Star had pulled right away from David since being told their secret, she'd pulled away from all of them, but especially him. What was she supposed to do? They were vampires who killed people and drank their blood and she struggled to accept that fact nor could she get the image of them in their vampire forms out of her head. David was still bringing her flowers and had tried to involve her in their outings but she remained reserved and somewhat detached. Even though he'd always maintained that they would never hurt her, how could she trust that knowing now what she knew to be true? David had told her that if he was going to kill her, he would have done it already and not bothered in turning her which had a sense of truth to it but David had been angry when he'd said it and she could tell he had been losing patience with her. Recently he'd changed and he began showing her the positives of being a vampire, he showed her things she had no idea of, things she never would have even thought of and she slowly began to see his world through his eyes, and she saw beauty in it. There were sparkles of light in the raindrops and iridescent colours in the feathers of birds that she'd never been able to see, and the magic he possessed was reflecting back in her eyes. He taught her how to fly, taking her to some of his favourite vantage points in California and she found she couldn't get enough, she loved soaring high with him and would hold on tight and tell him to go faster. He also taught her the art of compulsion which mesmerized her and helped her understand the ease in which they acquired things without money. She had been beginning to think they just stole everything they got, and she still wasn't convinced that wasn't what they were doing half the time, but the way in which David showed her had her captivated. He did it with a grace and elegance that made the poor people putty in his hands and she found she was feeling more comfortable with the monster within him and intrigued by the abilities he possessed.

0o0

'Do you like being out here now?' He asked her as she sat on the large boulder out near the railway tracks over the gorge.

'I love it! I had no idea of the life that existed out here, the sounds of the owls and the crickets, and the depth of the shadows caused by the full moon.' She was genuinely enchanted with his favourite spot now. The first time he bought her here, she had thought it was strange and eerie but now she found it magical and alive and she didn't want to leave.

'It only gets better.' She heard his voice in her head and almost gave herself whiplash flicking her head around to look at him.

'What did you say?' She asked him and he smirked his sexy smile at her.

'It only gets better.' She jumped up at the foreign sound in her head and her heart beat faster.

'Oh my God!' She said realising his mouth hadn't moved yet she was hearing him. 'How did you…?'

'We can communicate mentally together. Once you have turned, you will be able to call for me, or the boys, if you need us or are in trouble. But because I have sired you, I can talk to you now.' She stood there staring at him in disbelief. Telepathic communication? This explained why they seemed to know what each other was thinking and they seemed to have awkward silences. There weren't actually silences and it wasn't awkward to anyone but her. They'd been talking all along and he head was spinning.

'So, you're going to let me out without you?' She asked raising her eyebrow. He smiled and moved towards her and kissed her.

'You can go out alone as long as you come back to me when I call for you.' He sounded like he was allowing a child out as long as they followed his rules but she would take it and she smiled and nodded at him. She longed to be alone for a bit and to process everything she had been through, she hadn't been alone in months and, as good as the boys could be to her, she needed some alone time and to not be constantly watched and scrutinized by them.

She woke up the next night and the pain in her stomach was back, and what she had to do in order to make it go away made her feel even sicker. David took her back to the Boardwalk and told everyone he had some 'business' to take care of and he left. She wondered if that 'business' involved killing but she didn't ask him and she walked away from the boys, towards the beach, as the Boardwalk was unappealing to her tonight with the way she was feeling. She needed some peace to try and centre herself and she was glad David was busy and the boys were leaving her alone. She walked along the shoreline, away from the people and the flashing lights of the rides and the noise of the band and she enjoyed the quiet but it made her longing for sustenance more prominent and she began to think she wasn't going to be able to contain it for long. The thought of drinking blood both had her mouth watering and disgusted her at the same time and she struggled to imagine a scenario where she would actually be OK with killing someone. I mean, how did that even happen? She sat down on the sand and ran her hand through the grains and felt they were still warm from the day. She was filled with a sadness that she would never again feel the warmth of the sun on her face and she tried to remember the last time she had been in the sun and it had been when she had watched the sunset after she'd tried to call Tee's mom. She'd promised to call her back and she never did, she missed Tee and she wished she was here so she could talk to her. Then it hit her like a freight train, she couldn't believe it had taken her so long to finally join the dots. Her initial instincts had told her what was true in the very beginning but the boys had lied to her and David had distracted her with the tricks of his trade, so much so, that she had been blind to what was staring her directly in the face. Oh David was good, very good and very dangerous. Tee, her dad and her brother were all dead after she had met a gang of vampires. How hard was it? She knew it, she'd known it after the concert, she'd known it after she'd been told they were dead and she, sure as fuck, knew it now. She couldn't be like them and kill anyone and she couldn't go back to them and be with them knowing what they'd done. David's magic was an illusion and behind the mask was a killer and she needed help. She was really scared now. If David had killed her friend and family and thought nothing of it so easily, he'd definitely kill her without hesitation, just like Paul had said he would. She had to get out of here, she had to escape and get to the Police and she knew now was her chance. She stood up and walked towards the next pier along the beach and her fear grew, like she was being stalked with every step she took even though she had no idea where the boys were or when David would be back. She walked faster, not really knowing where to but then she saw an officer on the other side of the pier questioning some kids. She quickly approached him and he turned to tell her he was busy but, after looking at her, he decided against it and he paid her attention.

