Author's notes: Aaaaaand...it begins... Also, flashbacks are pretty much done for now. And I disagree with David's remark about Texas. I love this state.

Present Day

Blood. The boys lived and died by it, spent each night chasing the flow from one victim to the next. And once it was shared among them, given to those lucky enough to be chosen to be so much more than a meal, but a member of their pack...their family...there was no escaping it. The only thing they could really do was put off the inevitable until the blood got them, and it always would, in the end.

"I knew one of them would fuck up eventually," Marko turned towards the others as they drove through a gathering mist on the midnight road. Hunting was almost as satisfying as the pay-off, but the game would be coming to an end soon. Marko. David. Paul. Dwayne. They were growing weary with this chase, so tonight David had upped the ante. And it had been so easy, too. Child's play.

"Surprised they managed this long," Paul cackled, tossing his head and howling into the night air. On cue, the passengers in the car up ahead gunned their engine and picked up speed.

"Easy, Paulie, we don't want them to crash...do we?" David chuckled, his eyes twinkling with dark amusement.

"Would it make a difference?" Dwayne was the first of them to pick up speed, leaning forward with a vicious smirk to match the rest of them. They were just far enough behind to remain unseen in the darkness, yet still close enough to be heard. Tomorrow, they would ride even closer. Much closer.

Star gripped her steering wheel, focusing on the road ahead with more than a little difficulty. Not long after she'd finished the coffee, a wave of intense nausea hit, and she was struggling to drive in a straight line. Michael didn't seem to be doing much better, the way he was breathing beside her as he shoved a handful of funyuns in his mouth. Probably hoping the chips would help settle his stomach.

When she'd first met him, he was that un-achievable dream. The boy he could never have, because pulling him into the darkness with her would only destroy the very thing that made Michael so enchanting. But after the blood, and after David was dead, she'd tried to leave him behind. Maybe, in a way, to let that spark of light that still lingered inside him continue to burn and grow until the shadows of what she'd led him to faded away in the past. But mostly, because she just wanted to pretend none of it had ever happened...and he was just a reminder.

And maybe it would have worked. They'd almost been able to move on, those first few weeks. But then she started seeing David...his silhouette haunting every street she'd turn on when the sun set, catching glimpses of Marko tapping on her motel window, Paul flitting across a shop doorway, and Dwayne...no games or jokes about it...just standing in front of her until someone would pass him, and he was gone like all the rest. And she'd made that call to Michael, desperately hoping she was simply going insane. Because if she was mad, at least pills could somehow protect her.

Star's eyes darted back up to the road ahead of her, when she'd let it linger too long on Michael's lips. His hair. His chest rising and falling beneath the thin fabric of his white t-shirt. And...for a split second...she could swear, too, that she heard his heart beating, his pulse thrumming a rhythm that both terrified and excited her at the same time. Something...something was wrong...she hadn't felt like this in a very long time.

"Michael..." Her eyes widened as she picked up more speed, nearly pushing the car too much too soon. It wouldn't be a good idea to get anyone's attention right now. They couldn't afford to be pulled over.

"What's wrong?" He looked over at her and set his funyuns aside, scowling at the remaining dregs of coffee in his cup and trying to shake them into his mouth. It was awful stuff. Probably the worst coffee he'd ever had...but he wanted more. Should've bought a couple bottles of water at that gas station.

"I think I'm getting sick," Star shook her head, putting a hand to her cheek and wiping away a bit of sweat that had begun to bead up. How was it that she was sweating if she was so damned cold?

"...Do you need me to drive?" Michael leaned over to touch her forehead, and she almost jerked back when she noticed his own face seemed to be glistening too. Of course, it made sense if they were both coming down with some kind of bug at the same time. They'd been practically attached at the hip for two years, moving together, driving together, sleeping together...though not nearly as intimate as they might have been under other circumstances. Nowadays she could swear he felt more like an older brother than a former lover. Or, more appropriately, a former one night stand. Sometimes it was almost like he was afraid to even touch her, and the looks he'd give her...like he thought at any minute she'd run off alone and leave him to deal with David and the others if they managed to catch up. 'Michael. Don't you know I only tried to leave that first night so we could get past all this? When are you going to just let it go?' She wished she could bring the words to her lips, but somehow she felt they wouldn't help. They'd only start a fight she didn't want to have.

"I think I'll be fine. You need to get some sleep," she frowned, looking ahead at the road as Michael pulled back and settled into his seat. Funny thing was, just a few minutes ago she'd been exhausted. But after that god-awful coffee, she was thrumming with nervous energy. At least it did it's job, she supposed. Was it even possible to get food poisoning from a shitty cup of Folgers, she wondered?

