There was a flash, quick and bright, that emitted from one of the many dark buildings in Santa Carla—like it was possibly a gun being shot, or something letting off a large spark. It didn't make a sound, and went unnoticed by the few people nearby. As if there hadn't been a flash of white light at all.

In all, it had lit up the whole building for a split second, and if the young men and women who were there smoking hadn't been so oblivious to everything, someone would have noticed how it came from one specific room—the run-down, old locker room that had once been used by the municipal sports teams of that area.

There were about four people already there—teenagers—that were filling up the locker room with smoke from what they were doing. The smoke that went into one of the group showers could have been mistaken for steam, as there was suddenly a figure standing there, the smoke thick enough to cover his identity, both of his hands on the door frame, keeping him upright. All the while, him being completely nude. The female of the group, who hadn't taken in as much yet, saw him there, her eyes going wide because of what wasn't being covered below his waist.

She patted the boy sitting next to her on the shoulder, and he took one glance at her before turning his gaze to what she was looking at. He squinted his eyes, probably thinking he was hallucinating, until the mysterious man spoke. "What city am I in?"

There was a silence between all of them, and all of the teenagers stared at him, mouths wide open, along with their eyes. "Well?" he husked, still waiting for an answer. Then the girl of the group got up and ran out like a bat out of Hell, leaving the three boys behind. "Where am I?" he yelled.

"S- Santa Carla, Sir," one of them stuttered. Jeremy tilted his head to the side.

"Hm." He pondered for a moment, wondering where Jo could be right then. Or anyone else, for that matter. "Nice clothes," he complimented smoothly, his mind switching gears to something entirely different. The three boys exchanged weird and worried looks.

"Thank you, Sir," said the same one from before. There are three of them, he thought. Shit.

"You," he said, pointing at one of them. "Leave. Now." The boy scrambled out of the room, much like the girl had, and he might as well have squealed. He examined the last two for a moment, sensing the tension, and then smiled in what was supposed to be a reassuring way. "What size you wear?" he asked; the one that hadn't been giving him a pleasant look.

God, I hate kids.

The kid looked at him in surprise, the answer caught in his throat. There was no time to answer, anyways, for Jeremy had already lunched forward, a blur to their eyes. He aimed for their necks, for he didn't want to get their clothes dirty if he was to wear them later.

There was no time to scream, or call for help, because before they had even seen him move, their necks were broken, and they lie on the tiled floor, unmoving. He was able to get the articles of clothing off their paralyzed bodies quickly, his eyes a glowing yellow the whole time. And then, once he had finished, he feasted, for he was quite hungry suddenly, and thought it inhumane to just send them into the streets naked and scared. So, he would just end their horrible human lives now. But he made sure to save one of the two.

Then there was another person crawling out of the smoke-filled group shower, and Jeremy recognized him right away, a smile breaking out on his face. "Jo," he said genuinely. "I saved you one."

Max followed Kate up the steps, calling after her quietly. "Kate," he pestered.

"What." When they reached the top, she spun around and faced him, obviously bothered by him being there now. "I'm tired."

"I…I was just wondering when these people would show up," he said. "I would like to meet them as soon as I can."

"I don't know," she sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't know. It could take an hour or two for all of them to be here. But they won't even show up here. It'll be some random place in the city. I told Jo to call me from wherever he is, and then we can meet them," she said, walking back into her kitchen, which was now empty of her daughter.

"Thank you." He hadn't remembered if he properly thanked her yet for this; so he would do it now. "This means a lot."

"Well, like you said, I owe you this," she pointed out. "It's no problem." She must have assumed he was about to leave, because then she said, "It was good seeing you again, Max."

"It was good seeing you, too," he returned with a smile.

They walked to her front door, said their goodbyes, Kate stating she would call him when they showed up, and then Max left, disappearing down the road in his car.

He had barely gotten through his front door when he smelt the presence of others, and he stopped in place, smelling the air and looking around slowly. He took one more step inside, shutting the door silently. As it closed, it revealed the two boys standing there. Serious, as always.

Max seemed to relax, if only a little. He was still wondering where Thorn was. "Ah, hello, boys," he greeted. "I wasn't expecting you to—"

"What did you do, Max," David said, cutting him off. Max looked a bit taken aback.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, giving an uneasy laugh to try and lighten the atmosphere.

