The sun was brighter than she remembered. Hanging heavily in the sky, jagged shards of light seemed to fall hard on her eyes that squinted and attempted to keep the child in sight as he excitedly ran in front of her.

"Laddie! Slow down!" It did little good. The child must have been kept in the cave for quite some time, allowed out only when the boys went somewhere and took him with.

Bounding over rocks and fallen tree limbs, they made their way through the mute forest that was etched in tire tracks, burnt trees and angry squirrels that called down from their nests, disturbed by their noise. After a few yards, the kid finally seemed to tire some and fell back in pace with Dolly, grinning up at her with those large, honey brown eyes and blood-encrusted lips.

"So how old are you?" She asked, idly brushing away the hair away from her shoulders and picking at the bandage around her palm.

"Five and a half, though I should be seven," he said, lips catching hold that wild brown hair.

A moment was taken to brush it away from his mouth, a gesture he seemed to enjoy as he let it happen again and again.

"Why do you say you should be eight?" she asked.

"Well… it's kindof hard to explain. David says that the blood Dwayne gave me made my body slow down in aging. He says Dwayne was an idiot for doing it because now I'll age twice as slow and it will take a long time for me to grow old and become a vampire. Dwayne said that I get an extended childhood and David's only mad because he as a hermit crab lodged up his ass."

The kid spoke as though his mind were a recording device all on it's own. But there was more to it than simple, child logic. He sounded more sure of himself. Smarter than any five-year old she knew and more confident as he hopped over the fallen tree trunks, splashed in the puddles and tailed easily behind her. Once or twice, she could have sworn she felt grubby fingers at her backside, feeling the fleshier parts of her thighs. Though turning, she discovered the kid was always a few steps back.

Very interesting.

Though it took nearly half the walk back to the town to suddenly realize why the name was so familiar, and so strange to be speaking.

"Laddie, where is your mother?"

Maria Gabriel. That had been her name and Laddie was supposedly the bastard child of this late seventies whore. The file report she had stolen on the woman hadn't been filled with very nice comments on her behalf. Laddie was almost taken twice from her in the course of his short life and both times the woman had managed to get him back on the grounds that she was a good mother, supporting her child and there was no law against prostitution in California.

Even if there was, she could claim she was merely mingling with friends and "acquaintances." Even in a town like Santa Carla, it was hard to divide the normal and bizarre. Especially in the seventies when things had been a lot crazier with biker gangs, new drugs on the market and illegal activities that had been the backwash of the Love Generation and the start of the eighties.

The kid seemed to stumble. Legs stiffening and eyes staring up at the woman, as though attempting to read the joke on her face. After a moment he shrugged and carried on, walking a bit faster than normal.

"I don't know. She left," he said, head down and hair covering those eyes.

Attempting to keep up, Dolly stared down at the kid and placed a hand against his shoulder. One rule that James had managed to teach her was never to assume. Just because their names were the same as well as the blurred picture, didn't mean that their mothers were the same woman.

But they had to be pretty damn close.

And, as devious as it seemed, if trust could be built with this kid, then perhaps she would have a better lead on Maria as well as their story.

Stopping him in that gentle hold, she knelt down and brushed away dirty brown locks from that grubby face, peering into those eyes once more and trying to see the truth that was hidden behind them. Her own were gentle and concerned.

"She just left you? That's terrible… where did she go?" she asked.

The child grew more uncomfortable as the moments wore on. Fingers wringing together and eyes trying to escape to the ground below. It was clear, with the boys, he didn't have a mother-type figure. Someone to come to and confide in. To show him tenderness and love.

"I'm… I'm not suppose to talk about it," he said, uneasily. Those brown eyes managed to glance up and meet her gaze.

Dolly tried again. "I won't tell anyone. Scouts honor."

Smiling, she held up two fingers in the traditional sign of secrecy. Even Laddie wasn't too bleak to know what it meant. After a moment of hesitation, he shrugged and mumbled.

"Paul said I didn't need her anymore. That he would find me a new mommy to take better care of me. He said she left town but… I think she's still here. I see her watching me sometimes. At the end of my bed."

