Thank you to Raindrop (response below) and snowflake2410 for reviewing! You two are sweeties. :) Thank you to everyone else who took the time to read the last chapter. And... HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! Hope you have loads of fun tonight! =D

Raindrop: *Fist pump* Probably sounds weird but that means so much that it's hard to know who to root for. Some of my favourite fiction has had me doing exactly that so it's amazing to know this story is having that reaction. :) Aha, so you've picked up on something with Blake. Only time shall tell... =D

There were drumming sounds everywhere. Constant. In her head. Slow, peaceful rhythms as everyone drifted off to sleep. It was still night. Plenty more hours to go before sun rose and she was doubtful that she would be able to cope with the hypnotic beats for much longer. A few times as she concentrated on the pounding, she felt the sting of her fangs pricking against her bottom lip. With a growl, Bridget got up from her chair and headed for the front door.

Fuck it, she thought.

Blake was snoring on the sofa, mouth agape and his right arm hung down, just brushing the floor with his knuckles. She crept silently, quick and agile towards the door. There was hardly a stir from Blake or anyone else in Sam's house as she sneaked out into the night.

Being out at this time was freedom. Having been born and raised in Santa Carla, Bridget already preferred night time. It had always been active with most businesses, around the Boardwalk especially, waiting until the sun set to open. But since becoming a half vampire she found the night to be peaceful and, if she went to the right areas, deserted. There was no hustle and bustle of the day. Night was alive and it was when she felt alive now. Plus it was beautiful. A sheet of twinkling stars that she could see all around her. Clusters that sparkled.

Bonnie never mentioned how amazing everything suddenly looked as a half vampire. How powerful the senses became. All she had ever known about was the hunger. The fight inside as the human half and vampire half fought for dominancy. The obsessive urge for blood. Bridget had to admit there was a beauty to the night around her that she was always astounded at and wondered why she had never been told about it.

She flew to the centre of Santa Carla, away from the Boardwalk and crowds. The heart of her hometown was almost silent and deserted. It boasted high street shops that had normal opening times compared to the stores and stalls down at the Boardwalk. There were a few coffee shops and cafes dotted around, closed at the moment for night time and a small cinema that only had the one room. It frequently showed more old films than new.

The centre also had two bars, but even they closed early as the crowds were more drawn to the bars and clubs further downtown and closer to the boardwalk. Right now, the last of the drunken crowds were staggering out, being shooed away by the exhausted staff. The small groups were the only thing loud in the area. As they wobbled closer, heart beats pounded in her ears and she caught whiffs of alcohol filled blood. It gave off a tangy scent. Her stomach cramped but at least she wasn't surrounded by bigger crowds. And blood tainted with alcohol wasn't the most appeasing scent. Another plus.

The crowd staggered closer and Bridget kept on strolling. They were a group of four. Three males and one female. About college aged. They talked louder than they probably needed to and were all smiles and giggles.

Bridget cast her eyes down, a brief wonder on whether she would ever get to do that now. Go to college. Have drunken nights out. Grow older. She didn't have a major or career in mind. Simply interests but two weeks ago she still had those choices to make and she missed that.

As she passed, one of the college students staggered into her. He appeared to trip over his own feet, falling sideways and mumbling an apology as he did so. She felt the brush against her, knocking her sideways. At the sudden shove she received, even though it was accidental, anger flared inside of her. She was lucky her instincts reacted quickly and she moved so she managed to stay steadily on both feet. Unfortunately, they kept reacting, too fast for her mind to actually process what she was doing. When his shoulders slammed into hers, she recoiled away. Her lips pulled back from her teeth as she growled at him. Really growled. The kind of growl an angry wolf would make. It was pure animal and she couldn't even stop herself from doing it.

"Whoa – hey!" the student protested, lifting his hands up. He looked her way but swayed and squinted.

"Watch where you're going, you fucking idiot," Bridget hissed at him and stretched her arms out to shove him.

"Oi! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

With all eyes on her, the anger washed away. Her breathing slowed and the scowl she wore softened. Her expression turned to shock as she back away.

"Nothing," she muttered. "Sorry."

Quickly, she turned on her heel and shoved her hands into her pockets, unable to trust that she could keep herself from using them to wrap around the boy's neck. She continued to march off. Her pace quickened as she headed around a corner but a groan escaped her when she heard determined footsteps behind her.