"We know you did something," the blonde persisted, getting cross with him. David looked to Dwayne, the only other Lost Boy in the room with him. Dwayne nodded once, confirming that he supported that idea. "So. What did you do?" he asked again, raising his eyebrows in expectancy.

"I'm sorry, David, but I don't think I know—"

"Damn it, stop! We know there's something going on that you know about and we don't," David yelled.

"And you're nervous," Dwayne added nonchalantly, eyeing Max and sensing the anticipation just rolling off of him. The two continued to look at him, wanting answers, because he obviously had them.

"I…" Max hesitated for a moment before going on. "You boys are rowdy," he said—the one word that would describe their little group. "And, frankly, I'm getting quite sick of it." Good job, Max; go for the 'angry parent' approach. "So I went to see an old friend today, to see if it could be fixed. Because apparently, my methods just aren't working," he said rather matter-of-factly.

"You still didn't answer my question," David said, now a little more confused and anxious than he was before. "What did this 'old friend' do?"

"She—" There was a reaction to that word; one that Max didn't like, and his smile slipped, if only just a little. "She just did what I asked. And what I ask now, please, is that you cooperate."

Then the phone rang, the noise ringing throughout the house. From the kitchen, Paul yelled, "I'll get it!" and the noise stopped as he answered. Dwayne stepped aside to allow Max access to the kitchen doorway, and Max pushed open the door fully and walked over to the phone. "Uh…Who? Max!" He turned his head about 90 degrees and handed the phone over to him, stretching out the cord. "Some chick." Of course, Paul's thoughts went as far as thinking Max had a new chick in his life, and how much he wanted to see her because her voice was rough and sexy and how much more he wanted to—He stopped himself there because everyone had suddenly turned to look at him. Like they were daring him to finish his unspoken sentence.

Then the others just ignored Paul's dirty and very weird thoughts so they could tune in on the conversation—as rude as that was; none of them really thought much of it. "Oh! That's great! Thank you, Kate. See you soon. Bye." Max hung up, smiling so big it was scary not knowing why.

"Well?" asked David.

"Well, they have started to arrive," Max said simply.

There was a lot of discussion going on in between the trip from Max's house to their destination—a lot of the 'discussion' being just plain yelling. Max remained calm and collected the whole time, probably because he was too damn happy to even comprehend that his boys were not. "So you're telling me, that you went behind our backs to—"

"Max!" someone called from several yards ahead, cutting David off. They all shut up and listened, following behind Max slowly. They were more curious and confused than angry, anyways. Even though Max had explained almost everything.

A woman ran up to them, her hair matching the dark scenery around them, making her nearly invisible to human eyes. In fact, she could barely see the boys with the poor lighting. She looked as happy as Max did, though for completely different reasons. This was the 'chick' that Paul had so badly wanted to meet earlier. Though as he took in her appearance, she seemed middle-aged (even though she didn't dress it) and still very pretty—if you took a washcloth to her face, that is.

Eh…She's still sexy, Paul decided. Especially her voice…

"Oh." Max had almost skipped introductions. "Kate, these are my boys: David, Paul, and Dwayne." He gestured to all of them accordingly as he said their name, and then gestured to Kate. "Boys, this is Katherine."

"Hi," she greeted happily, waving once.

"Hey," Paul said back, flashing a grin at her. The way he said it made Max a little uncomfortable, and he quickly moved on.

"So, is this the building?" he asked.

"Yep! Right this way."

Another light—the same kind as before: very quick and bright. The smoke was starting to clear out of the locker room, since they left the door open to air it out. Jeremy and Joseph automatically turned to look at the dark group shower, Jeremy stepping towards it slowly, cautiously. "Another one," Temperance said with fake glee. Jo gave her a surprised look, thinking how unpleasant she seemed. "Is this one gonna be naked, too?"

Jeremy looked into the tiled room, down at the floor, to see a young woman sprawled out on her stomach, looking aghast. Her hands were shaking. "Hello, beautiful," he greeted, grinning. Because, yes, she had nothing covering her, and she was definitely something worth admiring. She looked up at him with her big round, eyes, their color so dark they seemed to be black.

