Sierra PoV

My lean and limber legs quite extensive from genetics, originating from a mother I am aware of and loathe this precise moment and a father who is a stranger to me, sprint through the ancient hallways where the jagged boulders portray obstacles forbidding me from getting further into their trap. It doesn't prohibit me at all as this is the moment my flexibility exhibits itself. Finally, I thrust myself into the open space – the cave. Everything is the same, the positioning of the imperial and elderly bed, David's wheelchair, even the dusty bed sheets are neat, just as they always are. One thing that never happens when I arrive occurs though. I am welcomed by screams of fright and panic – Star's screams. Thankfully, I can only flinch and gasp as she congregates an equally panicked Laddie into her arms, shielding him from the danger she assumes is me. How can Star even believe that for one second? We have been close friends since the very second we were acquainted in kindergarten, a bond of sturdy friendship created. I can merely raise my groomed eyebrows at her in bewilderment, not comprehending the justification to why she is screeching like a petrified child.

"Star, calm down! It's only me!" I shout above her dying commotion to my unforeseen entrance. My violet eyes then manoeuvre down to view the slit made in my arm, biting my lip as the stinging pain tours the small cut a thousand times. "Do you have a bandage on you? I'm kind of bleeding here"
Star can only gasp, her grip tightening on Laddie who marvels my frame like he has never laid eyes on me before in his short life, flinging a rag, most likely from the blankets, at me. Why doesn't she know me?

"Please, cover it up quickly. I can't make my first kill, not tonight. Please, I'm begging you to cover it up. Michael's coming soon; he's getting me out of this. I like him, and he needs to help Laddie and I. Please, don't make me, please" I raise my eyebrow again as she implores me frantically to conceal the wound, an action I was scheming to carry out. I quickly express my gratitude to her in a suspicious tone, my eyes practically ordering her to continue. "I don't even know you! Listen, please just leave. Michael is going to be here soon"

"Okay, who's this Michael, Star? Oh, and by the way, cut the crap, I'm not in the mood for you pretending not to know me. I've had a tough night and really can't be doing with this right now" I blatantly inform her, almost glaring at her for this cruel hoax.

She is not only doing this to me though, but is also inflicting this onto Laddie. Above all of my worry and ferocity, I can't help but interrogate myself over this one question: Who is Michael?

"Michael's going to help me. That's why I need you to cover that up, so I won't make my first kill. Michael is going to get Laddie and me out of this mess, and hopefully, he'll do it tonight. He can't get hurt, and you need to go so that doesn't happen" Star whispers, loud enough for repercussions of her moderate voice to spiral the area. Her head whips to the side to peer out of the serrated arch to inspect the distance for a sign that the man she expects to be her hero is arriving.

I don't like this delusional notion of hers, knowing Star is also a half-vampire like me. From her voice and the word choice, she is employing this Michael until she is unchained to be her knight in gleaming armour to rescue her from the demons incarcerating her in the creature we mutually share. It sounds like she cares for his welfare, but the majority of care only exists so she can shield Laddie and herself from the wrath of David and the other horrendous vampires. Star is a caring person, and I know she isn't doing this purely for herself, but also for an innocent child who has unfortunately been hauled into this mess.

"So let me get this straight, Star: You know this guy called Michael, he knows you're a half-vampire, and he's going to get you out of this mess? However, from what I've extracted from that piece of dialogue, he isn't as aware of what you are yet, is he?" I ask, encroaching her comfort area, but I can sense that isn't the reason she nervously shuffles around, casting her head downwards in disgrace. I flick my waterfall of tight waves so they cascade down my back, analysing her demeanour, further notifying me that my hypothesis is correct. In moments such as this, I am outlawed from being lenient with Star as I can't idly survey her actions and watch her haul another person down with our issues. "You're using him, aren't you? You're using him to get out of this, and as soon as we are out of this, you're just going to drop him. Do you even care for this guy, Star?"

"Yes, I do! I met him a few days ago and well, he can help me and Laddie –" she protests, but she isn't fully answering my interrogation.

"So you don't care for him. If you only met the guy a few days ago and the primary purpose is to utilize him as someone to get you and Laddie out of this, then you don't care for him. The only care you have in him is keeping him protected so he can liberate you from being a half-vampire. Well, you know what, Star? I'm not letting you do this to some innocent guy who is oblivious to what we are. Therefore, we are going to go to The Boardwalk right now, and you're going to tell this Michael to stay the hell away from you before he can get turned as well" I sternly command, not consenting myself to submit to her tears. They aren't tears of shame, only tears to prove that she has surrendered to this egotistical deed. It only intensifies the anger in me though as I twist around, clutching my masses of hair with my slender fingers so they entangle deep into the labyrinth of voluminous waves

There is no answer, only weeping. I had to be unyielding and adamant in the duration of the monologue as I am not granting another person to be towed into this nightmare. I never would impose such an alteration in a person's life. Star's an independent woman, and although this is a situation where we need all the help we can get, fooling someone into aiding us isn't the morally righteous answer. Of course, Star is doing this mainly for Laddie, it comes from the caring side of her, and I know her intentions are good, but she just hasn't done it in the right way.

