David felt movement near him and he shot his eyes open, he remained still but ready to react. It had been decades since he'd woken up in a bed, let alone with someone and it had him on alert but, once he remembered it was only Star, he relaxed and let his guard down a little.

'Hello Starlight.' He saw her cheeks redden and quickly she sat up looking for her clothes and seeing her naked back made him think of the pleasure he'd divulged in last night. He was enjoying having her for himself and the power he felt over her, he'd always thought having a girlfriend would tie him down but Star complimented him nicely and he was content to keep her around even though they'd had a significant bump in their road. He lay on his side and watched her get dressed, she was so delicate and precise in her movements that she reminded him of a ballet dancer. 'Go and get your things, we're going to a motel to clean up and get you ready.' He got up, put his pants on and walked out to wake the boys. 'Get up, we're leaving.' David woke them and one by one they dropped from the ceiling.

'Are you going to be sleeping with her from now on?' Marko asked him.

'Sometimes.' David turned to Marko and saw he was looking a little put out and he could sense he was feeling dejected by David's action. Marko was going to have to get over it but David would deal with that later, he had a job to do first. 'Paul, go get us a car and bring it up to San Francisco, let me know when you have it and I'll let you know where we are. You two head up there on your bikes and we'll meet you up there.' Paul and Dwayne headed out to the main cave and David spoke again. 'And Paul,' David said and Paul turned to look at him, 'something subtle.' Paul smiled and he left. David walked back out to the main cave behind Marko to put his jacket on. He needed to clean up and he needed a place to leave his bike so he decided to take her to a motel her knew of just out of San Francisco.

0o0

He walked into the reception and the owner continued to look at his reservations book and didn't acknowledge them at all by sight.

'Can I help you?'

'I want a room for a few hours.' David answered him and the man looked up, and then from David to Star and back again.

'Yeah, I bet you do.' He said and he received a glare from the both of them. David threw a fifty dollar bill down on the counter. 'She looks like she's worth it.' David dismissed the man's comment, normally the man's tongue would be ripped out saying something like that but he needed to fly under the radar tonight and he had more to worry about than this guy's opinion right now. Star walked in the room and headed straight to the bathroom and he knew by her body language she'd taken offense to the man's comment too but she was also going to have to get over it also. There was a lot of getting over things that needed to occur. After about twenty minutes she was still in the shower so he banged on the door to get her out. They needed to get going and get her to this party before this guy had been and gone so he opened the door and she scrambled to cover herself with the towel and he smiled, it's not like it was anything he hadn't already seen.

'Didn't wanna have a shower together?' He teased and he got naked and into the shower while she avoided his eyes and walked out. He came out of the shower ten minutes later to find her sitting on the bed in her normal clothing and his frustration flared. 'What are you doing? Why aren't you dressed?' For fucks sake.

'I can't ride with you in this dress.' She said holding the bag.

'You're not, Paul is picking up a car and is coming to get us.' He said pulling on his shirt and pants.

'David, this is crazy. I don't even know who I'm supposed to be talking to or if it's a private party or anything about this. Can't you compel him to come out and speak to you? I don't want to do this.' Was she serious?

'Don't you dare question me! You will do as I say! Now get dressed!' He charged out of the room slamming the door. He was fucked off, no one defied or questioned him yet she had done it twice in the past three days. Had she learned the other night? What was he going to have to do?

'Where are you, I'm just south of San Fran.' Paul appeared in his head.

'Come to Motel 6 in San Mateo.' David responded and he sparked a cigarette out on the porch and he thought of Max. This was all Max's doing and David inhaled his smoke, feeling over putting up with his elder. Within ten minutes he saw car headlights coming his way and he went back in to tell her that Paul had arrived. He opened the door and she was standing in the dress and heels and she was adjusting her long curly hair into a French twist and his heart skipped a beat. Dwayne was right, he didn't want her going anywhere without him looking like that. He finished getting dressed and he stood up after putting his boots on and, as she went to walk out the door, he stopped her and looked her over. She looked unbelievable and he felt like he was sending his prized sheep out to the wolves. 'You look stunning.' He told her and he kissed her cheek and opened the door for her. Star walked out ahead of him and he heard a wolf whistle from Paul and he looked up and stopped just as he stepped out of the room when he saw Paul leaning against a brand new, clean black mustang and David's face dropped. 'I said subtle.' David growled and he slammed the door closed. Jesus, Paul.

'Bro, I don't do subtle.' Paul smiled and David took Star's arm and escorted her into the car.

'Where are Dwayne and Marko?' She asked, sitting in the back behind Paul.

'They are meeting us up there. Go Paul, we're running short on time.' David told her.

0o0

Twenty minutes later Paul pulled up just down the road from the Hilton in central San Francisco.

'Where are you?' David projected to Dwayne.