Just to the left of the road, Star's eyes settled on the vague shape of a long-forgotten barn, shabby and probably older than both of them combined. Would it be a good idea to pull over and park there? Hide the car under a bunch of hay? No. Star gripped the wheel in front of her tightly, they couldn't stop somewhere like that. It wasn't nearly as safe as a church. And surely they'd find one sooner or later. They just had to drive a bit further, look a little harder.

Michael jerked up, and hastily began to crank down his window.

"Michael, what's-" Star looked over at him and flinched at the sound of dry, painful heaving.

"Do we need to pull over?"

He held back a hand and gestured for her to keep going. They'd already stopped once tonight, doing it a second time was just pushing it. But the retching sounds were making her stomach twist into knots, and Star hastily turned the wheel with a sudden screech, powering through the grass towards the barn they'd just driven by. It wasn't safe. Maybe it wasn't even smart. But they'd been running for two years...one night out in the open wasn't going to kill them. Those bike engines, they were just a mental trick...maybe even delirium setting in from too many hours without getting proper sleep.

Michael pulled back, wiping at his mouth and reaching for the wheel to try and jerk it back towards the road, "what are you doing?!" He demanded, eyes wide and bloodshot from the strain of emptying the contents of his stomach over the side of the car and onto the highway.

"I'm about to pass out. If we don't pull over now and get some sleep, Michael, we're going to crash!" Star insisted, shoving his hand away and picking up speed. The car rumbled and protested through rocks and over swathes of un-trimmed silken grass.

"You're going to get us killed, Star!" Michael argued, trying to take the wheel again.

"If we crash, we're dead. If they catch up, we're dead. Damn it, Michael, I'm going to take a chance with the only choice we've got!" Star snapped back irritably as the barn came into full view. "And it's not like they're close behind. We haven't seen them in weeks," she added, calmly.

Michael gave up, leaning back in his seat and rubbing at his eyes. "Fine. Whatever. We'll stay for a few hours...but we gotta get moving at dawn, okay? We've been doing really good at putting miles behind us lately, and I don't want to screw that up. You remember what grandpa said."

Star agreed. After all, running was what they had learned to do best. Hell, even when Sam and the Frog brothers had attacked the Lost Boys, hadn't they been trying to run away?

"Hey, watch out," Michael indicated a group of deer leaping by, and she just narrowly avoided nailing one of them on the car hood.

"Ugh...I feel awful," Star whispered as she finally pulled into the large opening that led through to the barn. They'd arrived just in time, because no sooner had she finally managed to kick the engine off, she was passed out in her seat.

Drowsily, Michael leaned over to press Star's hair back from her face and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, "gotta stop by a phone booth somewhere tomorrow...let everyone know we're still alive..." He slurred. It was kind of funny, this was probably the first time he'd kissed her since...well...that night. But now wasn't the time to reminisce, he needed to get out of the car, cover it up with something before...before he fell asleep...those were the last thoughts he had before he finally lost consciousness. And the darkness that overtook them together in that moment was the deepest sleep they'd both had in a very long time.

"I've been dying for a smoke all night," David sighed as he tucked a cigarette between his lips and cupped his hands over it with a lighter to guard the flame from the wind. Texas was such a shit-hole. The weather was unpredictable, and he'd yet to light one cigarette without issue. None of them really liked being away from their cave this long, either. It was just an invitation for others to move into their city and try to claim what wasn't theirs. That was a problem for another day, though. For now, they were still dealing with this one.

"You know, I think the problem was taking on three at once. You ever tried to feed more than one baby without getting shit all over your face?" Paul spoke aloud. They were off their bikes and striding through the field now, so there wasn't much need to communicate through their thoughts. And they didn't have to worry about anyone over-hearing them either.

"Paulie, you sick fuck...why are you feeding shit to babies?" Marko snickered, shoving Paul's shoulder before they were brought to an abrupt stop as they stumbled into Dwayne's back.

"Well, this is convenient," Dwayne remarked as he crossed his arms and nodded towards the barn ahead.

"So...is this it? Are we finishing it tonight?" Marko asked, peeking around from Dwayne's shoulder and digging his claws into the taller vampire's jacket. Dwayne hissed and slapped his hands away irritably.

David shook his head, taking a good long pull of his cigarette and tipping his head back. "No. Not just yet. I still want to have a bit more fun, first...let them really feel the pain. Obviously, I was too easy on them before."

Paul grinned wide when he noticed several deer nearby, grazing. "...Some fun, huh?"

"Oh man, I know that look...step back, boys, Paul's thinking again," David chuckled past a mouthful of curling white smoke as Paul took off towards the herd, his hair flying behind him.

"Wait up!" Marko shouted, giving chase. Dwayne glanced over at David and then back to the others, then shrugged and strode after them at a more than leisurely pace. They had all night, after all. Might as well stretch his legs a bit.