Author's note: It's been forever since I've had an update for this and I apologize for those who were reading. This chapter is short as the story is finally coming to an end, but at last it will be finished. Marko has been poking me to get it done and I hope you will all enjoy it. :D


The place had become a thick cloud of smoke just like the turmoil inside my head, drowned out by shot after shot of whatever liquor the bartender chose to give me until I was face first down on the bar in front of me, waiting for the moment to end. I felt them coming, those assholes and yet hours had passed, or so I thought and by that time I was too weak to get up on my own and make it out. I figured I'd end up outside at the break of dawn like one of those drunks propped up on the side of the building looking homeless and helpless, until the jukebox at the back of the room started to play again. It was an older song, one of the latest hits called 'Quarter to Three' and that's when the feeling hit me hard enough to jerk me awake. I could feel the new blood inside me moving towards their figures and for a second I thought for sure my arms and legs would move without any trigger from my brain telling them to. That's how powerful a vampire pack's bond is and it keeps the instincts fighting when the human side wants to shift into reverse and backpedal out of the situation.

Dwayne came up on me from behind and put his hands on my shoulders and David took a seat next to me, propping himself up sideways on the bar with one elbow. I caught his expression with a quick glance and to my surprise there was no anger in it, only understanding and lots of patience. Adjusting my calculations, I assumed that was just as dangerous because for all I knew, he had come to finally do away with the project he had started. I had been a royal pain in the ass and deep down in the pit of my gut there was a flicker of something that told me to keep fighting and pushing his buttons. David and I, we're a lot a like in many ways and that's just touching on the surface of one.

He must have been reading my mind too, because a second after the notion slipped, he started to laugh, looking down to stifle it before he shifted in his seat and motioned for the bartender to come over. He ordered another round of something strong and started to roll one sleeve up his arm.

I put my hand up in the air. "No more," I mumbled, trying to adjust the sweaty mess of curls on the top of my forehead. I knew my eyes were hazed, probably bloodshot and mixed with the amber color that comes from the change. I had been sweating and the stink of death that crept over and under all my organs now formed on the outside all over my skin, but the human noses around me disregarded it as if it didn't exist. That's one thing I learned to love about humans after the change. No matter how unnatural a thing seemed, there was always, in their minds an explanation, and people would use whatever they could to make us dark things seem safe. Not only that but the bar was old, dirty, and just the right place for scum like me.

"I insist," David said. He made a fist and laid his arm over the counter towards me, and when the shots arrived, he drew a switchblade from his pocket and let the sharp end snap open. "I'm curious though, about the other choice you have and whether or not you've made up your mind." He drew the knife tip over his wrist, letting blood rise to the surface.

I looked around in surprise to see if this was going to catch the attention of the other paying customers, but no one bothered or moved from their spots. In fact they all looked frozen, and I wondered if it was some dark magic they knew how to use.

"Don't have much choice, do I?" I shook Dwayne's hands off and frowned at David, but I couldn't keep my eyes off his blood. The scent made me shaky and I dug my nails into the wood of the bar.

"There's always a choice, Marko." He lifted his wrist over the shots and let drops of his blood fall into each one before the wound healed right before my eyes.

Still, I found myself wanting, and the sickest thing was, I would've attached myself to his wrist and drank until I was sedated by sire's blood instead of booze. I knew the choices all too well, kill and live or live and die. Some choices. "If I do this, I want Spencer left alone." It was a weak demand, but I managed to throw my own fist down, still wearing the frown as I glared up at him once again. I could tell Dwayne was giving him a look from behind, because David glanced away from me. They were both forming an opinion on the situation in that silent way. Those sons of bitches, but I knew I would have it soon enough and then they wouldn't be able to keep secrets from me.

"Hey!" I snapped my fingers in David's face and he let me get away with it, but I could tell he was losing his cool. "I'm fuckin' serious. No more fighting and I'll do whatever the hell you want, just leave him alone."

"We'll drink on it. How does that sound?" David asked, placing one of the shots in front of me.

The dark red of his blood now dimmed the golden tan color of the alcohol and I licked my lips. Despite what I thought, the monster had already been born. I grabbed the shot and downed it. This time the elixir was different and I felt my heart race and suddenly my mind was spinning. A feral sound erupted from the back of my throat and I lunged forward, gasping for air.

Dwayne caught me from behind as I started to thrash and claw at the air and David helped him take me out back, into the dark alley. I could feel my new fangs jutting up against my bottom lip and the new set of wings I had lifting me from the ground. I wasn't sure what happened or how David had changed his blood and maybe he hadn't. Maybe it was just a mental fuck, but I continued to fight, slashing him across the face with my new razor sharp talons. All these gifts made me powerful and I could feel it taking over.

"Settle down, brother," I heard Dwayne say. He let me go and disappeared into the shadows.

David laughed. He always seemed to know what I was going to do before I did it, but then he disappeared too, except, I could hear his voice in the distance taunting me, pulling me to follow.

At that point I probably looked like Frankenstein's monster, drunk off my ass from booze and blood, staggering as I exited the alley while clawing at the air. I bet someone would have said, hey look, there goes a fallen angel, considering the features of my face, you know, just before I ate them.

But besides the demons that wouldn't go away or stop calling me, the area was pretty quiet, with the exception of a strange sound I'd heard before. You could say it was above me, in the sky, following the echo of David's voice, like flapping wings on a bat. The same sounds that haunted me the night they killed the guys on the beach. It was a sound I couldn't shake and I thought for sure I was going to hell as the buildings and houses around me were blurred out. I didn't realize until I reached a darker part of the beach that the movement was mine. Inhuman speed had taken me for a ride and landed me right in the midst of a dead party.

