We arrived back at the hideout just as the sun rose over the horizon. A sick feeling rolled around in my stomach, my hands shaking, and my eyes almost unable to open. Once inside the coolness of the cave, that sick feeling disappeared.

Star led me into the depths of the cave and into her room, which was basically a mattress, a thin blanket, and a curtain surrounding it for privacy. There were a few knick-knacks laid about but nothing overly sentimental. Laddie slept on another small mattress within the curtained space.

Star then led me down to another curtained area, which looked identical to hers without the knick-knacks. She motioned to the area with a small smile. "I set this up the night David told us about what he did to you on the beach. It's nothing special, but hopefully, you can make it homey."

"Thank you," I said, looking around with a sigh. "I appreciate it."

Star shrugged. "This life isn't easy, especially when you fight against the nature of what you've become, but I hope you and I can do this together. It'll be nice to not be so alone."

"I'd love that." I smiled.

Star squeezed my shoulder before heading off to bed. I stood there, watching her disappear behind the curtain. With a sigh, I did the same. Once in the small makeshift room, I unpacked my bag filled with non-clothes items. I placed my blanket and stuffed animal on the mattress, putting the photo of my family beside the flattened pillow.

I left the backpack with my clothes unopened because I didn't want to place them on the dirty cave floor. I threw that bag and the semi-unpacked one I just opened against the cave wall as I laid down. It wasn't as comfortable as my bed at home, but it was all I had now, so I tried to make the best of it.

I cuddled up with my blanket and stuffed animal, trying to get some sleep. I tossed and turned for several hours and couldn't get comfortable. So, after giving up, I explored the cave more thoroughly.

I noticed a small tunnel in one of the walls and decided to climb through it, dirt staining the knees of my jeans. I came to a bigger passageway as a putrid smell hit me at full force. I almost gagged at the intensity but pushed through as curiosity prevailed. I jumped down into a hole and looked up. When my eyes adjusted to what I was looking at, I had to place a hand over my mouth to keep myself from screaming.

Hanging from the ceiling slept David, Paul, Marco, and Dwayne. They hung onto an old pipe by their feet, which transformed to have an extra clawed toe to keep their grip. Their hands lay over their chests like Dracula.

"It's like one giant coffin," I muttered to myself.

I looked around for a second more before getting out as quickly as I could so I wouldn't wake them. I suspected they had to sleep in some sort of coffin due to the issue with sunlight, but I didn't expect them to hang from the ceiling like a bat. When the shock of that wore off and I was back in the main part of the cave, I decided to test a few things, since I couldn't fall asleep anyway.

I could've waited until someone woke up and asked them questions, but I had the time and decided I'd answer some on my own. I knew a few things already. My reflection wavered, whether that meant becoming a full vampire made it fully disappear, I wasn't sure, but I wouldn't be shocked if it did. I had glowing eyes and fangs that appeared when I was hungry, most likely affected by emotion. Once I drank blood, I would become a full vampire, but I would hold off as long as I could, however long I could manage.

The question then became, what other powers did I possess? I tested out the tropes of vampire fiction first to see what would work and what wouldn't. I found an old metal bar and picked it up. I grabbed hold of it at each end and pulled them toward myself, twisting the iron as if it was a bendy straw in a milkshake.

"Oh, that's cool," I muttered.

I then ran to see if I had super speed. There was definitely an improvement, especially the fact I wasn't tired like I should be. I ran back and forth for almost twenty minutes without breaking a sweat.

I tried to see if I could find a cross, but to no surprise, there wasn't one within the cave. I made one out of sticks but I didn't feel repelled and it didn't burn my skin, whether that was because crosses had no effect or my crappily made one didn't, I had no idea. I wanted to test garlic but that was nowhere to be found, so that would have to be a test conducted at another time.

I knew sunlight had made me feel anxious but I wanted to know if it truly caused damage. I made my way toward the entrance of the cave and found a beam of dim light. With a deep breath, I quickly placed my hand in the sunlight. I wasn't catching flame but that same sick feeling came over me, anxiety to the highest degree. I put more of my body into the light and that feeling made me almost puke, but I was still in one piece.

"You won't be damaged by the sun until you're a full vampire."

I turned around to see David a few feet into the entrance of the cave. He came to stand beside me, placing a finger into the light. I watched as his skin began to smoke and sizzle, actually lighting just before he moved his hand back into the dark and blew it out, almost like the flame of a candle.

"I saw you four sleeping," I admitted, turning back to look at him. "Hanging from the ceiling like bats."

"Coffins are an option, but it's the darkest part of the cave, and works just as well. You get used to it after a while," David explained.

"I don't know if I could ever get used to the blood rushing to my head," I muttered.

David laughed under his breath. "It's not really an issue when your heart doesn't beat, but don't worry, you won't have to worry about that until you feed."

"I won't feed," I snapped, turning back to look at the setting sun. "I promise you that."

David grabbed my hand and pulled me fully into the shadows, meeting my gaze. "You may say that now, but eventually, you will feed, whether that's your choice or the hunger taking over, it will happen. It's only a matter of time."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

"I guess so," David sighed, letting go of my hand. "We're going to go feed once more and if you care to see how it's done or want to join, you may come along. If not, you can stay here with Star and Laddie."

"I think staying here will be just fine," I said with crossed arms.

David smiled to himself. "You're stubborn, I like that. If you change your mind, all you have to do is ask."

David walked back into the cave as I turned toward the entrance. The light was gone, slowly being replaced by the dark of night. I sighed before following David into the cave. The four got ready and tried to get me to come along, but I denied them.

Once they were gone, Star, Laddie, and I headed top side to the field just above the cliff. No one came to this side of town, so we had no worry about people watching us. We played a few games with Laddie, which ended with us smiling wide. I had never been one to hang with children, but Laddie made me change that frame of mind. He was quiet, but he had an adventurous side to him; a fighter for sure.

When we had played for quite some time, Laddie took a break as Star tried to teach me to fly. I hovered for several moments before falling face first into the dirt, Laddie tipping over with laughter. I threw a pile of leaves at him, cleaning off the dirt from my shirt the best I could.

I attempted to fly a few more times, getting a few feet off the ground before Star and Laddie wanted to head back in. The three of us ate some bread and jam from a small fridge that somehow got power down there. Star explained, due to us still being part human, we could eat normal food in small doses, but if we ever became full vampires, it would become revolting to us.

She also explained that crosses only worked with a person who truly believed in the God it represented, garlic did absolutely nothing, holy water burned, and sunlight, as I knew, was not a friend. Stakes to the heart, fire, sunlight, and explosions could all be the end of us, but other than that, normal injuries would heal at a heightened rate. We would never get sick, never die unless attacked, and never age; we were immortal.

"I can't believe I'm going to be stuck at 17 forever," I muttered to myself.

"Hey, I'm stuck at 11," Laddie whined.

The three of us shared a look before bursting into laughter, wiping a small tear from my eye. "Okay, I do have it a little better than you."

"It's difficult and dealing with the others is a challenge on its own, but as long as we three stick together, we can fight this," Star said.

She placed her fist in the center of us. Laddie followed suit and placed his small fist against hers. I hesitated for only a moment before placing my fist against theirs. We all counted to three and yelled together at the top of our lungs. This was going to be hard to handle, but with Laddie and Star, it wasn't going to be half bad.