"Rhiannon?"

My eyes were glazed over as I grasped Michael's hand and allowed his help to get to my feet. I used my free hand to trail my fingers over my teeth and found that they were back to their usual bluntness – the sharp fangs that had protruded as the blood trickled down my face was gone. I didn't feel that hunger anymore. I looked up to him and saw a smile etched on his face as Star and Laddie embraced a few feet away.

We were all back to normal.

"Dad," I breathed out without thinking as he took me in his arms. "I fixed it – I fixed all of it."

"You did," Michael smiled against the top of my head with a laugh. He pulled away and gave me another once over with his eyes before releasing his grasp and turning to have Star launch herself into his arms. Star turned her eyes to meet mine and gave me a tear-filled nod of appreciation as I was pulled back into a group hug with the three other humans.

As silly as it sounded, I wondered how many more opportunities I would have to embrace my family as a mortal.

I moved out of their arms just moments later as I turned to survey the others there.

Edgar and Alan were still huddled together on the floor, finally stirring from the force of impact. I didn't pay them much attention; I would deal with them later.

Marko was sitting with a blank expression as Dwayne wrapped a protective arm around his shoulders. Paul was a few feet behind them with wild eyes that screamed of an unquenched thirst.

When my eyes finally found David, I almost didn't recognize him.

He looked surprisingly… free. It was as if years of oppression had been lifted off of him.

David got to his feet as soon as he caught my stare and his normal smirk appeared on his lips. I strode forward and launched myself into his arms as my legs wrapped around his waist. His icy lips found my hot ones in an instant.

I had David. That was all that mattered. I wasn't going to be alone any longer.

"I thought you were rethinking things for a moment," I whispered as we finally broke the kiss. "You had me worried."

David chuckled as he loosened his grip so that I could stand on my own feet again, "I'm not that much of an ass, Rhiannon."

"You certainly fooled me," I teased as I turned to look back at Star, Michael and Laddie. "You should get home. Go check on Sam and Grandma Lucy."

Michael nodded and held his arms out towards me once more, which I eagerly ran back to, "It's time for you to go, isn't it?"

"Almost," I nodded with a sideways look towards the Frog's, who had all but run out of the cave after a murmur of, "This isn't over, bloodsuckers!" I held back a smile as I turned my eyes toward Paul's with a playful glint and an almost invisible shake of my head.

Paul grinned; I was glad he and I could have a conversation without words.

"I want to talk to the boys before I go. Alone," I muttered as I pressed a kiss to his cheek before ruffling Laddie's shaggy hair and clasping Star's hand in mine with a loving squeeze. "You'll see me again soon enough."

"I know," Michael nodded with an uneasy look over my head at the vampire's grouped behind me. He turned his eyes back to mine and grazed my cheek with his fingertips and a smirk. "I can't wait to meet you again."

We all talked quietly for a few more minutes before the three moved away and towards the opening of the cave, "Wait!"

Star and Michael's heads shot back around with a simultaneous, "What?"

I chuckled softly as I wrung my hands together, feeling once again like a child under scrutiny, "Just throwing this out there… When I'm about 10, the TV in the living room gets completely smashed and you both rip into me because you think I did it."

Michael turned his lips up in a smile as Star quickly matched his expression, "Uh huh?"

"You might want to take it easy on me," I offered with a laugh. "For one that was like the only time I ever really got yelled at – minus for a few fights which weren't my fault. Second, I didn't do it."

"So, who do we yell at for breaking our TV?" Star asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Sam. He paid me a hundred bucks so that I would cover for him; he was already on your shit list for something and didn't want to make it worse."

"I'll remember that," Michael laughed with a small nod.

I gave a small wave as they finally disappeared into the night.

"How sentimental," Paul crooned as Dwayne laughed from beside him.

"Fuck off," I groaned as I lifted a sharp shard of glass that had fallen into the fountain into my hand and turned towards the vampires.

Marko eyed me curiously as I stalked forward towards David, "Girl, what are you doing?"

I used my free hand to push David down into the chair behind him, to which he knowingly complied, "I'm ready to go home – David, neck." David smirked as he pulled his collar open and tilted his head to the side to expose the pale flesh. "To do that on my own terms, we all know I have to die," I turned my eyes towards the other three. "If I'm going to die, I'm sure as hell not letting any of you kill me. I'm taking things into my own hands."

"You're nuts," Paul laughed as I ran the glass down David's neck, causing a thin stream of red to appear. "I love it!"

"Well, Paul," I began as I dropped the glass to the ground. "You look hungry. Why don't you wait outside and we'll go down to the boardwalk for some dinner?"

"So much better than Max," Marko breathed out with an impressed look as Paul and Dwayne grabbed him and flew out of the cave to allow David and I privacy. "What? He never let us have any fun!"

"C'mon, Fighter," David smirked as he snaked an arm around my lower back. "You won't get to do this again for a while, might as well get to it."

"I didn't think you'd get so much satisfaction out of it," I teased as I ran my tongue over my lips and felt the growing tension between our bodies. "If only we had the time for that, tsk tsk."

"We'll have a million lifetimes for that," He grinned for a moment before allowing his face to fall stoic once again. "Drink."

I grinned eagerly as I pressed my parted mouth to the gash on his neck, my tongue trailing sensually over the trail of blood. A moan escaped his lips as his other hand grasped at the back of my head while my hands clawed at the material over his chest.

I expected the taste to be rusty and bitter as it had been before. I was thankfully wrong. Maybe it had to do with the bond, but David tasted so much sweeter. It was as if his blood was flavored just for me.

It was like ecstasy.

David had to forcibly pull my face back when I had enough and he was pleased with the sight before him, "I could get used to that look."