It looked like she was trying to speak, but she couldn't get the words out. She realized she was actually nude, and in her embarrassment tried to cover herself up with her hands while crossing her legs, backing up against the dirty wall. Her skin was burning hot, so the surface of the wall felt cold to her, and she flinched at the sharp pain. Jeremy felt sympathy for her. "Hey, you," he said, leaning out of the half-room to try and flag Temperance in, but she shook her head.

"No way."

"Yes way," Paul said automatically as they filed in, looking all around, until their eyes just settled on the two standing there, with Jeremy leaning against the entrance for the shower, in view. "What way?"

"There's a naked chick behind him," Temperance answered, nodding towards the brunette. Paul was there faster than anyone could say, "Hot…" Jeremy was right there blocking him entrance, each elbow resting against the wall casually. The blonde stopped close in front of him—not even a foot. He had to look down at him.

"Hi," he said smoothly, a lazy but large grin stretching across his tanned face. "Y'all don't get to see this enough? Nice. And I like some weed, too." He could smell it on him. They were trying to—kind of—return the favor by discreetly taking in a whiff of the air. There was nothing they could really pin-point to him, except the awful smell that overpowered all others. It was something they really couldn't describe.

Paul sauntered back slowly, having his "vampire space" just invaded, practically. "I bet we could just call Star down here," he mumbled to the others, laughing, barely audible.

"Let me see," Kate demanded politely, and Jeremy moved to the side for her.

"Sure thing." She kneeled down by her, speaking gently and quietly, reassuring her. They heard the conversation going on, and decided to start their own. "So," Jeremy started, stepping over to Jo and putting an arm around his shoulders, looking at the group of three boys in front of him. "Are you the lucky guys?"

"Lucky," Dwayne mumbled, as if to say, "Yeah right."

"Hey, I'd say so." And you get to have my—I mean, Jo. But they weren't even sure what was going on. Not completely, at least. Star and Marko had absolutely no idea, as they weren't even there. "And, by the looks of it, it's just us three."

"Oh, no," Max interrupted. "There is more. David, where are Star and Marko?"

"Home," he answered, emphasizing the word bitterly.

"So…" Jo was trying to get this right. "Two more are coming?"

"Yes." Kate budged in, walking out of the large shower room. "Honey," she said to her daughter, "can you please run home quick and grab some clothes? Possibly for more than one person." Kate threw to her the keys to their car and she silently did as told. Dwayne couldn't help but stare at her as she left. She was, after all, something "special." And odd. He found her beautiful though, despite her bland personality they all witnessed. Well, she had just the prettiest and lightest skin for a human, with bouncy purple hair and dark freckles dotting from cheek to cheek. The only reason he could see those freckles was because of his sight—she obviously tried to cover them up with make-up. Though he didn't know why; freckles were always something he liked.

"Alright, so now we wait," Kate said while clasping her hands together. They all sat there in silence, some sitting on a red bench and others just standing. Someone sighed, loud and dramatic, before there was another blinding flash, and then there was a crash in the back end of the room, behind the last row of lockers. Everyone turned to look there, and without hesitating, the standing female of the group started walking towards the noise, passing by the rows of lockers to the very back. Max wanted to go with her, in case this one was shaken up like the others and would harm her. But then again, if this was another girl and she would be unclothed, he didn't want to see her.

"What the fuck?" snapped a high and irritated voice, and there was another bang as she probably hit or kicked one of the lockers. They all tried peering around the corner to see if they could get a look, because this one was absolutely pissed. Not even Kate's patient tone of voice could calm her down. And she demanded to know where her clothes were. "You damn witches. Damn you. You pervert! Why don't I have clothes on? Just a minute ago I was sitting in my room."

"Oh," Kate said as she went on complaining, having backed away into the aisle near the others. "I know her." How could she not? No one could forget someone as bitchy as this. And she used to teach her. She sighed.

Just then Temperance returned, pushing open the heavy and run-down door, carrying a bag that was presumably filled with clothes. "What took you so long?" Kate asked her. She got a shrug as an answer.

"I brought clothes."

