It had been a week since they had been in San Francisco but something had changed in David and she found he was being more possessive over her than he'd ever been before. She wasn't allowed anywhere on her own anymore and he was monitoring everything she did, who she spoke to and even what she wore. It had gotten so bad that he was even controlling what interaction the boys were having with her which was making things awkward and had her feeling like she was consuming too much of David's attention, upsetting the dynamic between the boys. She didn't know why he was acting like this but she felt like David was being way over the top and she'd told him so, and he made it very clear that it was not up for discussion. He had also begun to pressure her more to complete her transition and turn, getting angry when she wouldn't commit to doing it, so she had been spending more time in her space and in her own little world while in the cave when they were home instead of with the boys. Dwayne took quiet notice of David's altered state but did nothing to stop it and Paul and Marko continued on as if nothing was different. She'd been awake for an hour and there was no sign of the boys yet so she got up and walked around the cave and cleaned up a little, the boys were about as domesticated as stray dogs and once she'd gotten rid of the empty beer bottles, food cartons and David's stray cigarette butts, she sat down and felt a bit lost as to what to do. She looked around and spotted Dwayne's stack of sketching pads and she glanced around to see if the boys were coming out or if she was silently being watched and, finding she was still alone, she went and looked over Dwayne's other sketching books, then she noticed one that was almost hidden behind a surfboard leaning against the wall and she picked it up and went back to her bed and opened it. The sketches within these pages were a lot darker in nature and they disturbed her. There were bodies lying in blood, gruesome holes bitten out of torsos and burning limbs hanging out of a pit of fire and these images made her feel cold and sick but, not as much as seeing the next ones. They were of the boys in full vampire form, some looking as though they'd just fed and others looking like they were on the hunt but all were full of evil. She studied them, their eyes, their teeth, their enhanced bone structure and she involuntarily shivered. They were truly scary, bone chillingly so, and she prayed she'd never see them like that again.

'What are you doing?' She quickly slammed the book closed and stood up and spun around. David and Dwayne stood just inside the curtains with Paul and Marko just behind them. 'Star?' David demanded.

'I… um… was just looking at some more of your drawings.' She handed the book back to Dwayne. 'I'm sorry.' Dwayne took it without saying anything and the depth of their stare upon her was excruciating and she knew she'd done wrong again.

'Don't touch his shit again.' David's tone was ice cold. 'Stay here with Paul.' he said turning and walking away from her. 'We're going out.' He walked up and out of the cave without saying goodbye. Dwayne put his pad back and he and Marko followed him out.

'Tsk tsk… That was naughty. No one looks at Dwayne's stuff without his permission.' Paul teased her and she walked out to the main room.

'But he showed me his other ones?' She pleaded her case.

'Ah, but not that one. You'd be best to keep your hands to yourself from now on.' Paul advised her. 'You better not be touching my stash girly.' She stood there looking like a little girl being told off. 'I want one.' He threw her a small silver sword earring and she looked at him confused.

'You want me to pierce your ear?' She asked.

'Yeah. I'm feeling left out.' She smiled.

'Well, we can't have that, can we?' She said getting out her stuff and preparing it. She told him to sit down and she pushed the needle through his ear.

'Ow!' He deliberately overreacted.

'Don't be a wimp.' She said. He bled a little and she watched the blood for a second and had to resist the urge to taste it before she wiped it away and it didn't go unnoticed by Paul. She became aware he was staring at her and she snapped out of it. 'Where have they gone?' She asked him.

'Out.' He answered getting up and putting on some music, it was the Cure and she was surprised he was into the Cure. She sat on the edge of the fountain.

'Why won't Dwayne let anyone see his work? He's a really talented artist.'

'Dwayne is an old school Indian and he believes in a lot of the old traditions.' Paul said tapping his hand on his knees to the music.

'Like...' She prompted him for more information. Dwayne was an interesting man, he never said much but yet he seemed to hold so much power and inner strength within him. She wondered how David had met Dwayne, how he'd met all of them.

'Like when you capture their image, it takes part of their soul. That more relates to photographs but he's still a little superstitious when it comes to his pictures. I don't know. He has premonitions too.' She sat and contemplated why it was he had allowed her to view them then.

'Paul, how did you meet David?' She asked him.

'Ha, drugs girl. I sold him something one day and we got talking and ended up getting fucked up and going out and the next thing I knew…' Of course that's how they met, it was just such a typical Paul story and she smiled and looked down as she thought about David.

'What's wrong with David?' She continued to stare at the ground as she asked the question.

'Huh' Paul asked, preoccupied with his new jewellery.

'Why is he being so controlling?' She asked him.