It didn't take much to realize what the child was saying. That his mother was dead… and that Paul had killed her. If that was the case, then every story that had circled about the kid was true. About all of them, David, Dwayne, Paul and Marko. They were vampires and their story was absolutely, honest to whatever God existed, true. Eyes fell back to the kid as his gaze lowered to the ground and nose began to sniff and huff loudly. It wasn't long before the slow stream of tears began to fall from those honey eyes and Dolly was taken aback.

"Oh, Laddie, I'm so sorry!" she said, latching hold to the kid and hugging him close.

The sniffles and huffs of breath continued as little arms wrapped around her and after a long moment, a soft SNAP was heard from behind. It took only a moment to pull away and realize what the kid had done.

"YOU LITTLE CREEP!"

The top snaps of her corset fell loose and arms struggled to clasp them back into place while Laddie giggled and ran ahead of her, through the trees. Momentarily stunned, the clasps finally fell back into place and eyes narrowed as she followed in his wake through the brush.

Apparently, the kid was picking up a few of the boys' bad habits.

"I can hear them!"

The excited shout made her pause, hand up shadowing her eyes from the sun and watching as Laddie stopped dead on the sidewalk, head tilted to the side, listening.

"Hear who?" she asked, trying to keep the agitation from her voice. While part of her wanted to help this kid, the other part was starting to detest his energy and constant movement. It wasn't his fault but it was damn annoying after awhile.

"Kids!" he said excitedly. Her own ears perked up and lo and behold, the sound of high-pitched laughter, screams and the jangle of swings was heard. They must have been near an elementary school out on recess. Shouts from kids and teachers echoed, whistles blowing every once in awhile and the hollow sound of basketballs bouncing against the concrete. Before she could stop him, Laddie was running down the sidewalk.

"Shit!"

The kid may have been annoying, but those soft, honey-brown eyes came back to her in flashes. He was smart in some ways and completely idiotic in others. Such as running out in the middle of the street.

"LADDIE! STOP!"

Thankfully, it was a street surrounding the school itself and cars were use to going only fifteen miles an hour. Darting out in front of them, Laddie managed to cross before Dolly could get to the edge of the road and follow him out into traffic. Cars honked and drivers cursed. Someone almost screamed as Dolly came in front of them and was missed by an inch. Running every step of the way, she followed the kid as he squeezed through buildings and down alleyways, coming to a stop only when he crashed into a chain-link fence that surrounded the outside of the school itself.

Panting, Dolly joined him a few seconds later, her eyes wide from fury and fear.

"Just what the hell did you think you were doing?" she tried to yell but her voice was trapped inside her gasping.

He didn't answer. Instead, eyes were locked to the scene before him, the kids running back and forth as they played tag, basketball, jump rope and fought over whose turn it was to get the swings. It was as though he were mesmerized by the entire scene; as though he'd never seen a kid his own age before.

Then it occurred to her.

If those bastards really did believe they were vampires, then they only came back at night. Therefore, the kid would only come out at night as well and she doubted there would be many his age running around the boardwalk at midnight or later. Again, her heart went out to him and a hand touched along his shoulder.

He suddenly looked at her, eyes full of a new hope. "You'll take me in there?"

For a moment, she didn't know what to say. Of course she wasn't going to take him into the school but then again, he was latched to the fence and prying his fingers off would likely cause a scene. Now she understood why James had told her not to get too involved with a story. One made stupid attachments like this.

"Yes.. I will. But…" Her mind scrambled for an excuse. "Don't you think you should get cleaned up first?"

It took the kid a moment to realize what she was saying and Dolly pressed her point. "Well, you wouldn't want the other kids to make fun of you, right? You should get cleaned up like they are. Then I'll take you to school."

Grubby fingers began to loosen their hold against the fence. Gaze lingered for a few moments longer before returning to Dolly with a hopeful look.

"You'll bring me right back, promise?" he asked, suspicion in his voice.

With out batting an eye, she nodded.

Lied.

"Promise."