"Hey, bitch! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I really wouldn't try it on," she warned the student and kept walking. The anger this young man was letting build up in himself didn't help his blood. It washed through his veins as it pounded from adrenaline and it smelt incredible. Mouth-watering.

He was wired. Ready for a fight and it was making his blood richer, washing away the tangy alcohol. Her teeth started to lengthen as she pictured herself draining away every drop. Inhaling his scent, she found herself growling again. If he didn't walk away now…

You're tired of fighting. Just stop caring.

A hand brushed against her arm. She had slowed down, allowing the student to catch up to her and just as he reached for her, she struck.

Her hand wrapped around his wrist in a tight grip as she spun around. She gave one quick jerk to the side and there was a sickening snap of bones breaking. His howls echoed the streets of the town centre and he collapsed to the ground, writhing and gingerly touching his broken wrist.

"I warned you," she whispered in a voice that was dark and low. "I'm really not the kind of person you want to be messing with."

"Bitch," the young man hissed. Despite his injury, he had another go at her. He leaped up, ready to take another swipe as he reached towards her with his unbroken hand. She had started stretching her hands out to grab at him again when the wind picked up and feet landed on the ground. The young man was immediately pulled backwards onto the pavement.

Bridget blinked, frozen in reaching out. She stared at the student falling back, listening to his shrieks when he landed on his side, crushing his broken wrist under his weight. While he cried out, she looked up. Eyes straight to the person who had joined in with the fight.

Alan grinned in response to her widening eyes. She felt her lips tugging into her own smile. Unable to help or even care to control it, her heart sped up purely by being able to see him again. She revelled in every detail. His dark hair, black like the night sky and a contrast to his pale skin. Those brown, observant eyes that creased in the corners as he beamed at her. That rare beam that he only saved for the ones closest to him. She loved that smile. It brightened his usually stoic face up every time. Brought a gleam to his eyes.

He still dressed like a soldier. Crumpled, dirt covered jeans and a white t-shirt with a baggy, olive jacket over the top. His trademark dog tags still hung around his neck. She felt her muscles twitch, her brain trying to send the message to her legs to think 'screw it' and run to embrace him. It had been too long since she had been in his arms.

She was brought back into reality by the groaning and whimpering student. And a familiar voice that made her heart race again and she turned to see her sister running towards with her arms open.

Bernice had Bridget wrapped in her arms in seconds and she was trapped. Trapped but also quite relieved to be in her older sister's hold again. Eventually her own arms snaked around her sister and she allowed herself a small smile. She glanced over Bernice's shoulder to see Logan and Ruby walking over to join them all and her smile faded.

"You've only just come back tonight and causing trouble with humans," Ruby remarked and snorted in amusement. "Good way to make an entrance."

Bernice had suddenly let go and cupped her sister's cheeks with her hands. Her blue eyes widened as she studied Bridget. "Bridget, are you okay? I've missed you! Oh, sweetie, you don't look well. Have you been starving yourself?"

Bridget stammered over her answers to her sister's questions. She heard Logan chuckling in the background and looked his way.

"I take it you're struggling to keep that vampire side of you quiet. Is he alone?"

She wanted to lie and say yes but he raised a hand at her hesitation.

"Doll, if he isn't and whoever he was with saw you, you'll be recognised. You're supposed to be missing and it's best to stay in the shadows when you're turning. Where are they?"

She could see his point. While she was like this, uncontrollable and thirsting for blood, she wanted to stay away from her parents in case the need for blood became too strong to resist. Silently, she nodded in the direction she had come.

"Three of them. A girl and two other boys."

Logan smirked. "Perfect. We still need to feed."

"Although not as bad as you, I bet," Ruby added, snickering.

Bernice squeezed Bridget's hands. "We'll sort it out. I'll be right back," she said and caught up with Logan and Ruby.

When they disappeared around the corner it was her and Alan again. Well, her, Alan and the student. He glanced down at the human and the smile disappeared from his face.

"You were bothering my girlfriend," he said and reached for him.

"Please! I was just angry!"

Bridget bit her lip but she stayed still. The young man's anger had been an overreaction. It had been him in the first place who had drunkenly barged into her. He had followed her, ready to hurt her and because of that she struggled to feel any sympathy. She simply watched, almost hypnotised by his rapid heartbeat.