'Ha, we are talking about the same David, right? That's just him girl, he is controlling. But he's worse because of that guy in San Francisco. That threw him and he ain't gonna let it happen again. At least that's what he said.' He slung his arm around her shoulder. 'And he wants you to turn, he's waited long enough. You gotta feed Star, that's something you don't have a choice over.' She placed her hand at her forehead and groaned. 'Look, it's not that bad, it's kinda fun and we all got over it. Besides, the thirst will get you in the end... or David will and honestly, I'd let the thirst get ya before he did.' He joked.

'Comfortable?' David's voice echoed through the cave and Paul's arm dropped and his eyes closed. Speak of the Devil… Star looked over at David and he just stood there staring at them.

'I was just talking to her, man.' Paul stood up to plead his innocence to him and David just stood there, judging him.

'If I see your arm around her again, I'll cut it off.' Star looked away, sure he was serious, even though Paul was his brother. David was in a feral mood again tonight. 'Go and eat.' Paul walked past David on his way out. 'Nice earring.' David noted just as Paul had walked near the entrance and Paul turned his head and glanced at him one last time then he left. David had maintained his gaze on Star and she looked back up towards him in time to see Dwayne come down with Marko and a little boy, who was looking a bit shy but very interested in the boys and now the cave. He was a small kid with long straight shoulder length hair, wearing a military styled jacket that was a little too big for him and he was clutching a brown soft toy teddy bear. She looked at David and he laughed at her but it wasn't friendly and made her feel uneasy.

'Star, meet Laddie.' He took his jacket off and Star looked at Dwayne then down at Laddie. 'Laddie, this is my girlfriend Star.' Laddie walked over to Star.

'Hi.' He had gorgeous grey eyes that looked at her from behind his long bangs and she couldn't help but smile.

'Hi Laddie.' She said, crouching down to his level.

'Do you like my bear? Dwayne won it for me.' He held up his toy and she smiled again.

'Yeah, he's great. Laddie, how old are you?' She asked him.

'Ten.' He said playing with the arms on the bear.

'Ten…' She looked over at David, who sat smugly smoking a cigarette and watching her. 'Where are your parents?'

'Laddie wanted to hang with us, didn't you kid.' David answered for him and she knew he was embellishing the truth.

'Yeah, and David asked me if I liked arcade games and they let me play with them. Then Dwayne took me for a ride on his bike.' Laddie excitedly said and she looked back at David with narrowed eyes. David never spoke to the street kids or anybody really and he never offered anybody anything. What was this kid doing here? There was something very wrong with this situation and she feared what purpose he was serving David.

'Laddie, come here.' Marko called out to the boy and Laddie bounced over to him and he watched as Marko hand fed some of the pigeons. Star couldn't help herself and she walked over to David and confronted him.

'What are you doing? Why is he here?' She said quietly, not wanting to scare the boy but demanding to know at the same time.

'He's going to be your first.' He said simply, glaring up at her and her heart sank. She wasn't going to kill anyone, let alone a sweet little boy like Laddie. She shook her head, her eyes watering at the situation she was rapidly finding herself in. 'You will, Star. You won't like the alternative.' He said in his low calm voice and she felt chills run down her spine. Her breathing quickened as her panic rose and she backed away to go and sit on her bed. 'Star.' He said loud enough to attract the attention of the little boy and she froze. 'Sit down.' David motioned to the couch and she sat down, feeling sick. Laddie came and sat next to her, a little closer than she was expecting.

'How long have you lived here?' Laddie asked her.

'A few months.' She said glancing down at him, trying to speak normally so he didn't pick up on anything being wrong.

'Where are your parents?' He asked in his little voice and his question caught her by surprise.

'Ahhh… They died.' She reluctantly answered and the little boy placed his hand on hers.

'It's OK, my brother died too.' She looked at him, a little shocked and he smiled at her. 'I'll be your friend.' He said and she felt like crying. 'Is that a skateboard?' He jumped up and picked it up. 'Who's is this?'

'It's mine.' Dwayne told him shaking his hand through Laddie's hair.

'Can you ride it?' He asked with bright eyes.

'Can I ride it…' Dwayne laughed at the boys comment and he began doing spin flips and hangs off the board and Laddie's face lit up. Dwayne was really good and she could tell that Laddie thought the world of him already. She looked over to David and he was sitting there staring at her and their eyes locked. He looked superior and arrogant in what he had orchestrated and she felt nothing but despair and a tinge of hatred for him. The little boy didn't deserve to die, he'd done nothing wrong and thankfully he was blissfully ignorant to the plan David had for him. This wasn't fair, but she had learned that nothing David did was fair for anyone other than him and his definition of fairness was questionable at best. Suddenly there was a scuffle of feet at the entrance and Paul jumped down into the cave carrying a large bundle of fish and chips but David still didn't break his eye contact with her. Paul dumped the food on the table and began unwrapping it and the other boys gathered around to eat except David, who continued to sit there watching her.

'Who's the midget?' Paul asked and Dwayne placed his hand on Laddie's shoulder.

