David had gotten everyone up early and he and the boys had taken Star and Laddie down to the Boardwalk. She got off David's bike but he remained seated and he looked her over.

'I'll let you know when I am back to collect you.' David told her and he gently grabbed her chin with his fingertips, making her connect with his eyes and looking into his cool pools of blue, she could feel his compulsion affecting her and it was something she hadn't felt in a while. 'Stay on the Boardwalk.' He told her and she nodded. Laddie jumped off Dwayne's bike and trotted over to her and they both watched as the boys rode off.

'Where would you like to go?' She asked Laddie, shaking off her suspicions of where David was going and she scanned the entrance to see who was around.

'I wanna go on a ride. Will you come on a ride with me?' He asked, his blue eyes peering up at her hopefully from behind his hair. She wasn't usually the one who did this sort of thing with him but tonight she would be.

'Sure, let's go.' She agreed. They went on the Big Dipper, the Ferris Wheel and the Carousel before Laddie wanted something to eat. She got him a hot dog and they went and sat on the beach together while he ate. 'I wonder who the band is tonight.' She mused absentmindedly. She was keen to go see them and after he'd finished his meal, she jumped up and headed off to go and see them, they sounded really good from where they'd sat on the sand and she led him towards the stage.

Holding Laddie's hand, she skipped into the crowd and led him through the collection of people, making her way up a path to the platform leading up onto the Boardwalk, overlooking the crowd. There were plenty of people around her, some head banging and some dancing and cheering and she felt happy. The atmosphere was electric and this was exactly where she wanted to be. Although she didn't know who they were, the band were great. The singer was fit in his purple tights and he was rocking the stage, along with his saxophone to the thrill of the rocking crowd. With a huge smile on her face, she held her hair back and surveyed the people around her and it wasn't long before she noticed someone watching her. He had classic chiselled good looks with long dark curly hair and her attraction to the boy was almost instant. She suddenly felt an excited nervousness that she hadn't felt for months and she continued to dance, a little awkwardly, to the screaming sound bursting through the speakers. She tried not to look at the gorgeous guy, who wouldn't take his eyes off of her, but she found it nearly impossible and she finally engaged in eye contact with him. He was the first man to truly make her heart flutter since the night she'd met David and as he smiled at her, her attraction to him began to scare her and she quickly turned away, ushering Laddie away with her.

'Who was he?' Laddie asked her as they walked past the rides and down the main drag of the Boardwalk.

'Who?' She asked vaguely, knowing exactly who he was referring to but not wanting to admit it.

'That boy who was staring at you.' He said. He had seen him and she hoped that David wouldn't be able to pick up on that. She could not let him get even an inkling of any of this.

'I don't know. Why?' She asked looking over at a crystal ornament on a stand.

'Cause he's following us.' His comment surprised her and made her heart skip a beat. Suddenly Greg and his boys came running past her followed by two other kids chasing them and she kept walking without saying anything. She could feel the boy behind her and she walked a few more feet before she abruptly spun around to face him.

'Are you following me?' She asked him, positioning Laddie in front of her and placing her hands over his shoulders.

'Yeah, I am.' He said with a sly grin on his face.

'Did you wanna talk to me?' She asked and, unable to help herself, she smiled back at him. He was so hot.

'Yeah, I do.' He said.

'Well talk.' She encouraged him.

'How are you?' He asked her, looking a bit dumb struck that she was actually talking to him, but before she could answer a younger boy ran up to him and interrupted them.

'Mom's here.' The younger boy told him, then he looked over at Star and instantly became distracted by her and stared at her but Star continued looking at the older boy. Laddie peered at the comic the younger boy was holding and was a little spellbound by the image on the cover. It was a vampire.

'It was nice talking to you.' She smiled, semi teasing him, and she turned and walked away.

'Wait, wait a minute.' The older boy tried to stop her but she kept walking.

'I'm back, where are you?' David's voice appeared in her head. 'We're at the entrance.'

'I'm coming.' She answered him, guiding Laddie towards the exit. She walked out beneath the large Boardwalk sign and saw David straddled on his bike to the right of the exit, waiting for her. Laddie walked off and was lifted by Dwayne onto the back of his bike while she approached David, holding her skirt in preparation of getting on his bike and he held her elbow to assist her in mounting on behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist glancing around to her left and she froze. The older boy had followed her to the exit and he stood, visibly gutted, staring at her on the back of David's bike. He was so handsome and, even though David and the boys were right there, she couldn't help herself and she smiled at him again. David turned to look at the young man and she was aware of him smiling. She hoped he would keep his eyes on her but she could tell by the boys expression David was giving him a mocking smile and she knew David too well to know that he was laughing at him. She then heard Marko pull away, followed by Paul then Dwayne and finally David followed and she was pulled away from him. Riding down the alleyway, she turned and looked back at him, giving him one last smile, then she turned back to hold on to David as he sped up.

They arrived back to the bush where they park their bikes for the day and they began the walk back to the cave, but she was unable to stop thinking about the gorgeous guy that had followed her. It wasn't just that he'd followed her, guys had followed her before, it was the way she felt when he looked at her, the undeniable butterflies she got looking into a different pair of blue eyes, ones that didn't want her to kill and only made her smile. He was young and pure and strong and he was consuming her thoughts, so much so, she didn't hear David questioning her.

