A/N: Thanks so much to those who reviewed! I only reply to the reviews that seem like they require an answer, I worry about annoying people if I'm constantly just messaging them saying "thank you!", so apologies if that's made me seem ungrateful or anything! Catriona's definitely one of my favourite OCs that I've ever created :')

Catriona waited until they were asleep before she left the hotel room, hours later. Sophie had opted to share her bed that night, and she couldn't face the idea of sleeping beside her. Even the sound of her light snoring made her feel sick with guilt. Changing her jeans for a pair of shorts, she left the room barefoot.

It was only around six am, but the sky was beginning to lighten, slowly turning periwinkle. Catriona waded into the ocean, stopping once the water reached just below her knees, and simply stared at the sky. As hard as she tried, she couldn't comprehend that this would be the last time she'd witness the sun rise. Or, if she ever did again, the next time she saw it would be the time it killed her. As the sun rose, the cloudless sky was streaked with vibrant shades of violet and magenta, reflected in the ocean. Letting her mind run blissfully blank, Catriona was aware of nothing but how beautiful the sky looked, the cool breeze whipping around her and the icy water lapping at her legs. She was determined to carve all of it into her memory so deeply that she'd never be able to forget it.

She stayed there for an hour, watching the sky slowly turn to it's usual shade of vivid blue and ignoring the way it hurt her eyes. As the night left, so did Catriona's apathy, and by the time she was wading out of the ocean, her mind was buzzing with ways to fix things. Her first thought was to simply leave for the airport then and there - the cash that Paul had left on the bed the previous night was still in her case. Even if she couldn't get on a flight until that night or even the next day, people camped out at the airport all the time, and the Lost Boys could hardly drag her kicking and screaming from such a public place...could they? With a grim expression, Catriona realised she wouldn't put it past them. That or they'd kill her friends themselves simply out of spite. Even then, how would she explain her sudden lack of ageing to her family? She couldn't get by without the help from the Lost Boys.

So what if she brought them with her? Or sent them alone? That idea was scrapped within seconds - there was no way she'd be able to get Bryana to willingly give up half of her holiday without good reason, and she knew babbling about vampires wasn't exactly a good reason. Plus, she didn't even want to consider the idea of David's wrath if she sent them away without her. Any idea that involved leaving Santa Carla was futile. Catriona didn't even want to admit to herself that she didn't know if she could bring herself to leave. The logical side of her wanted to - she felt sick at Paul's betrayal of her trust, and leaving would mean not having to give up her own family...but leaving did mean giving up Paul, and the less logical side of her was distraught at that idea, no matter how much she hated herself for that reaction. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Catriona saw no way out.

With a muttered curse, she ran a hand through her hair and willed herself to think even harder. David was so hell bent on her being the one to kill them, so would he really do it himself if she didn't? He himself had told her how many issues there would be if she wasn't the one to do it, so would he really risk all of that just so they'd die? Maybe that's just what he wanted her to think - he wanted her to believe that there was no way out and that she had to do it so that she'd do it more easily. Catriona knew it was a dangerous game to try and call David's bluff, of all people, but she had to hope. Now she just had to have a plan for if he wasn't bluffing.

Catriona had been unable to sleep all day. Despite the sunlight and the way it seemed to drain her, the guilt and the worry were too intense for her to even sit, never mind sleep. The sunset had been as equally spectacular as the sunrise, but there was something in the back of her head hoping that this really wouldn't be the last one...and if it was, missing sunlight was the least of her worries. If this was her last sunset, it meant that her friends would be dead by morning.

She looked very much out of place next to Bryana and Sophie that evening. They'd both made an effort - make-up, styled hair, pretty outfits - whereas for once, Catriona couldn't bring herself to care about how she looked. Her hands weren't even steady enough to apply eyeliner if she'd wanted to. Every so often, one of them would shoot her an odd look, although Sophie's was sympathetic whilst Bryana's was smug, probably feeling happy at looking better than her. Although that was hardly a grand feat. Catriona was pale, her features almost as white as the bed sheets, and she knew her eyes were red from the lack of sleep - they burned whenever she blinked and felt like they weighed a ton. She spent most of the time it took her friends to get ready pacing between the bed and the bathroom, feeling like she was going to throw up. Of course, that brought a whole new round of "You're not pregnant, are you?" jabs and comments from Bryana, but those made Catriona freeze.

Paul had described his infertility as a "side effect of a pre-existing condition". Her hand flew to her abdomen and she felt her blood run cold.

"What? Shit, you're not actually pregnant are you?" Sophie's eyes widened at Catriona's reaction.

"No," Catriona murmured blankly, before mentally adding on 'And now I never will be.'