"But we have to get out of this! I have to get me and Laddie out of this! I need Michael to get us out of this. Please, that's all I need him for! Please, just – wait, why am I even begging you? I don't know you!" Star challenges to debate, but it only aids her disadvantage, the foolish words tumbling out of her lips being a reason to enrage me further.

"Don't even think about going down that route, Star" I mutter through gritted teeth, taming the anger lingering and boiling inside of me before twirling around to face her. "You don't have to beg because I'm not letting you use some guy you barely know just to get out of this. Edgar and Alan have already established a deal with me to help us, so why the hell you're using some guy is beyond me" I glance over towards the arch, the cool breeze enticing me to access it. "Now, I'm going outside to breathe a little. I'll give you ten minutes to compose yourself, then, we're going to The Boardwalk to tell this Michael to stay away from you. It's going to be severe, but I'm not letting you use him. Even if I don't know him, you can't use some guy to get you out of something as dangerous as this" Before I even have a chance to move an inch, Star opens her mouth, inhaling sharply, to utter another word. "Don't even think about protesting, Star. There's no use in it because you are not using this guy"

"He was supposed to be my first kill" she cries tenderly into her pillow, but all I can do is desert her to be rid of the tense atmosphere, begrudgingly leaving her behind so I cannot be in reach to comfort her like I desire. "I need him to help us" She can't do this. In Star's mind, this is the final option like there is no other choice and if she doesn't select this option, there will be game over.

Mike PoV

The voices become clearer and strangely, I can hear them well, even if from a distance, so I stop within the caves entrance, just out of sight of the darkened dim light of the candles, listening. The unfamiliar voice doesn't seem happy and I hear Star's voice. I can't tell if anyone else was there, but likely it's just the two girls. I'm not sure what she was talking about with that whole knight reference and begin saved from this. Then, the answer comes as the two talk. I don't want to believe this - half- vampire, first kill?

Then the words... I was supposed to be Star's first kill, but instead, I was to free her. I was merely a tool. I liked star, did I love her? I don't know, a little time, sure, I wanted to be with her as she seemed nice. Lost, but oh God, the only reason she wanted me was to use me, to make me her little hero like in one of Sam's comic books. I'm a fucking living breathing human being, not some imaginary hero, that doesn't exist. Well, I was human, now I'm this, I guess, half-vampire, and I was supposed to be Star's kill from the sound of it: To make her fully like them. So, there is a chance to escape this?

All I do is grit my teeth in anger and just stand listening to what Star is saying. It dawned on me - she knew what would happen. The blood, it was in the bottle. That weak warning, like why the hell would I believe that? Why couldn't she have told me to piss off instead of allowing me to get close? Oh yeah, she wanted a saviour, even if it meant dragging me into this mess. This whole vampire thing isn't what bothers me the most. It's horrifying, but because I wasn't aware, because I didn't know what was happening to me, I had almost killed my own little brother. Sam could have been dead if Nanook wasn't in the damned bathroom. When did she plan to mention this? After I killed my brother? I'm guessing I should have superhuman control when that sudden urge ate at me. She must know I'd been hit with that, because she's been like this longer. How long who the hell knows, but it nearly cost me my own damned brothers life.

I clench my fist, trying to bite back the rage I feel at being used, the fact that I was left unknowingly to carve out the death of my family. If Mom would have been home, what would have happened, or Grandpa? I'm not surprised David hadn't mentioned it, he is the one that done this to me. But Star, no, she lead me to Davids hands so I could be served on a platter for Star to munch on and she didn't say one damned thing to warn me what could have happened, that oh by the way you might try to kill your family in a nightmarish hunger to feed on them... just as long as I could save her.

Sierra PoV

I groan in despair as I exit the cave, my damp shoulder brushing something with a leather texture. As I crouch down, my hands shielding my face, I snap out of a distraught imaginary world where I can be free of these ailing dilemmas, and face whatever I hit.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see –" My words instantly pause themselves as my almond shaped violet eyes flick up, the lengthy eyelashes plastered in a sleek coat of black mascara camouflaging with the natural tint motioning with them. It's a man, a very attractive man who appears to be sharing my upset facial features. His windswept loose ringlets add to his attractive bearing, but that isn't my main priority. My eyes widen a little, pondering over whether he heard only snippets or the whole conversation mainly dominated by myself. "Please don't tell me you're Michael, and if you are, how much of that conversation did you hear? Shit, are you alright?"

Before I can even register in my mind what has manifested, I know for a fact this is Michael. Currently, all I can do is pray that he hasn't heard a single thing during the conversation I shared with Star. However, I highly doubt it.