His blood was smeared over my lips – and since my mortality had been so recent – the effects of it were quick to take effect, "Just don't expect me to become a monster like you."

David let out a menacing laugh as we got to our feet and made our way over to the steps out of the cave to get to the motorcycles, "Oh, babe. I don't expect you to be like me."

"What's so funny?" I raised an eyebrow as I brushed the blood away with the back of my hand as I removed the lingering grime from my nearly all black ensemble.

"I expect that you'll be much worse."

"You can't kill us!"

"They'll know it was you! They'll go after all of you and finish the job during the day!"

"We would be avenged – fuck, Edgar! Why don't you have any stakes on you?"

"I thought you did! I lost mine back in that creepy ass cave!"

It was almost cute watching Alan and Edgar trying to talk their way out of the position that they were in.

We had found them exactly where anyone could have predicted – outside of their comic book store. They had gone in for who knew what reason, and were on their way home when we cornered them in the deserted alley behind the place. With it being a week night, the rest of the shops had been closed by the early morning hour.

There was no one around to hear them scream.

"It's funny that you think anyone would really care," I laughed with a sharp tone to my voice – maybe David was right. I wasn't even turned and I could feel every fiber of my being screaming to torture. "Sam might miss you for a minute. Frankly, I think that's it."

"What did we ever do to you, anyways?" Edgar snapped at me.

"You killed Marko," Paul barked out as he tensed behind me.

Marko nodded with a smug grin, "Once again, didn't stick – damage was still done."

"Also," I smirked as I turned my eyes towards Alan after adjusting my bag over my shoulders; I had almost forgotten about it, and inside weren't things that I wanted to leave behind to rot in the past. "If I remember correctly, you threatened to kill me."

David turned his eyes from Alan to look down at me, "Is that right?" I gave a tiny nod and he snarled at the human male. "Well, I think that seems like more than enough of an excuse."

"You'll die if you kill me," Alan grunted as he clenched his hands at his sides.

"If I'm going to go out, I may at least have fun with it," I winked as I released my hand from David's. "Babe, do you think you could hold that one?"

In a swift – nearly invisible – motion, David grabbed Alan from behind to restrain him, holding a clamped hand over his mouth to silence his screams.

Edgar's eyes widened, but he had to chance to act.

In a flash, Dwayne, Marko and Paul were on him, tearing him to shreds as they drained every last drop of blood from his body.

It wasn't long before they pulled away with blood soaked faces as Edgar's lifeless body hit the ground, appearing as if he had been mauled by a large animal.

David smiled proudly as he turned his attention towards me, "It's your turn."

"Weaken him for me," I requested with a voice full of pure innocence. "You look hungry. Take enough to get your fill. I'll finish it."

Alan grunted in protest as David's face morphed and he sunk his teeth down into the mortal's neck with a sickening crunch. Almost immediately, Alan's eyes glazed over in pain and his struggling weakened.

As David got his fill, he let Alan – who he had only half drained – fall to the ground in a shaking heap, "That'll do."

David moved back to his brothers as I sauntered forward and fell to the concrete, straddling Alan's waist as I clasped his hands over his head, "You shouldn't have threatened me; I might have let you live."

"Go to hell," Alan spit out at me with the small amount of energy he could muster.

I leaned my lips down to his ear with a smile, "I'm sure I will."

That was all the small talk that I needed. My face shifted and I sunk my teeth into Alan's neck without another thought to what I was doing.

I could feel his heartbeat fading on my tongue. I could taste his fear.

It scared me – for a moment – to know that this was the life I was born for… and I liked it.

The blood stopped flowing as I pulled back with a snarl. Alan's body was already cold and I wanted nothing more to do with it. I aimed a kick to his lifeless chest after getting to my feet and backing straight into David's arms.

"David, how long – fuck!" I let out a rough cough as I pushed away from him and hit the opposing wall with a dull thud. I clutched at my chest as a searing pressure shot through it.

I knew that the transformation hurt, but this wasn't a normal transformation. As my organs were failing, it wasn't just me becoming a vampire. It was me going home.

"Motherfucking – cunt – bastard – fuck!" My string of obscenities was broken as I struggled to breath and I clawed at the ground below me to find some sense of stability.

"Her mouth is worse than yours," Dwayne pointed out to Paul as they all moved to gather at my side. "I never thought someone would beat you out in that."

"I don't want to do this again," I groaned through clenched teeth as blood seeped through them and down my chin. "This… blows!"

"Hell, it'll probably be worse next time. You'll have to go through the full thing," Paul cut in.

Marko shot a glare towards him, "That's not helping."

"Don't be such a girl – your rare showcase of emotion gives me the hives."

"Don't be such a fucking prick!"

"Shut up!" David bellowed towards the two as Dwayne smacked their heads together. David scowled as he pulled me into his arms and I locked my pain filled eyes with his icy ones. "It's almost done."

"I never thought you'd be the one to care," I chuckled as he pinned my hands down to keep me from clawing open my skin any more than I already had.

"Neither did I," David chuckled as he brought his lips down to mine and licked my blood away from them. "Delicious."

"Not the time," I tensed as I felt my lungs collapsing and my heart slow to a stop. "I'll see you soon, yeah?"

"We'll be there," David nodded as the other boys followed suit. "I remember the date."

I had instructed David not to make an appearance until a few days after I had returned to my own time; I wouldn't understand before then.

My eyes struggled to stay open as I felt my body cave in on itself and the vampires watched on in fascination as I began to disappear from their sight. Only seconds later – after a final, breathy kiss – did I fade to nothing.

David stayed silent as they all got to their feet, the feeling of my warm skin still lingering on his hands. It was certainly not what he had planned for his future – hell, even his summer.

This was even more of an adventure.