"You can have him if you want," Alan said, keeping the young man in his grip. He had noticed the hungry flash of yellow in her eyes.

"No," Bridget said.

"You must be starving."

She gripped onto her upper arm with her hands as she hugged herself. Her teeth ached, her stomach growled and she desperately wanted to accept his offer.

"No," she repeated. "Just get it over with and kill him."

"No, don't! I'm sorry! Please, don't!"

Bridget hissed at the young student. "I warned you not to mess with me."

"You never know what you're pissing off," Alan added. As he opened his mouth, his teeth sharpened. Bridget caught defined features and a flash of amber eyes before he latched onto the human's throat. In seconds, the student had gone limp before being dropped to the ground.

"You don't look great," Alan said, frowning at her.

Since the last time he had seen her she had lost the sun kissed tan from her arms and face. Replaced with a chalk white tone. The lack of colour made her veins noticeable. There were dark circles under her eyes and a slight hollowness to her cheeks.

"Nice to see you too," she said with a snort.

"Have you actually avoided feeding for two weeks?" He stepped closer to her, lifting a hand up and his fingers brushed against her gaunt cheekbones.

"Sort of," she muttered. Her skin tingled where his fingertips traced.

"I've missed you."

"Really?"

"Of course I have. I haven't stopped caring about you one bit." He cupped her cheek properly and smiled. It would have been a nice smile if blood wasn't smeared all over his mouth. She responded to his smile by leaning her cheek into his palm.

"Did you stop caring about me?" he asked. "You ran away."

"Of course I didn't. I was just freaked out. I still am."

"It's not that bad."

"I can't go and change just like that," she argued, snapping her fingers. "Well… I guess I can. And I am. But that terrifies me. I feel capable of doing anything and that shouldn't be me but it is. It's been scary finding out how monstrous I want to be." She sighed and reached for his hand, originally intending to take it away. But instead, when she laced her fingers between his, she simply kept hold, clutching tightly.

"And then there's you and Bernice. I can't let either of you go."

"You didn't have to run away."

"I didn't know what else to do," she said. "I tried looking for another cure but I got nothing. There's nothing except killing you and I can't do that."

"There's only one other thing you can do," Alan said.

Bridget closed her eyes, nodding. "It feels more and more inevitable each night."

She had let herself step closer to him, fingers moving to grip onto the hem of his shirt. Whatever distance she felt she should keep, she didn't want to act on it. It was easier not to care and do whatever the hell wanted to do. That was a nice freedom to have. To really not give a shit and choose the other side right at that very moment.

When she realised she had been leaning closer, eyes on his lips, she suddenly cleared her throat and stepped away. Her hand moved to her mouth, nervously nibbling on her fingernails, before she folded her arms. They acted like a hostile shield for herself. Alan's shoulders slumped in disappointment at her sudden hostility. But he didn't push. And she kept her distance, trying to prevent those feelings for him stir again.

"I really see what you mean about Edgar," she said.

"Treating you like a vampire already? Yeah, I remember that too well." His lips curled up in a sneer. "Still same old Edgar. He doesn't understand what we go through."

"Do you miss anything? Like, Sam or Bonnie? They were there for you. They were your friends."

"I know that. But I'm different now and they don't trust me anymore. I took that first kill and that's that. I do remember but it feels like a dream. Like it was a past life or something like that. I'm just not attached to it anymore. What about you?"

Bridget thought back to the times she had used her abilities, mainly when she messed with a human's mind to get something. That time when she decided to attack Blake, thinking he was some sleaze bag guy wanting to hurt her. How she made that guy at the comic store believe he was eating intestines just for a laugh. That student she had just allowed Alan to kill…

Her eyes flickered down to the boy. Then to the blood stains on Alan's face. All she really regretted there was not accepting the kill. That she didn't get blood and in agreement her stomach cramped up. She groaned, leaning forward with her hands on her stomach. Alan reached forward, helping to steady her. His hands gripped onto her waist, steadying her as she slipped her rucksack off her shoulder.

"Shit," he muttered. "You'll kill yourself if you don't get any blood."

"I'm fine. And I am getting what I need." She rummaged into her rucksack, getting out a blood bag and she clenched her teeth at the searing pain in her body.

"Are you feeding on that?" he asked.

"It helps," she said, tearing into it with her teeth. It was drained in seconds and she sighed with relief, dumping the bag into a nearby bin.