'This is Laddie. Kid, this is Paul.' Dwayne already had a nickname for Laddie.

'Hey little man, want some food?' Paul asked him and his ease in accepting the little boy's presence both pleased and concerned her. Laddie sat between Paul and Dwayne and began to eat a hot dog and she consoled herself with the thought at least he was happy because she couldn't stand it if he was sitting there terrified. David pulled out a cigarette and sat there smoking it, watching the interaction happening before him. Star sat back also, the smell of the fried food making her feel a little ill.

'Aren't you hungry?' Laddie asked her.

'Yes Star, eat. I know you're dying to feed.' David laughed at her and she glared at him, his eyes glinting in the candle light back at her. 'You don't know the extent of which I will go if you don't.' It was the second time he'd alluded to an ultimatum and she felt the tears begin to well up and she forced herself to control them, crying would be the worst thing for her to do right now.

'I'm not hungry Laddie, but you eat as much as you want.' She encouraged him. Once the food had been consumed, Laddie sat going through Paul's music stash while the boys sat around eerily quiet and it felt like they were waiting for something, they were waiting for her to kill Laddie. Well, they would be waiting a very long time because there was no way she was ever going to do that. Laddie yawned and she realised it must be past 1am and that it was really late for a ten year old.

'Come on Star.' David told her and she shook her head and a small tear slipped down her cheek knowing that if she didn't, David would probably do it for her and he'd make her watch. David's face soured and he was pissed again, then he shocked her by pulling out his bottle, his wine, the same he'd used to turn her and he drank some. She looked away and angrily wiped the tear off her face. 'Want some?' He asked her acrimoniously and all she wanted to do was scream at him to fuck off.

'Can I have some?' Laddie asked and David flipped again.

'Sure kid.' David said and she shot her glance back at David with panic in her eyes. 'Unless Star objects.' David looked up at Star. 'What do you say Star?' She couldn't breathe. Was this his ultimatum? Was he going to turn this kid if she didn't kill him? No. Oh God, this couldn't be happening.

'Please Star?' Laddie asked her. 'I'm thirsty.'

'This is it Star, it's either you or him.' David's voice appeared in her head and her mouth went dry. She didn't know what to do, she didn't know what to say to stop this and no matter what she said, David was going to do it anyways. Why weren't the boys stepping in? He was only a child.

'Um… how about we find you something else?' She suggested.

'Why? I've got this right here. Stop stalling Star, what's it gonna be?' The pressure she was feeling was insane and she just wanted to grab Laddie and run.

'David, please don't do this.' She said quietly and he handed Laddie the bottle. Laddie looked at her and she glanced from Laddie back to David. 'I hate you.' She said as she stood up and walked over to her bed.

'Drink up kid.' She heard David say and she sat on her bed and closed her eyes, her body beginning to shake.

'Ew, this tastes funny.' Laddie said and she buried her head into her pillow and cried angry tears. Tears she didn't want Laddie or David to see.

'Don't worry about it kid, you'll get used to it.' David said and she wiped her face and looked back to see David walking the boy towards her. 'Would you like to stay here with us for a while?'

'Sure.' Laddie said yawning again. 'Can we go back to the arcade tomorrow?'

'Star will take you to a better one.' She knew he was talking about the Boardwalk but what was she supposed to do with him? Surely someone will notice that all of a sudden she was hanging with a little boy? And his parents would be looking for him, but then again, she had no idea where David had found him so maybe not.

'Can I go for a ride with Dwayne again? He's cool.' The little boy said looking over towards Dwayne as his fist gnawed at his eye socket.

'We'll see kid. Come and sleep here.' David pat Star's bed and Laddie jumped up.

'Oh, I forgot my bear.' He jumped off and went to get his bear.

'Why are you doing this? If you want to punish me, punish me but why couldn't you leave him alone.' She asked him quickly, out of ear shot of the little boy.

'He is your punishment. You wouldn't do it, now he's your problem.' What? What did he mean, he was her problem? Laddie came running back and jumped on her bed and lay down. She stared utter disbelief at David and looked over at the other boys who were all looking sideways at what David was doing. 'Sleep here tonight kid and Star will get you another bed tomorrow.' He said looking over at Star and Laddie looked at her also.

'Are you alright Star?' Laddie asked her, sounding unsure.

'Yeah.' She tried to shake her shock off and smiled at the boy then placed a blanket on top of him. She watched him lie there and hold his bear while David walked off.

'Star?' He looked up at her.

'Yeah Laddie?' She leaned closer to him.

'I like it here but I wanna go home tomorrow.' Star swallowed at his words and wiped the hair off his face.

'Oh sweetheart, go to sleep and things will be better tomorrow.' Oh God, what has he done? She was numb with the lengths he'd gone to and now she had a child to look after, a child who was going to feel the pain and the thirst and eventually the urge to kill and she looked away again, tears falling down her cheeks.