'Southern end of the park.' David looked around and saw the park Dwayne was talking about opposite the hotel and he smiled. 'Good, I'll see you soon.' He looked out the window at the people walking past and was reminded of how much he hated San Francisco.

'He's coming up towards the Hilton now. Black long sleeved shirt, grey pants.' Marko's voice penetrated David's psyche and David saw him. He looked wiry and like he had a well-established habit going on.

'That's him.' He told her and both Star and Paul watched him stride arrogantly up the road and David smiled, he looked forward to smacking some of that arrogance out of him. David pulled out some money and gave it to her. 'Bring him out to the park. I will be waiting there for you.' He saw her legs wobble as she got out of the car and he watched her cross the street and he saw she really wasn't up for this and wondered how she was going to cope or even if she was going to cope and he couldn't help but have a tinge of insecurity that she would repeat her performance on the beach. If Max found out about that, Star would be dead, he knew that for sure. This would be the one and only time he would use her for something like this and, as she disappeared into the hotel, David's jaw clicked as he clenched his molars together.

'I can't believe you're doing this, especially after what she's done already.' Paul looked out the window and David looked at Paul. 'She could do anything in there. She could call the cops, she could leave out another entrance. Hell, she could tell anybody anything.' Paul taunted him.

'Shut up Paul.' David was feeling paranoid as it was, he didn't need Paul voicing his internal dialogue for him and Paul laughed at him. He was saying it all on purpose just to fuck with him.

'Don't worry, she wouldn't dare. She's too scared. She could barely stand up.' Paul had noticed it too. David knew he'd shaken her to her core the other night but he was still unsure and he waited impatiently in the car and Paul could feel his anxiety growing.

'Park in the alley over there, let's go wait in the park.' Paul parked up the car and they walked down across the road and in through the park gates. Paul pulled out a joint and David smiled at his brother. 'See, now that's why I keep you around.'

'Yeah.' Paul agreed and they sat next to a small pond and blazed away, waiting for her to come out. The pot was quality and it calmed him down somewhat.

'Who is this guy?' Paul asked, passing the joint to David.

'Some dick Max is working with.' David told him.

'So, why don't he do it?' Paul reiterated David's sentiment.

'Apparently he's too good to do this one.' David said, dripping with sarcasm.

'Whatever.' Paul threw the roach away and looked around. 'This town is boring.'

'Mmm.' David responded, agreeing with him. He had his own reasons to dislike this town and he was ready to get this done so he could leave.

'She's heading out already.' Dwayne echoed in David's head and sure enough, David spied her emerging from out of the hotel with the man following after her and they headed his way. 'Time to intercept.' Paul jumped down and disappeared into the shadows with Marko and Dwayne while David watched them walk closer to him and heard him ask her if she was scared of being there in the dark with him and David dropped down off the pond ledge.

'Why would she be?' David answered him and he surprised them and they both spun around to look at him.

'Who are you?' Raoul was confused and he turned to Star. 'Is he a nark?!' He asked, looking back to David.

'Do I look like a cop?' David scoffed. 'Star come here.' He ordered and she came to him while he kept an eye on Raoul, as he heard Dwayne coming in from the air, and he watched him grab the man and fly off with him. Out of the corner of his eye, he'd seen Star jump when Raoul was taken but he ignored her reaction.

'Where is he? I thought you just wanted to speak to him?' She asked breathlessly.

'Dwayne is having a little chat with him.' He replied, knowing he was probably dead already and he led her out of the park to the car.

'So, he's going to be alright, right?' She needed reassurance.

'Sure.' He said crossing the road. If dead was alright, he was going to be fine.

'What are we doing?' He was asked and he answered her without looking at her.

'Waiting for Paul.' He arrived at the car and pulled out his cigarettes, leaned against the car and lit one. He noticed a street light flickering at the end of the alley and he stared at it as he sucked in and blew out his smoke. What was Paul doing? He heard a car door shut and he sensed a man approached them.

'How much?' A man's voice spoke and both David and Star looked at him. 'For her, how much?' Then David clicked. Motherfucker. He thinks Star is a whore. He pushed off the car and took a step towards him.

'$300.'

'Is that for everything?' David maintained his composure as the dumb fuck got out his wallet.

'$300 for a fuck. $400 and you can do what you want for the night.' The man's smile made David want to rip his fucking head off.

'Including bare back? I wanna cum all inside that one.' He said and David had to focus really hard to refrain from reacting.

'Bare back is $500.' David told him trying not to grit his teeth. The man handed over a wad of fifty dollar bills and David counted them. He'd given him five hundred. 'Now fuck off.' David's tone changed as he turned around folding the notes again.

'What?' The man said.

'Did you not hear me?' David spun on his heel and walked towards him again. 'I told you to fuck off. No one touches my girl but me, you disrespectful fuck, and if you don't get the fuck out of here, you will never see daylight again.' He wasn't playing anymore.