"Give them here, then!" the girl shouted, still out of sight from everyone but Kate. She was handed a pair of dark blue jeans, slim in size, and a regular black tee shirt. They heard a very faint rustling as she squeezed into them, accidentally banging into the locker again in the process. "Jesus, whose are these?"

Temperance bluntly said, "Mine."

"Well, goddamn, girl! You're like a size zero!"

"Those jeans are a four, actually," she corrected.

"You have no boobs," the young girl said before walking out from behind the row of lockers, still trying to pull the back of the pants up farther, even though they covered her. The clothes were tight, and a band of skin was showing in-between the pants and shirt, her breasts looking probably bigger than they actually were, threatening to spill over the top. The men in the room gawked. Well, Max was only staring because he thought the outfit was highly inappropriate.

Her hair was some sort of orange, almost considered red, and freckles of even lighter value decorated the bridge of her nose, accentuating her deep green eyes. And she had a curvy body, as well, which the straight men in the room were just drinking up. "Everyone, this is Holly," Kate introduced, gesturing to her. Holly sneered at them, smiling as sarcasm and fake-enthusiasm radiated from her expression. "Holly Venice."

"Holly J," she said, telling them right off the bat to not call her otherwise. "Don't wear it out."

"Where do you get the J from?" Paul asked curiously. "What's it stand for?"

"None of your business," she said simply. "Now, I think I'm a long ways from home, aren't I?"

Kate answered, "Depends. Did your father move again?"

"Of course. Virginia, this time. Are you still living in Washington? Is that where we are?"

"California."

"Oh, goody," she gasped, her eyes widening.

"Cut the sarcasm, would you?" Kate asked, starting to get annoyed by her rudeness.

"Wait a second," David said, starting to get confused all over again. "How old are you, again?" She looked pretty young, no older than twenty.

"Seventeen, you nosy people. How old are you?"

"Never mind," he said slowly, eyes narrowing. Wow, she is pushy.

"Ah!" They looked at Kate because of her sudden outburst, and she slapped her hand to her forehead. "I forgot about the other!" She snatched the brown bag from Temperance, running to the other side of the locker room where the group shower was, and where Genesis still lay.

They started to laugh at how she just forgot, but Max stayed composed, not finding that funny in any way. "Here she is," Kate announced, walking out with an arm held out, Genesis holding it to steady herself. She had on a leather corset and ripped shorts, and they were starting to wonder what the rest of Temperance's wardrobe looked like.

They were drawn to her black eyes, seeing their own reflection in them, and her messy dark hair went unnoticed when they took a look at her body, which was not unlike Holly's. Except maybe she wasn't as lean, and definitely curvier. She resembled a woman. Hell, for all they knew maybe she was old enough to be a "woman."

Genesis felt like a rabbit being cornered by hunting dogs, and although she was a bit taller than Kate, she would have hid behind her for protection at the slightest movement on their part. "Lovely," Jeremy said, breaking the trance that they seemed to be in. "She's lovely, Kate. Well done." Kate smiled.

"You know I didn't choose." He took her up on that. "David," she said, trying to remember his name, and looked at the blonde she thought was him, if she remembered correctly. "You might want to call the others in here. I have no idea how long it'll take for the next one." David nodded after a moment, and began to mentally reach out to Marko and Star.

Like before, when they were waiting for Holly, they sat around and waited.

"Kate," Max said, getting her attention. He was leaning against the wall right next to her, and he bent his head down to engage in conversation. "How exactly does the timing work?"

"Um…" She thought of how to explain it. "Imagine a map, with us as the start point, and a big line drawing directly north and south from this point. And then it slowly moves east, and their locations are dotted on the map. Every time the line hits one of the locations, they show up. So the farther away east they are, the longer it takes? I'm not sure how to explain."

"I understand." Of course he did. "So those two," he gestured to Jo and Jeremy, "were the closest to here, so that's why they were the first."

"Exactly." Paul might as well have been falling asleep, his head rolling back, with Dwayne sitting next to him with his arms crossed over his chest. He pushed Paul away when his head landed on Dwayne's shoulder, snapping him back to attention.

"Lean on him," he said, gesturing to David. Paul took one look.

"…No thanks."

