller than most of the people on campus and sitting alone reading or perhaps studying.

She had dark hair, either very dark brown or black, small face and a petite body with slender curves. She probably wouldn't be considered hot or sexy by most but pretty or cute certainly and she certainly didn't look like she was old enough to be in University.

But then Erin was here to try and get in at 16 so…who was she to judge, she continued on and left the coffee shop.

Erin sat in the Head Master's office as he looked through her papers and details, when he was finally done he said 'new to Morganville is that right?'

Erin nodded 'I know I'm young sir…but I really have a first rate mind, all I'm asking for is a chance.'

'Well you certainly seem like a bright young girl and from what all this says' he waved the papers 'you could join the University…but'

There is always a but Erin thought but didn't say out loud 'yes' she asked instead.

'You would have to live in a dorm at your age…off campus would be…too dangerous for a girl so young' the Head Master replied.

'With all due respect, not a girl, and I have a brother who takes care of me' Erin replied 'what is wrong with that?'

'In any other town perhaps that would be acceptable…but not here…I'm sorry Miss Dean but I have to put my foot down on this one, if you wish to study at this University, you must be in a dormitory on campus.'

Erin sighed and stood up 'fine, forget it.'

'Are you sure, you are turning down what could be an excellent future' the Head Master said uncertainly.

'Family is what matters to me, I may want to learn, but not if it means leaving my brother…so no' Erin replied firmly.

The Head Master nodded 'very well, if you change your mind….'

Erin turned and left 'I won't.'

Later that evening she and her brother were sitting at their dinner table eating takeaway, they still didn't quite trust the kitchen appliances to cook with them.

'You should have agreed' Nate said angrily 'Erin I will always be here for you, I would never go without you…but you had a great chance to learn.'

'Oh don't give me that, we have no idea how long we'll even be staying here' Erin argued 'for all I know we might not be here long enough for it to be worth it.'

'If you had got it I'd arrange for us to stay here' Nate argued 'we are in this together ok.'

'Precisely, which is why I will not live in a dorm away from you' Erin argued 'I need you and you need me.'

He grinned 'sometimes, but you can be a pain in the butt too…it is hard to get my own space.'

She flicked a bit of food at him 'shut up…did you find a job?'

'Yeah, some chop shop, it looked much newer than the other buildings…get the feeling it hasn't been here as long as the others' Nate said 'I will find you something, in the meantime though…you will study, understood.'

Erin scowled 'yes sir.'