The bonfire there was blazing, and to the right and the left David and Dwayne appeared. The reflection of the flames danced on their faces as they moved around the fire and even though they wore the masks of humanity, I could see the devils inside.

Dwayne kicked something in his path, and a man covered in blood stumbled out of his seat and fell on his hands and knees in front of me. He got up and stared at his hands, looking almost as lost as I was, but I didn't care about that. Not then, not now. That blood smelled better than a pig roast on a Sunday afternoon, and the wood fire only intensified it. It was caked on the guy's hands, drying and cracking as we both stared, numb.

I could feel my face twisting, my fangs falling, hitting my bottom lip. The change gave me new vision and I realized then exactly who the dude in front of me was. One of the punk Nazis from the party, the one who'd pushed the girl away from the keg. I didn't realize until I saw him there, how much leftover anger I had, but it wasn't all towards him, I just hadn't gotten a chance to kick his ass on my own.

Then the real shocker was revealed as he turned towards the fire. Dwayne lifted a dead body up beside it, making sure I got a good look. It was the young, pretty girl he'd shoved the night of the party and I felt rage boil up inside the scattered remains of my soul.

"I dunno what happened, man." The surfer was dazed and confused. "I didn't kill her! I swear."

David watched from the other side but said nothing and Dwayne let the helpless body fall. They'd found the perfect out for me, or so I thought. That girl didn't deserve to die and given the situation, I had no reason to hold back.

"NO!" I roared and lunged, kicking sand into the guy's face as I jumped him like a lion, but the mortal coil found me as we both landed with a thud near the open fire. The flames licked at my face bringing reality back into focus even as fury turned my skin red and I pushed my fingers deep against his throat. "Did you kill her?" I was choking the life out of the bastard, which wasn't what David and Dwayne wanted.

He couldn't answer due to the weight of my hands crushing his windpipe, but shook his head no as best he could.

"She was strangled and beaten," I heard Dwayne say. "We don't kill that way." He was holding the girl now, stroking her hair back. Her eyes were wide open in shock, but that hadn't made a damn bit of difference to the mohawked menace underneath me.

I could hear his airway starting to crack. Hell I didn't know my own strength at that point, but the trauma was breaking the skin, and a small amout of his blood was starting to seep between my fingers. It was fresh, filled with adrenaline and fear and I could smell it. Hunger pangs kicked in and my eyes started to water, both from the sting of the heat, and the need to feed.

I opened my mouth and before I knew it I had him hooked like the worm he was, caught between my teeth as a fount of his blood trickled over my tongue and down my throat. We weren't on the ground anymore. I'd lifted the bastard up and stood as I drank, letting my eyes wander. The only one I could see was Dwayne, but the anger I had was subsiding as the blood removed the guilt and settled my nerves. It was the best fucking meal I'd had in ages.

I let out a gurgled howl; elated by this new fascination and let my fangs finish their job for the first time. The man's human skin tore open easier than any meat I had chewed before and the blood ran in every direction. I licked frantically at it, trying to avert it into my mouth before realizing it was easier to put my lips over the tear and suck.

It was the blood, I kid you not and it was better than sex in that moment. I'm not saying I got a thing for guys, I don't, but blood is blood and it's the first thing we crave as vampires and it can satisfy any need.

I bet you're laughing right now, because that sounds like one hell of an orgasm, but the leftovers weren't as pretty.

David had to pull me away when the heart stopped, seeing as a dead man's heart could take you down with it. Lesson number one.

"You get one freebie as a newcomer in this pack, and that's cleaning up," David told me, gesturing to Dwayne to take care of the mess. "After this, you got to clean up your own messes, Marko. Rule number two, never leave any trace behind, we either burn or throw the rest into the ocean. If you find another way, so be it, but no one is to know we were here."

I had fallen back on my ass in the sand attempting to wipe my face clean, but found I didn't care about the blood all over my chin and half my cheek. In fact a new high had come over me and I felt as light as a fucking feather. The stars were brighter than the sun now and the earth moved around me. Things were spinning, but I could see it, focus on it, and I could hear the voices throughout the town. I wanted to study everything, but blinked hard in order to listen to what David had to say. I found that he even seemed different then before and I couldn't hate him.

"We're all different, each one of us and in time you'll find your quirk and what makes you a skilled hunter. I'll show you, teach you, whatever you need."

He smirked again and offered me a cigarette, which I took.

"Welcome to the family."

From that point on everything David and Dwayne did made sense to me. The veil had been lifted and even though I still hated Max, as I'd come to find out later that David didn't care for him much either, I felt like I had a real family. The blood was different, but ran through our veins, and David always kept his promises. His way of speaking in riddles at times formed complete pictures in my head because we were connected and everything he did, he did on our behalf. There was never any doubt in my mind about loyalty. It was everything to him and I had no problem following.

In the weeks that followed, he confessed something to me about the dead girl on the beach. A certain mind game had been played on the surf Nazi in order to make him kill her, brought on by none other than my new family to shove that first meal in my face. He told me that some things would always be private, but that wasn't one of them and proceeded to school me on the ways of using that powerful gift. Hell I wasn't even mad at him for it, I was still mad at the other asshole for killing her, whether it was against his will or not. It was a major turning point for me when it came to being sinister. I found I really liked the games and with each drink of blood I took, I knew whatever soft spirit I'd had was fading away.

Course, I'm not always a dick. I still have feelings in one way or another, but the cunning dark side that lay dormant in the back of my mind was exactly the reason why he'd picked me.

Years later, when it came time to pick another pack mate, I chose Paul for the exact opposite reason…


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