Author's notes: Don't bother trying to find Leddings on a map. It's a fictional town set in the Giddings/Lexington area around Lee county, if you absolutely have to visualize the geography...which is kind of weird, by the way. Also, please be advised that naughtiness does follow in this chapter in various combinations. There's also dubious dream consent. Okay, I lied. It's definitely not consensual at all. If this offends you, just skip that part and pretend David did bad things to everybody, which really isn't too hard to believe.

When the 'You are now entering Leddings, Texas' sign came into view, Michael was relieved to note out of the corner of his eye that there was no foreboding greeting on the other side, or disturbing statistics about the death count there. Hopefully it stayed that way. Not that he could honestly say this place looked like the sort of town that would encourage tagging, judging by the quaint charm practically oozing from the gingerbread storefronts and Americana ghost signs peeking through old coats of glossy paint.

"Almost there," he stated the obvious, pulling down a narrow street. Now all they had to do was find a local church. Not too hard. There were usually a dozen or so in towns like this. The real trick was finding one that was open all hours of the day and night. It wouldn't do them any good if they had to wait until sun-up and leave at sun-down, when they truly needed the shelter.

"What about that place?" Star indicated a tall building in the town square surrounded by pillars and monuments of various historical figures.

"That's the courthouse."

"Are you sure? How can you tell?"

"The sign at the front that says 'courthouse' was what tipped me off."

Star squinted, leaning out of her window to get a better look, "oh...I see..."

"Hold on, I think I see one," Michael nodded towards a small white building tucked on the very corner of one street, surrounded by patches of verdant green grass and smatterings of wild flowers tickling at the foundation. The lights were on, so that was a good sign, even if it looked like more money could have been put into keeping the place in shape.

Star smiled dreamily at Michael, slapping a hand on his knee, "let's get married."

"What?!" Michael blurted out, panicking and practically slamming his foot on the brakes.

Star laughed, pulling her hand away, "I was just kidding. Come on, hurry up and park so we get go inside."

By the time they'd pulled into one of the few parking spaces just outside of the church, Michael had recovered enough to complain. "That. Wasn't. Funny."

Star tossed her hair and smiled, pulling at his arm as she led him towards the church, "really? I thought it was hilarious."

"What if I'd said yes, huh?"

"...Okay, that's not funny, Michael."

His own amusement was short-lived as they drew closer to the front entrance. Like some strange compulsion was driving his feet to back-pedal, almost against his will, and it took no small amount of effort to steel himself and take hold of the handle.

"...Michael..." Star's voice quavered a little, and she pressed her hand on top of his. "I...I don't want to go inside."

"You too?" He turned to look at her, frowning slightly. It wouldn't do them any good to drive all the way here if they weren't going to go inside. And it wouldn't do them any good to stay out in the open like this, either.

"Maybe it's the blood," she pulled her hand away to rub at her arms. "But the more I think about actually going in there, the...the colder I feel. It's like this place is sucking me dry..."

He couldn't honestly say he didn't feel the same way, but a stubborn voice in his mind told him this was probably just a trick of David's. Somehow an illusion, to keep them from pressing forward. Because if they were in the church, well, they were that much closer to beating him at his suck fucking game. After all, it was one place he definitely couldn't follow.

"We'll go in together, you and me," he reached out to grab her hand again, and slowly pushed the door open. But the minute the light inside the building came pouring out, an intense wave of nausea overtook him. Even worse than when they'd been driving the night before, and that shit David put in their coffee forced them to make the emergency pit stop at that barn.

"Oh my god..." Star used her free hand to claw at her stomach, whimpering. "We can't go in! We can't!" She hissed out those last words, panicking more and more as she tried to pull herself away. But Michael held onto her hand and stepped inside the church anyway. If he had to be strong for him when the hunger almost destroyed his will, then he'd do the same for her. That was the only way they would beat this thing.

"Please, Michael! Don't make me go! Don't make me!" Star was pleading, practically crying now as she began to scratch and claw at his arm, tears dripping down her cheeks. But he knew it wasn't her talking, it was the monster growing inside. The part that she had no control over.

"We don't have a choice, Star." Michael squeezed his eyes shut tight and pulled her inside, slamming the door behind her with his foot before she could get away and run off to the 'safety' of the darkness outside. And with that, it was as if a tension snapped inside both of them. Though he still felt sick to his stomach, and colder even than he'd been for the last two years...he felt...relieved. Safe. Protected.

Star stopped fighting, and pulled herself in close to his chest, wrapping her arms around him and whimpering, "god, we're a mess..."

Thankfully, it didn't look like there was anyone inside to witness their strange performance. Not that it would matter. Michael didn't give a shit what they looked like right now, he was just glad to have won another very small victory over David. But it was a little awkward having her so close, pressed up against him...he was pretty sure it might be a good idea if they slept on different pews tonight...at least, until little Michael decided to take a nap...

Star's eyes widened and she pulled away from him, looking up into his eyes, "Michael! In a church?!"