As if on cue, the sounds of the motorcycles then filled the air, getting louder and louder until the headlights were shining through the curtains. The engines were then killed and soon the four Lost Boys stood in open doorway.

"Paul, I need to talk to you," she spoke blankly, ignoring the look of surprise on his face.

"Sure, babe," he hid his surprise well, and turned and left the room, gesturing for her to follow and they walked a few feet down the beach, just so that they'd be out of earshot "So, uh...What's up?"

"I can't have children, can I?" her voice was dull and tired, as though she wasn't even surprised that she'd found something else to upset her at this point.

Paul was silent for a few moments, but she couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with him.

"No...None of us can," he admitted quietly "Did you want to?"

"Yes, Paul, I wanted to," she laughed humourlessly "I love kids, but you never asked about that, did you? Why do you think I was studying for one of the most pointless degrees known to man? So I could then do a post-grad year to become a teacher for kids aged five to ten. I dedicated hours of free time to doing work experience at the local primary school! I used to babysit all of the kids in my family for free! "

She felt tears spring to her eyes but couldn't bring herself to feel stupid for being so upset.

"But I mean, it's nice to know that now they'll have those memories of me, huh?" she sniffed, angrily wiping the tears from her face.

"Cat, I didn't know, babe," he sighed mournfully, reaching to pull her closer.

"No, Paul, you didn't want to know," she shook her head, taking a step back "Because then, heavens forbid, you might have actually felt guilty. It wouldn't have even stopped you."

"I did this for us! Both of us!"

"Sure, keep telling yourself that. I'll keep that in mind when I'm being made to kill my friends."

Without another word, she spun around and strode back to the hotel room, not even bothering to hide the fact that she'd been crying.

"Oooh, trouble in paradise?" Bryana practically sang upon Catriona's return.

"Shut the fuck up, Bryana," Catriona's restraint snapped and her voice rose to a shout, turning on the brunette with a glare that dared her to say anything else.

"It was a joke, Jesus," Bryana tried to play it off, but failed to hide how startled she was.

"Everything okay?" David asked casually.

"Yeah, David, everything's fucking grand," Catriona muttered, shoving her feet into her boots and pocketing the knife that Paul had given her the night they met - it would come in handy "Let's go."

True to the plan, the Lost Boys had set up a bonfire on a small secluded area of the beach, boxed in by cliff faces - the only way out was through the thick patch of trees to the left.

"I'm not doing it," Catriona said simply to David "I'm not."

"You've got an hour," he shrugged, completely disregarding what she'd said "You know what happens if you don't."

He moved on without waiting for a response and Catriona's fingertips moved to trace the outline of the knife in her jeans pocket. A hand pulled at her arm and Catriona jumped in surprise before turning around to see Dwayne. Blinking in surprise, she nodded as though to ask him what was up.

"With some practice, full vampires can pretty much hypnotize people - mainly mind games and shit, making them hallucinate and whatever," he explained quietly "But I might be able to help you. It'll wear off real fast because it's tricky shit, but I could keep them calm for like, ten seconds tops if things get out of hand."

"Why are you helping me?" her tone wasn't accusatory, but wary.

"I'm your brother now," he spoke sincerely "I intend to be a good one."

She gave him a wary nod and then moved closer to the bonfire, sitting down in the sand. Dwayne moved to grab them a couple of beers before he sat beside her. Catriona did her best not to pay attention to the fact that Paul sat across the fire from them...but she couldn't not notice the way Bryana edged up to his side...and the fact that he didn't do anything to discourage that.

Giving an annoyed snort, she shook her head and twisted the cap off of her beer. He could do whatever he wanted. She didn't care. Marko eventually finished with the boom box they'd either brought along or acquired along the way, and soon Lynyrd Skynyrd began playing.

"Cat?"

She jumped and then turned her head to see Dwayne looking at her expectantly. She hadn't even realised he'd asked her a question. Apparently she cared more than she liked to admit.

"Sorry, what?" she sighed, shaking her head.

"You have any trouble during the day?"

"What, with...resisting?" she had no idea how to phrase it.

"You haven't fed and you were stuck around two mortals all day," he shrugged "I'd be surprised if you didn't struggle."

"I definitely noticed," she sighed quietly "But I was more weirded out by the fact that I could hear their heartbeats. Smell their blood."

Sophie was joking around with Marko. Catriona looked away with a grimace. The girl had no idea who, no, what she was surrounded by.