"You're going to make yourself ill. You need fresh blood," Alan insisted.

"It works!"

"If it worked, you wouldn't look like you were wasting away right now. How many of those do you go through every night?"

She pursed her lips. "Not many."

"But more than one? It's not helping the cravings, is it?"

"We have a body to get rid of," she said and bent down to grab the corpse's hands.

"You can't put it off forever," he said and took hold of the legs.

She chose not to respond, instead averting her eyes when he tried to hold her gaze. The others joined them again. Logan, Ruby and Bernice all stained in red. It was Ruby who skipped forward, her eyebrows raised up in interest.

"Well, this looks tense."

"Is everything okay?" Bernice asked.

"Fine," Bridget snapped. "Alan, let's just get rid of him."

"Dumping a body?" Ruby asked. She still had a cheeky grin on her face, a toothy one that showed off her dimples on both sides as well as her fangs. She was at Bridget's side and hip bumped her.

"Not very human of you," she added.

Bridget took the bait, baring her teeth in a snarl. She let her incisors lengthen.

"Don't start," she hissed.

"You look great with fangs, little sister," Ruby said, laughing when Bridget dropped the corpse and grabbed at her upper arms and growled at the vampire.

"Do you think being a half is funny?"

Ruby had ceased laughing but her eyes were still crinkled in amusement. It made Bridget want to rip the smirk of her face with her own sharp fingernails.

"Brid, she's winding you up," Bernice said.

"You need to take a joke, doll," Logan added.

"I'm in agony all the fucking time," Bridget said. Her fingernails dug into the skin of Ruby's arms who winced. "I hardly give a shit about everything I stood for now. I feel torn. I feel like I actually want to become a monster and it fucking terrifies me."

Ruby slowly peeled Bridget's hands off her, glancing at the cuts the half vampire had made with her nails. She was solemn now, frowning at the girl who was visibly shaking. Bridget's eyes watered and she blinked fast, rubbing them with her palms. She kept her lips closed, trying to fight back sobs that she didn't want to release in front of four vampires.

"I know what I could do. What I want to do. And that fucking scares the shit out of me because I didn't know I could be like that," she said, swearing afterwards when her voice faltered.

"You're just different," Alan explained. "It's just how we have to survive now. We're not human anymore. That's not our world."

"It should be! You're only like this because you were forced. Neither of you would have chosen this." She looked between her sister and Alan. Her cheeks were wet with tears.

"You're right. We wouldn't," Bernice said. She stepped closer to her sister and reached for her hands. Bridget closed her eyes at the comforting gesture. Bernice always held her hands or hugged her when she was upset. She was still, in some respects, her older sister which made everything so hard to let go off.

"But it happened and this is how we live now. It's not who we used to be but it's adapt or starve. I don't want to die or be miserable forever," Bernice added.

"Why did you do this to me?" Bridget asked, whispering her words.

"You're my sister," Bernice said and reached to tuck a strand of hair behind her younger sister's ear. "I didn't want to lose you. I don't want us to be enemies."

Alan nodded. "You were going to die. Neither of us wanted that."

"You just need a different outlook," Logan said. "Bridget, it's okay. There's nothing terrifying about this."

"Tomorrow!" Ruby exclaimed, suddenly brightening up. "Hang out with us."

Bridget snarled again. "The fuck I will."

"Oh, quit being a party-pooper. Come on. Get to know us."

"By now I bet you're curious," Logan said with his own grin. But when Bridget continued to glare he raised his hands. "Look, side with those hunters if you feel you must. But you know where we are if they piss you off. You can stick with them all you want but to them, you're a vampire now. You're better off with people who'll accept you. Us."

Bridget shuddered at the being reminded of what she was. "I'll think about it."

Before she flew away, she looked at Alan who had dropped the dead boy's legs he held and had begun to move forward. He paused when she glanced at him and his expectant eyes glanced down to her lips. And she wanted to as well. One kiss. But that kiss could open a floodgate. A path she preferred more to the possible human one. But she fought to keep herself still.

Don't, she warned mentally. You need to keep your distance. You need to keep fighting.

"Bye," she quickly muttered and took to the sky.

Thank you for reading. If you would like to leave a review, please feel free. I'm away next weekend again so I'll post the next chapter on Thursday. :)