"Well...I can't just tell it what to do, Star! Whenever I try, it doesn't listen to me!" He protested, face growing furiously red.

After their failed attempt to force Michael and Star to dine out, the boys had returned to the old barn to gather their bikes, with several hours remaining to pursue their quarries. The fresh kills had helped to calm them a little, re-build their patience until David decided on their next move. Which wouldn't be too long in the making, by the looks of the smirk on his face as he powered down the road a head of the others.

"So...mind games, huh? I like that. Can I-" Paul began to speak, cut off by a quick warning glance from David ahead of him.

"You always ruin it when I let you have a go at shit like this. No, Paul. You can play nice with Marko and Dwayne tonight if you're really that hard up."

"...I'm not fucking him," Dwayne insisted flatly. "He's loud."

"And he doesn't play fair," Marko added, shaking his head.

"I thought you loved that about me. It's part of my boyish charm..."

"Howling and biting down hard on whatever the fuck is in front of your face right in the middle of it isn't charming." Dwayne would prefer to not have this conversation at all. Everyone knew what Paul was like. That was exactly why the only time he was allowed to get laid was when he was eating. And only who he was eating.

"You sure Michael's gonna go for whatever you've got in mind, Davey? It's not going to just make him madder?" Marko asked, doubtfully.

David chuckled, "it's only a dream, Marko. The only person he can blame is himself when he wakes up. All I'm doing is giving him a few nudges here and there..."

"Pretty sure he doesn't like dick." Dwayne, the voice of reason, as usual.

"Pretty sure that isn't up to him anymore," David shrugged.

"What about Star?" Paul joined in. "Gonna do anything to her? Can I at least-"

A resounding mental 'no' rang throughout the boy's minds.

"Don't worry. I'm going to make sure she has some play-time too. Wouldn't want her to feel left out, after all..." David knew without a doubt this would probably be the most interesting experience Star and Michael would ever have. And somehow, he knew it would push them just a little bit closer to the edge too.

"Okay, so I know Paul can't do anything...but can I watch?" Marko asked hopefully.

"Do whatever you want. Actually...no, wait, keep Paul out of trouble."

"Why can't Dwayne?!"

"Because I'm not nice about it, remember?" Dwayne wasn't joking. He wasn't afraid to put Paul in his place.

They didn't immediately fall asleep. Neither of them was very tired, after sleeping most of the day away. And it took several tries, testing each pew, switching places...tossing, turning, until they'd both finally found themselves (reluctantly) in a tangle of limbs on the ground between a pair of benches, just shy of a small vent pumping heat into the building. Despite Michael's uncomfortable issue downstairs, they'd just gotten so used to sleeping close together. It was comforting. Made them feel that much safer. Eventually, though...finally...at just about dawn, both Michael and Star were finally able to fall asleep.

And when the old priest finally hobbled into the building, he cast one look at the pair lying on the ground, and walked on by to fetch a heavy blanket to cover them. Because anyone who found themselves sleeping between two church pews probably needed it the most. He'd come back and bother them later, after service. Luckily, weekday congregations rarely went past the astronomical number of ten.

"Poor kids," he rasped when he settled the dark green fleece on top of them, shaking his head.

She pressed her cheek against a dark shoulder, breathing in the scent of salt and smoke, simply enjoying the moment. One among many. It was these few instances with David that she didn't fear him, fear what he was or what he had tried to make her into. The clock was ticking, now, and she knew eventually the ride would end. When it did, he would either look at her as if she meant nothing...or everything. David was like that. Star could never predict his moods.

"Do you miss these nights, Star?" His soft whisper rang out, somehow carrying above the sound of the bike and the wind whipping at her hair. She didn't understand the question.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you miss these nights, when we used to ride together? The boys, you...and me?" He sounded almost feral, growling out that last word. And she hated how it made her shiver. This wasn't the sweet masked David she pretended to know, the one he'd used to trick her into falling into their group...cajoled her with, when he was just about to strip it away and reveal the real monster beneath.

"I don't understand..."

"Oh, I bet you don't. This is a memory, Star...just a memory."

And at the very back of her mind, awareness clawed forward, tickling at her eyes, scratching at her throat until she was nearly in tears, trying to push herself away. It wasn't a very smart thing to do, on the back of a moving motorcycle. Star yelped, lunging forward again to cling tighter to David's back and keep herself from falling, crashing into a million bloodied pieces on the ground. No longer a girl, or half a monster, but an unfinished puzzle. Unfinished...that's what she was. Neither one thing or the other...and David was back to remind her, David...the monster beneath the mask.

"Let me go!" She hissed, forcing herself to summon the inner strength she'd gathered at Michael's side.

"I'm not holding you, Star..." David laughed, and she was suddenly pulled away. Pulled away into the night air, dangling by an invisible chord of wind, as it wrapped about her torso and plucked at her clothes, stripping them away in pieces...and she was tumbling now, tumbling into a familiar mattress, pressed close to David once more and crying out his name.