Time ticked by, and as nervous as Catriona was, she couldn't tear her gaze away from Bryana and Paul. Over the course of the time they'd been there, Bryana's skirt had slowly ridden up to the point where Catriona was sure a belt would cover more. That wasn't what bothered her the most. What truly bothered her was Bryana's behaviour. She was finding any excuse to touch Paul - touching a hand to his shoulder, messing with his hair, pressing her leg against his, and it was making Catriona's blood boil. What did this little bitch think she was playing at?! In the right state of mind, Catriona would have ignored it - or laughed right in her face, just to piss her off, but Catriona wasn't in her right state of mind. Something primal and territorial had been triggered inside her. All she knew was that Bryana had to get her hands off of Paul if she knew what was good for her. Jaw clenched, she wasn't even aware she was preparing to stand until Sophie fell down into the sand beside her.

"Just ignore her, Kit Kat," she sighed "I don't know why she's being like this. I'm sorry."

Catriona relaxed after Sophie snapped her out of her anger, internally alarmed at her own reaction and how violent her thoughts had turned, just watching Bryana's attempts to flirt. She had been about to laugh it off, but then Bryana did something incredibly stupid. She leant forward and whispered something in Paul's ear, and as she was doing so she looked right at Catriona and gave her an incredibly smug smile.

In seconds, Catriona was on her feet and practically looming over Bryana.

"Oh, Cat - Paul and I need some beer," Bryana said in a sweet tone, counting on the fact that Catriona usually hated confrontation.

Bryana was proved very wrong when Catriona's fist met her face. She was vaguely aware of Sophie giving a shriek of horror somewhere behind her, whilst David burst into laughter. Bryana was clutching at her face, head bowed, but when she looked up blood was streaming from her nose. Catriona's breath hitched in her throat, her eyes fixed on the crimson substance.

"Look at what you did!" Bryana shrieked, gesturing wildly towards her with a bloody hand.

Blood splashed from her hand and hit Catriona in the face, and it all became far too much to resist. She was on her in a split second. Somebody was screaming and shouting, but Catriona didn't care. Bryana's hands tangled in her hair and then yanked, trying to pull her off of her to no avail. The vampire's teeth found the mortal's neck and clamped down. It was all over from there on. Blood spilled into Cat's mouth and she gulped it down, feeling like she'd just been given water after days of wandering the desert.

When her senses returned, she was kneeling beside Bryana, who was limp and already turning cold, eyes staring at the sky blankly. Sophie was screaming Bryana's name in between sobs and shouted demands to know what was going on. Slowly, what she'd just done began to register with Cat and horror filled her. Chest heaving, she desperately tried to suck air into her lungs, but it felt like nothing was happening. She'd killed Bryana. The blood was warm and sticky, covering her mouth, neck and hands. When she turned her face, Sophie's screams became more horrified and high-pitched. David had her pinned against him, her back to his chest. This snapped Cat from her stupor.

"Dwayne, calm her down please," she spoke quietly, but her voice was ragged, calculating her next move as subtly as she could.

Dwayne nodded and strode towards Sophie, holding her jaw and forcing her to look at him "Calm down. Everything's fine."

His voice was gruff and far from comforting, however the effect was immediate and the blonde's screaming stopped, her eyes going almost glazed over, a dreamy expression on her face. Cat knew what she had to do. Her only thought was that she could still save Sophie. Jumping to her feet, she dug the knife from her pocket.

She held the edge of the blade her throat and stared at David defiantly, willing herself not to stop shaking and focus on doing what she could "Let. Her. Go."

"That wouldn't kill you, Cat," he said confidently, although he was visibly surprised at the new development "It'd hurt like hell, but wouldn't kill you. Not if we got Paul's blood to you on time, which you know we would."

Paul and Dwayne froze at either side of David, alarm clear on their faces.

"...No," she sighed, lowering the knife "You're right. That wouldn't kill me."

Everybody visibly relaxed, but then Cat continued.

"But this would," soon the knife was pointed at her chest, aiming directly at her heart and Paul swore in a loud, panicked voice.

"You sure you've got the right spot, there?" David's voice wavered only slightly, giving away his bluff "Wrong angle and you hit a rib."

"I got an A+ in high school biology," she spoke levelly, eyes slowing moving around the fire in case any of them made a move towards her.

She realised a second too late that she didn't know where Marko was. Almost comically, Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird solo kicked into life, blaring through the speakers of the boom box just as he jumped her from behind and they went down into the sand.

A/N: I want to work on giving Cat more of a relationship with the other Lost Boys, so that's coming up in future chapters. I got the hypnosis idea from the mockumentary "What We Do in the Shadows" which is hilarious and actually references The Lost Boys! I've started referring to Catriona as Cat when in the third person starting from when she becomes a full vampire, just because I found it to be an appropriate time to make the switch - although I might slip up and type it as "Catriona" from time to time, so forgive me if I do!