'Are you alright?' He asked her.

'Umm…' She looked around nervously. 'I need your help.'

'OK, what's going on?' As the cop's attention was diverted, the kids he had been questioning took off. 'What's your name?'

'Star, my name is Star. Ahh… I have some knowledge about some murders that happened in San Francisco.'

'In San Francisco? Who was killed?' He asked, turning the page in his note book.

'My dad, my brother and my best friend.' The more she spoke, the more paranoid she was becoming. 'Please, we have to go.'

'What are their names?' He stopped her.

'Jason Richmond, Nick Richmond and Toni Stadler. Please, I can't be here any longer.' She was beginning to panic.

'When did this happen?'

'About a month ago.' The cop looked at her carefully.

'Do you know who killed them?'

'Yeah, I think so.' She said.

'You think so?' The cop asked.

'Yeah.'

'Do you have any proof?' He questioned her, cocking his head to the side.

'Ahh… Kind of. Look we have to go.' She said, not really sure about how she was going to tell him about them.

'Who did it?' He wanted her to say it before he took her back to make an official statement.

'I think my boyfriend and his friends did it.' Her eyes watering as she spoke.

'Your boyfriend?' He repeated.

'Yeah,' single tears began sliding down her cheeks. 'I don't know but we have to get out of here.'

Calm down, are you in danger right now?' He asked her, sensing the hysteria rising in her voice and she nodded. 'OK, I think we need to go to the station and make a formal report.' They both turned to leave and, to her absolute horror, she saw David standing a few feet in front of her and she felt like screaming and running for the hills but instead she grabbed the cop and hid behind him.

'That's him.' She said and the cop stepped forward.

'What are you doing, Star?' She not only heard David's words but she felt them in the very core of her being and she involuntarily dropped her grasp of the cop and stared at him.

'You need to come with me.' The cop said, and out of her peripheral vision she saw the cop reach for his radio only for it to be slapped out of his hand by Paul and somewhere in her consciousness, it registered that the other boys were standing around her and the reality of the situation hit her again. 'I'm taking you all in for questioning regarding some murders in San Francisco.' Star heard the cop say and she saw David look from the cop directly at her and she just wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole. She watched him look back at the cop and David's face darkened and she knew the gravity of the mistake she'd made in telling him.

'Who died?' David asked in his familiar caustic tone.

'Jason Richmond, Nick Richmond and Toni Stadler.' David's reaction was instant and she watched his eyes default into the glowing red and yellow and his face morphed into the malformed structure she'd seen at the bonfire and he launched towards the cop, grabbing him before he even knew what was happening to him, and throwing him over to Paul.

'You telling people about us? About what we do?' David's voice was overflowing with malice and she was terrified. She'd be stupid to think there would be no retaliation for what she'd just tried to do, and judging by the look on his face it was going to be harsh. 'Well, best we show you exactly what we can do then huh? Paul, take him to Panther Beach.' Oh, my God, what were they going to do to him? They wouldn't kill a cop would they? The thought that they might kill him over this made her feel faint, it would be her fault he would die. Paul and Marko shot out of sight into the dark night leaving her there with David and Dwayne.

'I told you not to fuck with me. You wanna play girl? Let's play.' David said and he grabbed her hard and shot her through the air with him up the coast and she thought not only would this be the end for the poor Policeman but for her as well.