'I'm going to call the police if you don't give me my money back.' The man's voice cracked as he spoke. The worst thing he could have done was threaten David with the police and David instantly slammed his fist into the man's throat crushing his Adam's apple and the man fell to his knees and began spitting and choking on his own blood. Fucking asshole, who the fuck did he think he was to call his girl a whore and then threaten him. David was pissed, this guy looked like he was going to die and someone had noticed. They couldn't wait for Paul any longer.

'Fuck.' David quickly broke into the car, telling her to get in, and he hotwired the engine, taking off with a screech of tyre rubber. He wanted to get the fuck out of this fucking town and out of this fucking car as soon as possible, knowing that someone had probably seen him. He drove to the motel and stopped the car without turning the engine off. 'Go in and get changed. I'll be back.' As soon as she got out of the car, he drove off with a spurt of gravel, he had to get rid of this piece of shit car. In reality it was a beautiful muscle car and he understood why Paul had chosen it, but to him right now it was a piece of shit. He drove it down to an industrial area and left it near a closed up warehouse then he flew back to the motel. He didn't go in, instead choosing to sit out on his bike and wait for her. She opened the door and the yellow light caught his eye and he started his bike, enjoying the grunt of the engine. He looked back over at her and she got on and he took off south initially, but he saw the highway heading east towards Los Gatos and before he'd really thought about it, he'd taken the turnoff and he was headed down to a lost town of his past. Within the hour, he had entered the small town and he suddenly felt a bit queasy as he was transported into a time he'd long forgotten. He passed a street and he slowed his bike, looking at the property he used to live on and upon seeing it, he saw a different, more modern house but the land was the same. This was it, this is where it all began, where a young eighteen-year-old David had met Max. He hadn't been back here since that day and he rode slowly through the town, trying to recognise different places but so much had changed in that time that he was struggling to recognise anything. There was one place he knew wouldn't have changed, one place that held the most prominent memory for him and as he pulled up there, the impact of being in the place again rocked him more than he was prepared for, he almost expected Max to be there waiting for him again the way he was feeling. He parked the bike and Star got off but he sat there still wrestling with his ghosts before he finally got off.

'What are we doing here?' She stood there holding the bag with the dress and the shoes inside and he took it off her and dumped it in a bin, then walked over to the water's edge and he stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets. This is where it happened. This is where Max had met with him one night and taken his mortality away from him. For the first time, he wondered who and what he might have become if he hadn't been turned. He'd never analysed it over the century he'd been a vampire, he'd never really cared before but right now he was allowing himself to think about the life he might have had if Max hadn't have come into his life. Would he have married and had kids? Would he have been close with his brother? Worked in a factory and died a content old man surrounded by a loving family? He wondered why Max had chosen him and why he'd just accepted it and embraced it the way he had. His father had died in the civil war leaving him and his brother alone with his mom, and the years had taught him that he was probably looking for a father figure in his life, which is why Max had held such an appeal for him and he had easily done as Max had asked of him for so long. The desire to be accepted and by someone so powerful, but Max had abused his power over time and that was when David had begun to have enough, like William had before him. Dwayne came first as a companion for David then Paul a while later and by the time David had turned Marko, Max was pissed at David's push for independence. Fucking Max, trying to control him and dictate what he did and with whom. He never would have used Star like that if it wasn't for him. He would protect her from Max from here on out.

'Are you OK?' His head jerked slightly at the sound of her voice. He'd all but forgotten she was there with him and he briefly wondered how long he'd been standing there.

'This is where I was turned.' He told her honestly. 'I haven't been back here since that night.' He pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

'When were you turned?' He was surprised at her interest and he felt strange, almost vulnerable, divulging that information to her. He took a deep inhale of smoke before he answered.

'A long time ago.' He said still looking at the water. 'I'm older than you think Star.'

'How old are you?' He looked at her but said nothing. 'Do you remember JFK?'

'I'm older than that.' He snorted, tipping his ash and inhaling more smoke. This conversation is one he'd never thought he'd have with her.

'World War 2?' His lip curled and nodded. 'World War 1?' His smile dropped and he nodded, hoping she would drop it now. 'Titanic?' He looked down and nodded, remembering reading about it in the paper. She was making him remember things that were making him feel really old and he decided coming here was a mistake, he didn't even know why he was there let alone to bring her here. 'Billy the Kid?' He chuckled, that was enough and he wanted to leave.

'Let's go.' He flicked his smoke away into the reeds and walked over and got on his bike, starting it up.

'Do you remember Billy the Kid?' She asked him again and he smiled as she climbed on behind him, gunning his bike. 'What? I can't hear you.' He yelled above the engine, the smirk firmly set upon his face and he caught her smile back at him and he headed out of this god forsaken town and back to his cave.