Laddie had never felt more regret in his life. He was selfish, and couldn't wait anymore. He just wanted all the pain to go away - and sure enough, he definitely did. It was replaced with a brand new type of stinging pain; guilt, remorse. He was only eight when he was forced to drink David's blood. Some kids from the middle school were roughing him up one day on the boardwalk, and beat him down pretty badly. Before anything could go too far, Dwayne scared them off. Laddie, however, was bleeding internally from all the punches and kicks - so, David decided to recruit him.

He was closer to Sophie than he was with Star, mainly because Star only kept him from being turned to save the rest of her mortality. And he eternally ruined any chance of having any type of friendship with her. He betrayed her.

It wouldn't work if Laddie turned her, considering his blood hadn't been consecrated yet like David's or any of the others. Star was older, but hers wouldn't work either because she hadn't been fully turned. He was running out of options as well as time as he stared down at the mess he had made. Sophie was lying motionless, eyes closed and her skin paler than ghost white. "Sophie..?" He whispered, feeling tears come to his eyes as he realized what he'd just done.

"Sophie, come on - wake up..." He said, leaning forward and taking her face between his small, child hands. "Sophie!" He practically yelled, "Sophie, wake up! Wake up!" He began to sob, falling forward into the sand next to her. "I'm so sorry, Sophie, I'm so sorry..." He repeated over and over. He may have been only eight, but he was turned for nearly a decade. He had the mentality of one who was much older, as well as the morals.

He had drained her - he couldn't hear or feel a pulse; she was gone. And it was all his fault.

"Well done, Laddie!" A voice came from above him, and he jumped, "David!" He chorused, "you can save her!" He exclaimed, and David raised a brow, "I beg your pardon?" David asked, condescendingly to the younger lad. "Save her..." he whispered, "I know you can, your blood - it helped me; help her!" Laddie said, apalled at David's refusal.

"Oh, Laddie, Laddie, Laddie." He smirked, "she was meant to die. That's what this whole thing was about wasn't it? Making your first kill?" David said, crouching down to Laddie's height and taking a hold of his shoulders. "And for the first time, Laddie, I'm actually proud of you." David's hands were slapped away as Laddie moved back towards Sophie's body. "If you're not going to help me then just go! Leave!" Laddie snarled between sobs. "You want me to leave? By all means." David said sanguinely. Eyeing Sophia's body, he smiled at his creations' handiwork. "You've chosen which side you're on." And with that, he was gone - disappeared from the shore and leaving the two to themselves.

Laddie heard footsteps and slowly recognized the sound of the boots approaching. "What did you do..." It wasn't a question, it was a complete exasperation - a gasp of true fear. The older vampire didn't fear very much, but the sight before him was enough to send shivers down his spine. "Laddie, what did you do?!" This time he was louder, running his hands through his long dark hair as he fell to his knees. "I couldn't control myself, Dwayne..." Laddie shook his head, his voice quivering as he heaved in breaths, "I'm sorry, Dwayne, I'm so sorry."

Paul and Marko came up behind Dwayne not long after, their eyes briefly shutting as the smell of blood was still very crisp in the air. "Oh my God." Marko breathed just as Paul mumbled, "no way." They saw Sophie's body and leaned down on one knee next to her. Each of them shrugged off their jackets, draping them over her as a sign of respect. Call it a cliche, but when they were both human, they had religion - and so they blessed her body with the Catholic cross motion.

Marko never minded her, in fact, he actually thought she was pretty cool. She was nice, and tried as hard as possible not to be rude to anything unless it went against her protocol of ''morals'' strictly. He and Paul both saw her as a baby sister, because she was in every way. But did she deserve this? Both of them could say no that she didn't. Out of anyone they'd ever met, she was more deserving of life. Even David couldn't match her. They preferred her honestly over Star, because she wasn't annoying, and was quirky in a good way - especially around Dwayne.

Dwayne pulled her corpse up to him, holding her lifeless body in his arms. "Laddie," he whimpered, water clouding his vision as a tear fell on her cheek. "Laddie, no, please tell me you- you didn't." Dwayne stroked Sophie's cheek, wiping away the tear that had fallen. He had never felt as much for someone as he'd felt for Sophie. Laddie was close, but that was a brother bond he'd had back when he was human with his own four brothers. He had already experienced being a mentor, but a lover to someone? It was like discovering new land.

He knew Sophie fancied him too. Ever since that moment David showed the rest of them who Laddie's target would be, he would live to regret going along with it. Her long, blonde hair that rested at her backside in big curls, her tan that lightly dusted her skin, her dark hazel eyes that always had a smile. She was perfect. She was kind and sweet, and wouldn't hurt a fly. And this was his mess - he should have convinced David to pick someone else. Marko soon got an idea. "Dwayne, what about your blood?" He asked.

Dwayne was turned by Max in 1874. He was the second in command to David, because he was the second newborn. David had already been a vampire for at least two generations, and now that he had someone to boss around, he figured why not teach him how to make children. David made more than a couple hundred vampires in his time, but Dwayne only observed. Eventually, David consecrated Dwayne's blood. But he never turned anyone - he wouldn't want them to suffer the way he did. But now, it seemed it was his only option. He and David were the only ones with consecrated blood - and David made his decision not to help.

The tears slowly dried from his eyes as he realized that Marko was right. There was an alternative method. He lifted his head, looking at Laddie. His eyes were full of hope, "could you?!" He jumped up, "Dwayne, please tell me you can." The older vampire looked down at her pale, nearly blue lips. "I don't think it's still possible, Laddie. She's gone-" Paul reached around and put two fingers to her throat, right above her pulse point. He couldn't hear anything, but that didn't mean it wasn't still there. They were on a loud beach, what did you expect?

And there it was, it was faint, barely even noticeable, but Paul felt the light jump of her heart beating once, then twice after about ten seconds. "She's still alive... Dwayne, she's still alive." Paul whispered in awe. And Dwayne didn't delay wasting any time, he quickly set her down in the sand, gently, and took out his bike keys, while moving over her. It was the only thing sharp enough. He made quick work to make a deep cut in his wrist, opening her mouth and letting the blood drip.

"Come on, Sophie, come on..." Laddie whimpered from her left. The tension was high when she didn't respond for a few minutes, but eventually the blood kicked in and her fingers began to move. Then her whole hand. Finally her arms were moving, wrapping her thin, bony fingers around Dwayne's forearm and bringing his wrist to her mouth. She was alive, and Laddie was now crying from happiness. Paul and Marko were yipping like dogs in chorus, jumping up and down.

And then Sophie's eyes opened, only to fall back shut as black spots covered her vision.

/A long chapter but I gave you guys what you asked for! Sorry for such a wait, I'm trying to update as much as I can from now on! - Kari