They waited another good fifteen minutes before the silence became too unnerving, and everyone was bored. It could have been about three in the morning, and David was starting wonder how long this would take. "I thought you called Star and Marko?" Paul whispered to their leader. David stared straight ahead, at Holly, who was sitting on the floor, knees drawn up to her chest.

"They weren't paying attention," he lied smoothly. He hadn't even attempted to contact them. He didn't feel like explaining tonight, and he most definitely was too distracted to even attempt to contact them. "It's getting early," he observed, feeling how his energy was starting to drain as there was just the tiniest bit of light outside. It was barely noticeable, but it was a significant sign. "We have about an hour before we need to leave."

"It moves to the east, you say?" Dwayne asked. "Hm. The next one must be fricking Asian." Paul snickered at that.

Kate, on the other hand, didn't really find that as funny as they did. "If you have to leave, then leave."

"I said we have another hour," David said, still staring at Holly. There was something about her that he just couldn't decipher. Well, Genesis had warmth throughout her, a beating heart, yet she was still obviously not human. But Holly…David titled his head to the side. She was completely and utterly normal, unless there was something he missed about her. She was human. "Oh," he said, turning his gaze away from her. Great. Because he just loves stubborn human girls, right? He honestly doesn't need a relapse of Star.

"Alright, then," Kate sighed.

They waited that other hour in mostly awkward silence. Max had a watch on him, but otherwise there was no other way to tell the time, and he had informed them when the hour was up. Dwayne, Paul and David stood up from the bench, almost solemnly. "Well, it's been fun," Paul laughed, brushing the invisible dirt off his jacket.

"Yes, very interesting," David agreed, giving each other them once-overs for the last time that night. Well, somewhat morning. As they left, they all hoped they wouldn't have to see these people again; they wouldn't have to associate with them. Maybe it all had been some sort of temporary thing, and that witch could fix it all. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

"Goodnight, now," Max called after them.

"They don't seem that bad, Max," Kate whispered, looking at him from the corner of her eye. "I don't see why they would want a romantic partner interfering with their lives."

"Oh, you don't know them like I do," Max assured, looking at the door they just walked out of. Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Max.

"Okay…" She took his word for it, since she just met them, and now was not the time to start doubting him. What was done is done, and she cannot go back and even attempt to fix it. If she made a mistake at all, that is. "So," she said, a bit louder, now that she was talking to everyone. "I have two spare beds in the guest bedroom, and a dark basement. Good?"

"Good for me," Jo said quietly. Jeremy nodded, along with Genesis. Holly just grunted.

"Good," said Kate, clasping her hands together. "We might as well leave now. Temp, where's the keys?"

"In the car," she mumbled. Kate decided she would lecture her later about how stupid that was in a city like this, but for now she just nodded and waved them all out. Max would take his own car back to his house, and he was glad the temporary sleeping arrangements worked out so well: he didn't want to have to let someone stay in his house. There was nothing personal he had against them, it was just the threat or danger that that presented. And Thorn would tear them up before they even took a step inside. Kate, being the human she was, saw no problem with letting them all stay over.

They didn't all fit in the car, but both Jeremy and Jo said they could follow behind them no problem, so they agreed to that.

It was only when they arrived at her house, all settling into their sleeping area before the sun rose, did Kate realize how tired she was. She thought she could go see the next one (if there would be another) after she got some sleep. I'll just lay down for an hour or two, she told herself. Until those two hours turned into six, and she got yet another phone call.

Haha, I suck at updating on time. :P But when I had about a thousand words down on this, it sat on my computer untouched for a while because I didn't know what to write next. And then the inspiration just hit me, and I wrote and wrote until this was super long, compared the other chapters. Well, I hope you like the long ones, because I'm almost never consistent with length. And I hope you guys liked this one, 'cause it took me almost three dang weeks to come up with it. Wouldn't that be a waste if it sucks! It's going by sooo slowly, I know. I'm just trying to get over some of the explaining and boring conversation and introductions before it picks up its pace, you know? Well, anyways, I love constructive criticism just as much as I love praise. Reviews are like chocolate chip cookies to me, and I love chocolate. So review, please! I don't bite; I promise. :D