"Dammit, Michael Sullivan Emerson - wake up!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, hitting my dust and dirt covered brother, sleeping the day away. He was still in the clothes he was in last night, which no doubt meant he didn't get in til the early hours of the morning. I didn't smell any alcohol, thank God, nor did I smell cigarettes. He also had on a pair of sunglasses, which made no sense considering the blinds were closed and the sun was covered by the clouds due to an overcast today.

"Michael!" I growled, pushing him. It took all my strength and then some to push his heavy body off of the bed and onto the floor - and that had definitely woken him up. "Ow, what the hell?" He cursed, rolling over onto his back. "Soph, come on, it's too early to be up." He groaned, covering his face with an arm. "Too early? Mike, it's four in the afternoon! Mom went to six hours ago and she's on the phone, wanting to talk to you." I told him and he only groaned more, heaving himself up from the floor and trudging downstairs with myself in tow.

I really wanted to know what happened last night. He could be up til three in the morning and still manage to be up for school at six without complaining about himself being tired. He seriously needed to take a shower, because it looked like he was rolling in a pile of dirt. While he was on the phone with our mom, I made my way upstairs and to my room.

Dwayne's jacket was draped across the edge of my bed, same place I rested it last night. He was... something else. One minute he's quiet and mysterious, the next minute he's laughing and having fun, then he's arrogant and then he's ready to rip someone's head off. I preferred to stay out of range for the last one. But the one thing I was confused about, was how did Laddie find me last night? He was so lost and scared the first night we met, and it was like he somehow memorized the boardwalk in the short hours of the day.

All of this seemed really suspicious to me. Especially David. The way he eyed Michael last night, I didn't like it. It reminded me of a dictator, and how he would lure in his to-be-soldiers and recruit them. It just didn't rub me the right way. But he was Michael's friend, I suppose - last I checked, friends didn't try to get other friends to nearly drive off of a cliff into ragged rocks with their little sister on board.

Regardless of it all, I needed to figure out how to get Dwayne his jacket back. Michael would kill me if he found out I had it.

"Laddie, I said not now!" David all but yelled at the child who was driving him up the wall. Just a few hours of sleep. That was all he asked. Two, maybe three. But the kid was relentless. "Go to sleep, kid." Paul muttered to him, turning to face away from him. "David you promised! You said last night would be the night I could feed!" He yelled.

It was David's own damned fault. He knew the consequences of turning someone that young - they would be stuck with the same mentality for the rest of eternity. "Well now I'm saying it's being extended. You wont be able to feed at all if you don't shut up and get some sleep!" He snarled at Laddie, who only curled up his little fists in rage. He kicked and hit the walls on his way out of the elder vampires' den, tears welling up in his eyes at both the pain of hunger and the pain of hatred.

He just wanted to get it all over with so he wouldn't have to hurt anymore.

Star was well off, snoozing on the bed she and Laddie shared. However, besides the little one, there was one vampire in particular who was still awake. Laddie stomped over to him and sat down next to him, "I take it the talk with David didn't go so well, bud?" Dwayne asked, wrapping his arm around Laddie.

Laddie shook his head, "he won't keep his promises, Dwayne." The older boy sighed, "David just wants everything to be perfect, Laddie. Your first feeding should be special, not something you do in just the heat of the moment." He said, ruffling his hair. Laddie was playing with Dwayne's free hand in his lap, mapping the size of his hand in comparison. "But I don't want to kill Sophie. She's nice, I like her."

Dwayne had to snort, you and me both, bud. Wait. He did a double take. Did he really just think that? He shook his head a little to clear his thoughts of it. "Well, you don't exactly have to kill her, you know." He advised. Laddie looked up at him, "what do you mean?" Dwayne sighed. He always imagined taking his little brother ot baseball games and teaching him how to win the ladies - not about Encyclopedia Vampyrica.

"To turn completely, you don't have to drain the person of all their blood." Laddie furrowed his brows, "but David said-" Dwayne rolled his eyes, "David is an idiot." He mumbled. A faint "I heard that!" sounded from the den, but they ignored it. "Besides, if you like her so much, you can just turn her." The words sounded foreign on his tongue, and he couldn't picture someone like Sophie as someone like him. She was too sweet, and caring, he didn't want to ruin her life like that. However, he didn't want to see her die either. She actually seemed to be growing on him, even if it was a little bit.

What am I even thinking? She's a human! I'd have to be out of my damn mind to even consider-

"Well what do you think I should do, Dwayne?" Laddie asked, looking up at him with his big green eyes. Dwayne exhaled sharply, "I think you should do what you think is best. Don't let David put those thoughts into your head." He pulled Laddie in closer, rubbing his shoulder. "And to tell you the truth, I don't really want you to kill Sophie either." He whispered with a grin. Laddie laughed, "you like her too, don't you?" Laddie assumed and Dwayne chuckled, "don't get ahead of yourself, kiddo." And that was the moment that Laddie finally started asking the real questions.

"Dwayne, where's your jacket?"