Hope you're still enjoying the story – warnings for sex and drug references.

He was hit with an overwhelming sense of de ja vu as his gloved hand hovered over the handle of the back office door in the Video Max.

Every fibre of his being screamed at him, he felt the muscles in his legs constrict with a desperate need to get her out of here and away from him, but he just stood frozen in place, unable to tear his eyes away from them.

He watched, hidden behind half open blinds in the dark office as she smiled that perfect smile.

He gripped the door handle hard, hard enough it began to warp under his fist.

She wasn't safe here.

Dwayne silently appeared at his shoulder, following David's gaze to where Max and the girl stood he could feel the tension radiating from David and glanced down to where he'd almost broken off the door handle and a sly, half-smile spread over Dwayne's handsome face.

"Hey Paul, isn't that your girl"? Dwayne said, nodding his head at the door, gesturing him to come to the window and take a look. Dwayne smirked darkly as David's hand fell from the handle and clenched in a tight fist at his side, his jaw clenching tightly, never taking his eyes away from the girl in the store.

Marko threw a warning look up at Dwayne from his seat at the other end of the office as Paul clambered across the furniture in his impatience, Dwayne shrugged, his smile faltering a little but not really disappearing as he took a seat on the edge of Max's desk.

"That's her bro, that's her…" Paul whispered excitedly, clapping David on the shoulder, a wolfish grin on his lips "…man, just look at her…"

David did look at her.

"…God, those legs bro, imagine havin' those legs wrapped round you…"

David didn't need to imagine.

"…See you boys later" Paul said suggestively, grabbing the twisted door handle and opening the door a crack, only to have it slammed back into the frame so hard splinters flew from it.

David's strong arm blocked Paul's path and he shot his youngest brother a deadly glare. It was a look that Paul and the others very rarely saw, David was pulling rank, and he was not to be disobeyed.

"You cock-blocking me, bud"? Paul sniggered, trying to lighten the this tension that had descended upon the small office, but David just squared up to Paul who gave up immediately, throwing his hands up in defeat, sitting on the end of the desk and lighting a cigarette.

"What crawled up his ass" Paul whispered to Dwayne, who just looked up at David, the sly smirk still plastered on his face.

That girl was someone to David, someone important, Dwayne could see it.

Marko sighed heavily and walked over to stand next to his brother at the window as Paul and Dwayne casually flicked through a filing cabinet, intentionally making a mess of Max's neat and ordered system.

David had gone back to staring at the girl in the store.

"That her?" Marko asked so quietly only David heard, his angelic face full of understanding, already knowing the answer that David never gave, but Marko knew…

A few months after Marko had turned, he and David had taken it upon themselves to throw a party at Max's fancy villa. After one hell of a night, in which they'd found their new brother Dwayne, each drained at least eight bottles of Max's top shelf tequila from his cellar, and about as many of California's prettiest girls each, they sat on the plastic garden furniture in silence looking up at the stars. Beer bottles and cigarette butts littered the lawn and patio around them, window blinds hung haphazardly from their broken brackets, pizza boxes were strewn across the floor, shards of broken glass and pretty yellow pills lay spilt on the kitchen counters, bed sheets once pressed to within an inch of their lives were now left laying tangled and stained at the foot of beds around slim necks, and beautiful naked bodies floated face down in the pool.

In a haze of satisfied bloodlust and drunkenness Marko had asked David what events led to him being turned and Marko would never forget the wrenchingly sad smile that David gave him that night, nor the tortured look in his brilliant blue eyes as he looked over at him in the moonlight. David had drunkenly allowed himself to reminisce, a dangerous game to play, but play it he had and he quickly found he was unable to turn off the powerful wave of memories that flooded his mind.

David had only told Marko that he'd been protecting someone, but Marko was always good at reading between the lines.

It was love David had been protecting.

And Marko understood, Marko understood David's look of anguish as he too let himself remember a girl back in L.A with hair as red as fire and eyes that pierced his soul, he remembered her bright smile, the heart wrenching screech of tyres against asphalt, the sickening thump of her body hitting the hood of the car…

The boys never mentioned that night ever again, Marko pretending he'd never seen David look so utterly lost and David was happy to carry on with the charade…

David and Marko's attention was quickly brought back to the office as the sprinkler system was set off and they became drenched in cold water, the remnants of a fire smouldering in a waste paper bin on the desk, Paul and Dwayne both bent over in hysterical laughter.

David had to sidestep quick as lightning away from the door as Max burst through, yellow eyes burning down on all four of them.

"I told you not to come in here anymore" Max hissed darkly, very aware of not wanting to call any unwanted attention to the office.

"Woah, Max, chill dude…" Paul sniggered.

But Max was livid, and David took a quick, protective step in front of his brothers, taunting Max with a raised eyebrow and a slow, devilish smirk. Marko, Dwayne and Paul looked between David and Max with unimpressed expressions before Marko rolled his dark grey eyes, hitting Dwayne lightly on the arm and gesturing for both him and Paul to follow him out.

David watched as his brothers stalked slowly out the dark office and into the bright fluorescent lights of the video store, Marko looked back over his shoulder and David gave him a look Marko instantly understood, and he gave David a quick nod in acknowledgement.

Max had calmed himself and closed the door gently behind the boys as they left the store, tearing away down the promenade on their beastly motorcycles, the sprinklers had drained themselves dry.

David leant casually against a tall filing cabinet, his usual detached, arrogant air returning as he lit a cigarette, and rested his elbow along the edge of the cabinet, looking down at Max with an amused smile as he sat fuming in his office chair, but the self satisfied smirk was soon wiped off David's dangerously handsome face as Max looked up at him with a gleeful smile.

"I've just had a charming conversation with our lovely Beth…"

David wanted to rip Max's dead heart out of his chest.