I woke up the next night to unsurprisingly find Sam gone. A note was left on the pillow beside mine in his horrible cursive handwriting. I smiled as I opened the small piece of paper to read the note inside.

Dawn,

I hope your vampiric slumber is sound and you dream of how handsome I am. I'll be on the boardwalk tonight around 8 near the comic store. I hope to see you there.

Your Loving Boyfriend,

Sam

"Smart ass," I muttered, laughing to myself as I stepped out of the bedroom.

It was nearly 7 pm so I got ready for the night. The cabin had running water, paid for by someone who had forgotten of the cabin's existence. I took a hot shower and walked back into the bedroom, towel-drying my hair as I went.

I searched through my clothes and found a nice sweater, jeans, and combat boots. It was September but the weather was already beginning to shift. Not so much during the day but the nights had begun to have a chill in the air. It didn't affect me as it once had but that didn't mean I wasn't going to dress the part.

Once ready, I took flight and appeared at the far end of the boardwalk near a patch of trees. I enjoyed flying but walking was something I had taken up recently to calm my nerves and think, so tonight I decided to walk the rest of the way.

I shoved my hands into my pockets and strode past humans enjoying the rides, the games, and the atmosphere. When summer ends, less people stroll past because of weather and school beginning. The boardwalk was open year round but summertime was when the boardwalk was full of life.

Sam's blood had made it easier to focus and be around the crowds of people walking past. I knew it wouldn't last forever but I would enjoy it as long as I could. I would not ask Sam to feed me, I would have to find another way. As I made it to the comic store, I noticed a group of biker girls a few stores down.

They each had leather jackets in different colors. The blonde had a red one, the ginger had a green one, the brunette had a brown one, and the black-haired one had a black one. She stood in front of the three and even from my distance I could tell she was the leader. She stood more prominent, confident even. She was the queen bee and I had never seen them before.

I kept my gaze on them as I entered the comic store. I looked around for Sam and couldn't find him, so I headed to the front and leaned against the counter that the Frog Brothers were leaning against. Their gaze locked in the same direction mine was.

"Who are they?" I asked, knowing full well they knew who I was referring to.

"They're definitely new I can tell you that," Edgar muttered. "This is the first I've seen of them."

"Did you get…"

"A bad feeling?" Allan finished with a curt nod. "Yeah, they're bad news. Question is, are they vampire bad news?"

"We might want to figure that out quick," Edgar said, motioning to the group. "Looks like Sam has introduced himself.

I looked back at the group to find Sam chatting with the girls and the look on the leader's face made my blood boil. I rose from the counter and excused myself, heading toward the group. I faked the best smile I could and walked over, coming to stand beside Sam.

Sam noticed my sudden arrival and smiled back at me. "Hey, Dawn."

"Whatcha doing over here?" I asked, shoving my hands into my pockets.

"Saying hello. They just moved to town and plan to start school in the next few days," Sam explained, motioning to the girls. "This is Celeste and her three friends Alice, Tatiana, and Silas."

Celeste nodded first; the leader. Up close she was prettier than I originally took her for. Her black hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, her hair, and clothes heavily contrasted her pale skin. The blonde was Alice, the ginger was Tatiana, and the brunette was Silas. All three were her sidekicks but they were just as pretty if not more so than Celeste herself.

"It's nice to meet you, Dawn," Celeste said, offering her hand to me.

I took it on my own and shook it slowly, a shiver running down my spine; she was ice cold. "It's nice to meet you too."

I pulled back a little too quickly, Celeste the only one who really took notice. Her smile widened just slightly but her expression barely changed. I grabbed Sam's hand and urged him to walk away. After a friendly goodbye, I got him into the comic store away from the girls. We made it to the counter where Edgar and Allan still stood.

"So?" Edgar asked.

"Vampires I'm sure of it," I said, looking back at the group. "Or least the leader Celeste is, her skin was ice cold when I touched her."

"She said she had poor circulation in her hands," Sam said, the three of us meeting his gaze as he shrugged. "Just because she's cold doesn't make her a vampire."