"David...Please!" She shrieked, digging her nails into his back and kicking her legs out as he pressed himself up against her, looking down with a fanged smile, glowing eyes, and sinister sneer.

"Do you miss these nights, Star?" He taunted again. And he drove into her. She didn't know if it was real, if it was a dream, a memory, a nightmare...but she felt it all the same. And she hated herself for loving it. She hated herself for the thrills of pleasure running down her spine to her toes, heating her skin like she couldn't even begin to remember. She was warm. Hot. And god...it was like she'd never been cold in the last few years, and it felt so right, being here with David in her arms. Or perhaps, her in his.

"Why won't you let us go?!" She shrieked, pulling her arms from around his back and clawing at the mattress beneath her. She could feel herself losing control, she could feel herself losing...herself. And as they came together again, her throat was raw from the screaming, from the pain and the pleasure she didn't want.

"How can I let you go, Star?" He taunted, leaning down and pressing his lips to hers, biting, digging into the flesh of her mouth until blood dripped from around it, trickling from her chin and onto her neck in a sticky mess.

"We're one and the same," he growled in her mind. And in that moment, she hated him. But even more, she hated herself.

"Mike!" Sam shouted, dashing into Michael's room as he set his weights on the ground and snatched a towel from his bed to mop up the sweat that had beaded on his face.

"What?"

"Mike! I need you to look in my closet!"

"...Look, Sam, there's nothing to be afraid of in there if you just come out of it," Michael's lips twisted into a half-smirk and he tossed his towel back on his mattress.

"...I mean it, Mike! There's a monster in my closet!" Sam protested, grabbing his brothers arm and yanking at it. Michael rolled his eyes and followed him, reluctantly.

"Sam, there's no such thing as-"

"Monsters?" A hiss emanated from Sam's room, and the smaller Emerson cowered behind his brother, pressing against Michael's back all the while to urge him closer to the horror beyond.

"Sam!" Michael shouted, twisting to try and get around him, but when he turned away from the door, Sam was gone. And instead, he was faced with the sight of several figures dripping with blood. One of them had the scalp where his mohawk had once been dangling behind his neck in a garish display. The victims of the Lost Boys, the surf nazis he'd seen murdered on the beach. Michael's eyes widened in terror and he backed away from them, stumbling, tripping into the doorway of Sam's room, when it slammed in front of him.

"You don't need to be afraid of monsters, Michael," the same horrific voice again in Michael's ear, a tongue darting out to lick his neck. He shivered in disgust, and...something else. He didn't even want to begin to consider the implications of exactly what it was. He turned around to face it, and wasn't too surprised to see David standing in front of him, in all his vampiric glory.

"Come home, Michael." David licked his lips, reaching to place a clawed hand on Michael's cheek and dig his claws into the skin, tearing at it.

Michael shrieked, throwing out his fists, kicking, trying to do whatever he could to destroy this thing in front of him brought back from the brink of death, and somehow even more terrifying than it was before.

"Leave us alone!" He shouted, surging forward and pressing his hands to David's shoulders, throwing him back onto Sam's bed. David merely watched him, gazed at him with an expression in his eyes that went beyond mere amusement or hunger. Michael did not. Like. That. Look.

"What do you want to do now, Michael?" David quirked an eyebrow, propping himself up on his elbows.

"I want to kill you." Michael stated flatly.

"Oh? Then just try it." The monster taunted back, tossing his head and laughing.

And Michael didn't need another invitation to throw himself forward in an attempt to claw at, tear at, bite, destroy every single piece of David he could get his hands on. But the clawing turned into caresses against his will, the tearing only managed to rip away David's clothes, the biting became kissing. He was more than a little confused, and without a doubt more than a little terrified. He wasn't sure exactly what was happening, as David twisted and turned beneath him, pushing at Michael until he was the one pinned to the mattress.

"S...Stop..." Michael gasped, angrily, trying his best to push David away. But all of his strength had left him. What the fuck was happening?!

"Still think there's no such thing as monsters?" David smirked, licking a trail down Michael's neck. Somehow, his clothing had disappeared, and he was pressed bare against his tormentor. If this was the hell David's blood promised them, Michael would gladly stake himself before he even got the chance to make his first kill.

"Get off me!" Michael cried out, as the vampire began to grind against him, forcing whimpers and cries from the boy's unwilling mouth. This wasn't what he wanted. This wasn't the kind of thing he'd ever enjoy! So what the fuck was happening to him?!

And when David pressed Michael further up the bed, nipping a trail of kisses along his chest, the boy cursed at him. Cursed and cried, until David was somehow inside him before he even realized it, driving Michael to horrific heights of pleasure he never thought he wanted. And when he finally came crashing back to earth, broken and sobbing, David pulled away with a very satisfied smirk, giving him a swift pat on the cheek.

"See you tonight, Mikey," he taunted, licking Michael's blood away from his lips.