'Star?' She shot her eyes up to see the boys had stopped walking and were looking at her. 'Who was he?'

'I don't know. Just some guy on the Boardwalk.' She tried to sound indifferent but wasn't sure she was pulling it off. She kept walking and David followed her until they had got to the cliff top and suddenly he swooped her up into his arms and flew her out above the ocean and held her there. She grabbed hold tight of his neck and he just looked down at her, his eyes gleaming with power and confidence, then he shot her inside the cave, leaving the other boys back on the Bluff. He gently placed her down but his stare was heavy on her. 'Thank you.' She said and she stepped away from him and tried not to let him see her shaking. His gesture had felt like a strange sign of ownership of her but it wasn't for the boys benefit, they already knew she was his, it was more a reminder to her that he could do as he pleased with her. Star walked off to her bed as the others entered the cave and Laddie came running up to her and hugged her while the other boys dispersed around the cave.

'Are you alright?' She asked him worried and he nodded his head but still wouldn't let her go. 'Laddie, what's wrong?' She asked him trying to pull him off her.

'I don't want him to hurt you. I love you Star.' He said in a muffled voice, his face buried in the folds of her skirt, and she placed her hand on the back of his head. David's act had scared him and, in truth, it had scared her too.

'I love you too Laddie. I'm fine, I told you, he won't hurt me. We're both going to be fine.' She lied, but she had no choice. 'Come on, jump into bed and read one of your comics.' She tucked him in and he looked at her with big sad eyes.

'Did he do that because of that boy?' He asked her and she looked down at him.

'I don't know but I'm OK. OK?' She pulled his blanket up over him and kissed his head, he was too young to be worrying about David hurting her. A waft of pot streamed past her and she hoped it would chill David out a bit, she never thought the boy would have the balls to follow her as blatantly as he did and she never intended David to see him or to have the reaction that he did. Although, David had been on edge for days, well before she had even seen the boy, so it didn't surprise her that he took offense to what had transpired, but really, she hadn't done anything wrong. She can't control whether a guy follows her or not.

'Go!' Suddenly David's voice boomed into the cave and she looked over to see Paul bolt out of the cave. She glanced over at David and he gave her a flat expressionless look and she turned away again. She could see he was unimpressed with her, hell she could feel it, and it could only have something to do with the boy. She laid low, sitting on her bed reading a magazine, and she tried not to think of the gorgeous curly haired man who had followed her, who had smiled at her and who had liked her enough to look despondent when she was sitting behind David. Before long, she heard David rise and tell Dwayne and Marko to stay there with her and she looked up to see David leave. The heaviness she had felt coming from him left with him and she took a deep breath in and relaxed a little.

'Nice work.' Marko fired a filthy look at her but she ignored him. She didn't know where David had gone, but she knew he'd sent Paul out to do something first before he'd left to join him and she prayed it had nothing to do with her mystery suitor. Dwayne began sketching while Marko lay on the couch getting even more smashed and talked shit to Dwayne about a range of things and their interest in doing their own things was almost comforting to her. As much as she tried though, she simply couldn't get the boy out of her head, she wondered where he was from and what his name was but most of all, whether she would see him again. The butterflies returned every time she pictured him smiling at her and it was a feeling she never wanted to go away. She lit a few candles around her bed and lay down, watching the flickering of the flames and the dancing shadows they were making on the wall. Laddie had crashed, as had Marko, when she heard David and Paul come back and David walked straight over to her and grabbed her hand, hard enough that she knew not to pull away, and pulled her with him out towards the back of the cave. She didn't know what mood he was in now or what he was doing but she saw he was covered in blood and she felt sick, her anxiety peaking thinking he had killed the boy on the Boardwalk as they headed towards 'their' room, knowing what he always wanted to do in that room. He didn't let go of her hand as they walked and she heard Paul jump on the couch waking a disgruntled Marko before she disappeared out the back. She fought the urge to resist him as they got to the room because she knew a confrontation was the last thing she needed or wanted to do but as soon as she stepped inside, he turned and his mouth was firmly on hers and his hand was on the back of her head locking her in his kiss. She tried to push him off but the second his tongue touched hers the taste of blood filled her mouth and her body stiffened, feeling the instinctual change that she had no control over, and she looked at him with wide eyes and saw the superior sparkle in his then a wave washed over her and she melted into his embrace. Her mind went numb and her body clung to him, she felt almost in a trance and unable to listen to her gut screaming at her to stop and to pull away from him. She felt totally powerless as he took over her body and soul.

'You're my girl Star. Nobody else's.' He reminded her and he took her. After he had gotten his fill of her, he kissed her and left her in the bed alone for the night. She lay there in the aftermath of their twisted intimacy, feeling a multitude of emotions. She felt dirty and ashamed laying there, tainted with his semen inside her, she was angry and frustrated he was able to do this to her and fearful that she would never get away from him and never be able to have someone like the boy on the Boardwalk. But ultimately, she felt sad that this would probably be her life forever, that no one would ever want her knowing what she is inside anyways. Despite sleeping with David, her feelings for him had not returned, her basic attraction for him was still there but the deeper feelings she had thought she had for him in the beginning were gone. She'd been with him for about six months but it felt much longer, so much had happened to change her life that she felt she couldn't go back now anyways. She got up and went back to her own bed and hoped she would be allowed to go back to the Boardwalk tomorrow. The thought of seeing the boy again made her smile and she closed her eyes.