"You of all people deny the possibility?" Allan whispered, his gaze flicked to me before returning to Sam. "When you're dating one?"

"I'm not saying it's not possible but you can't assume their vampires because one of them had cold hands," Sam insisted. "We just got through one group of vampires, we don't need to deal with another one."

"Life has never been fair," I muttered.

"Can't you just sense if they're vampires?" Edgar asked, turning his attention to me. "I mean you're a vampire yourself. Shouldn't you sense your own kind?"

"I was focused on getting Sam away from them to really test that," I said, my gaze returning to the girls. "But next time, I'll make sure."

"Guys, they're just a group of new girls. We don't need to make them out to be monsters," Sam whined.

"Why are you so adamant about it?" Allan asked, raising a brow. "Do you like them or something?"

My gaze left the girls and met Sam's. His face blushed at the mention and his heart picked up pace. He didn't love any of them as he did me but he definitely found them attractive that much was obvious. I pretended to ignore his rise in heartbeat because I would not become the jealous vampire girlfriend.

"N-no I don't like them," Sam stuttered, hiding his attraction terribly. "I just think we should give them the benefit of the doubt. We can't judge every person we have a bad feeling about. They may just be human."

"Maybe."

The girls headed back to the abandoned frozen yogurt stand. Tatiana and Silas held onto a struggling boy who had tape over his mouth and his hands tied behind his back. Celeste opened the back door as the group filed in. They made their way into the kitchen to find the girl from the other night curled up in a ball crying.

She was rocking back and forth completely terrified. When she saw the four, she scooted back as far as the room would allow. Celeste nodded and her minions dropped the boy to the floor. He struggled to break out of his bindings but it did nothing.

Celeste walked over to the girl and pulled her harshly to her feet. She walked over to the boy and threw the girl to the ground before him. The girl looked from him to the girls in front of her with scared confusion. Celeste smiled, crouching on the other side of the boy.

"You need to eat," Celeste said, nodding to the boy. "He's your dinner."

"I … I can't. I won't." The girl frantically shook her head. "I don't want to hurt people. I don't want to be a monster."

"Oh sweetie, we're not monsters," Celeste said, grabbing the girl's chin so she'd look her in the eye. "We're the top of the food chain. If you don't eat, you'll die. You don't want to end up like your brother, do you?"

The memory of Celeste murdering her brother flashed before the girl's eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut, a tear rolling down her cheek. The girl shook her head slowly, her tear-filled gaze on the floor.

"No."

Celeste's smile returned. "Good. Now eat up before it gets cold."

The girl's gaze met the boy's who pleaded for her to help him. He was maybe a year older than her and he was scared. He just wanted to go home, but she didn't want to die and she wouldn't risk her demise.

Her fangs extended out of instinct as the boy's gaze changed to utter fear. He struggled harder but to no avail. She turned his head to reveal more of his neck and dug her fangs into his throat.

The boy tried to scream, but the tape blocked any noise that could escape. His legs thrashed against the ground as she fed, doing anything to free himself. But with each sip he grew weaker and soon his legs stopped moving, his eyes closed, and his body went limp.

When the girl pulled back, her breathing was ragged and blood dripped out of the corner of her mouth. Celeste leaned forward and wiped the blood away with her thumb, bringing it to her own lips. Her eyelids flickered with excitement as she licked her finger clean.

When the boy was gone, Celeste motioned to the others and three grabbed the body, dragging him out the backdoor. Celeste helped the girl to her feet and moved the hair from her face, wiping the tear residue from her cheeks.

"What's your name, Little One?" Celeste asked.

"Madison," the girl muttered.

"Well, Madison, welcome to the crew. You'll never grow old. You'll never die. And every night is a party," Celeste explained.

"We just party every night?" Madison asked curiously.

"That is not our only reason for coming to Santa Carla," Celeste explained as the three returned to the room to stand behind her. "We're here to tie up a loose end."

"What loose end?" Madison asked.

"Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough."