AN: Dear Lovely Readers,

As some of you may know, one of us came out recently. Electric Violinist is writing this author's note, and as I have just completed my mammoth House of Pomegranates project, I thought it was about time. My colleague, however, wishes to remain anonymous for now, so anyone who is enjoying the mystery can continue to guess away at her/his name.

As always reviews are appreciated and reviewers adored. We've had a lot of requests for sex, so my mysterious colleague took it upon his/herself to include some towards the end of this chapter. Hope you enjoy!

He saw the boy storming down the main streets to his home. If Brendan could breathe, he would have sighed with relief. The boy had learnt his lesson, taking the long way round so he would stay on the main road and avoid being alone. It gave Brendan enough time.

He knew where the boy lived, and he could get there faster than any human, so that was where he went. Steven could be attacked on his way home, but Brendan could sense him, just one street to go. If he had a moment of fear, Brendan would smell it and be there in moments. But right now, he needed to make sure he could keep the boy in his sights all night.

He knocked politely on the door, all senses alert to Steven, turning onto his own street now. The door opened to reveal the pretty waif-like girl who had told him when Steven was arrested. She was the only thing in his way.

And he hated Amy.

She greeted him with a smile, "Oh, hello Brendan!" she said, "I've been meaning to see you to say thank…"

He was already rolling his eyes.

"Amy, you will invite me into your house, right now."

Amy's eyes swam with confusion for less than a moment, before they lightened as she submitted to the hypnosis.

"I invite you into my house," she said blankly.

"Good girl," said Brendan, stepping past her and into the living room. "Shut the door," he called over his shoulder as he inspected the house. Children's toys were tidied carefully away, the house shabby in slight disrepair, but clean and homely. He sat on the sofa, smelling Steven's scent and appreciating it, aware the boy was going to intrude in moments. And he was probably going to bitch about Brendan being here.

"Put the kettle on, love," he instructed Amy, feeling a great sense of superiority, as she obeyed with a contented expression. She may be pretty, but Brendan was powerful. He could send this little non-competition on endless, pointless errands until Steven was his.

Steven chose that moment to enter, bad mood and frustration still obvious from their previous interaction.

"Steven," Brendan greeted.

Steven hadn't looked at him. He had already started for a door on down the hall. "I don't wanna talk about it Amy," he said and stormed all the way through and slammed the door behind him. Brendan smirked, hearing the footsteps freeze and then the boy return to the living room.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

Brendan had expected that as a greeting. He decided 'I found another dead body and a note that strongly hinted that you might be murdered' would be too alarming. So instead he said "Now that's a friendly greeting, isn't it?"

Steven folded his arms, "How did you even get past me?"

Brendan raised his eyebrows. There was a reason Steven hadn't figured out they were vampires.

"I'm a vampire, Steven," he said, hoping the boy would figure it out.

"Oh, right, yeah," said Steven, but rallied quickly, "So how did you get in then? I had to invite Cheryl or she couldn't come in!"

Amy wandered back into the living room, and in a breezy, emotion free voice, greet, "I have put the kettle on."

Her expression was blank. Brendan saw confusion followed by recognition fly across Steven's face.

"You hypnotised Amy!" he shouted.

"So?" said Brendan. As if that mattered.

"You can't hypnotise the mother of me kids just so you can break into my house!"

That was stupid, "Obviously I just did, Steven," Brendan pointed out.

Steven glared "What is wrong with you?" he shouted.

"What's going on?" said Amy. Steven must be very distracting for Brendan to have lost his control of her mind. Even more reason for Brendan to keep an eye on him; if these murders were to cumulate in a fight, Brendan could never hold concentration if the boy appeared unexpectedly.

"Brendan was just goin'" Steven informed her, mistakenly.

Brendan smiled, enjoying the game, "Where are your manners, Steven? Amy invited me in for a cup of tea."

"And why did she do that, Brendan?" Steven sneered.

"Oh, I was gonna thank you, Brendan!" Amy interrupted, "for helping Ste when he was arrested."

Now thoroughly enjoying himself, Brendan gave her a winning smile, "The least I could do for a valued employee."

"Oh, isn't that nice, Ste?" said Amy, with a smile, "tea was it?" she added.

"That'd be grand, love," said Brendan, smiling. He had no intention of drinking tea, but he knew to accept a drink when it was offered by a human. They liked it, made them think you were one of them. And he could do as good an impression of drinking as the next creature of the night.

"Er, you're not staying!" Steven cried, angrily.

"Don't be rude, Ste!" Amy protested.

"Yeah, Steven!" said Brendan.

"He gave you a job, then he helped you out, what is your problem?" Amy folded her arms, looking expectantly at Steven, who scowled at the pair of them, but didn't reply. So Amy nodded. "Good, so I'll make the tea then," she said with a cheery smile, and went back into the kitchen.

"What are you doing here, Brendan?!" Steven snapped the minute Amy was gone.

"I told…"

"Is your memory really that short? Because I think I told you I was done!"

Brendan looked at him seriously, "If I tell you the truth, you going to listen this time?"

It seemed to push through Steven's barriers just enough. The boy was still looking at him with slightly less trust than he'd give a sleeping alligator, but he wasn't snapping at him anymore. Brendan sighed. "Don't panic, but I found another body."

Steven's mouth dropped open. "What? Where?"

"In the cellar at the club, and… I don't wanna leave you alone, you know?"

He hoped the boy did understand without him having to say more.

Steven looked worried. Almost scared. "Do you…" he shifted, uncomfortably, and glanced in on Amy, "Cheryl said… she thought they might be targeting me." His eyes searched Brendan, questioningly, waiting for confirmation.

Brendan shrugged.

"Oh, helpful Brendan!" Steven cried, and Brendan could sense his anger growing, though he suspected it was fuelled by fear. "There's no reason for anyone to target me, is there? If it's vampires, they're after you, if they're not, they're after you!"

Brendan grumbled. The boy may have a point.

"So, this is your fault, isn't it?!" Steven cried. "So get out of my flat, Brendan!"

"No," said Brendan.

Steven glared harder, "I said get out!"

"I'm not leaving you alone!" Brendan stated, simply.

Steven looked ready to explode. Amy appeared in the kitchen doorway, carrying a tray with a teapot and a selection of mugs.

"Tea's up," she said with a smile.

"Brendan's going!" Steven repeated, growing more and more annoyed as he was ignored.

"But he hasn't had his tea!" said Amy.

"He's not getting tea!" Steven shouted. "He doesn't even drink tea!"

"Why not?" asked Amy.

"Amy just… just go to bed, yeah?"

"Don't you dare try ordering me around, Ste Hay!" Amy snapped, her smiley persona replaced with an almost maternal tone in moments.

"I'm not!" Steven replied, "Just, Brendan can't stay here!"

"Why would he stay here?" Amy asked, with a frown.

"I wanna keep an eye on him, Amy," said Brendan, "after everything that's happened, you know?"

He used the most minimal hypnosis he could, trying to control Amy without Steven noticing. He felt her mind bend to his will, just enough.

"That is very nice of you Brendan," she said, except Brendan could recognise the slightly robotic tone, and knew Steven would too.

"Stop hypnotising the mother of mi kids!" he shouted, pulling the tray out of Amy's hands, shoving it on the side to grab her face.

The hypnosis slipped again, "What's going on?" she said, again, confused.

"I don't think you're well Amy," said Steven, "I think you should go to bed."

"Oh," said Amy, "You're right, I just totally blacked out, there."

"You're tired and worried, that's all," said Steven, kissing her gently on the forehead, making Brendan want to rip her face off, "go to bed and I'll bring you a glass of water or something."

"Oh, right, er, sorry Brendan," she said.

"No worries, love," Brendan replied, giving her the best smile he could manage while imagining her falling out of the window, "You get better soon, yeah?"

Steven glared at him again, but Amy gave him a smile, and a cheery, "Night then, boys," before making her way to one of the doors which probably concealed her bedroom.

Again Steven waited until she was out of earshot before saying "Get out Brendan!"

Brendan gave him a scathing look, "You think just because that didn't work the first three times, it's bound to work now?"

"I thought you might understand if I said it loudly enough!"

"Nope," said Brendan, crossing his feet and getting comfortable on the arm chair.

Steven looked ready to explode, "Fine!" he said, "I'm calling Cheryl."

"What?" Brendan cried, "why on Earth…?"

Steven used his bitterest voice as he pulled out his phone, "Well there's got to be somebody you care about enough to listen to them!"

Brendan grabbed Steven's phone, "Hey!" he threw the phone aside but the rest of his words died on his lips. He had been about to shout that he cared about Steven. Except of course he didn't. Steven had betrayed him. He just didn't want Steven to die.

So he stood, impotently, not knowing what to say. Steven raised his eyebrows expectantly, and when Brendan still didn't finish what he was saying, Steven rolled his eyes.

"Oh, whatever! I'm going to bed, right? You do what you want!"

And Steven turned away from him, disappearing into his room and slamming the door. Brendan frowned. Part of him was annoyed. Steven had just decided to ignore him! How could he do that?! Brendan was gorgeous!

No, that wasn't what he meant! He meant that he was a vampire, and Steven had just left him unsupervised in his family's home. Did he have no sense of preservation? This was exactly why Brendan had to stay here and look after him. Stupid boy.

He sat back on the sofa, arms folded, thinking about going in to that room and forcing the boy to see that he was in danger and that Brendan was looking after him, and that he was being stupid and should be crawling on bended knee begging for Brendan's forgiveness for even listening to a nut-case like Walker! And there was no way Brendan was leaving. Steven could ignore him all he liked, but Brendan was staying put. And that was that.

It didn't take long for Brendan to get bored just sitting there doing nothing. Steven was in bed, maybe even naked and he was sat in this poor excuse for a living room. That just wasn't right! He was half way to Steven's door when he remembered he was supposed to be mad at the boy Brendan turned around and headed back to the living room, deciding to entertain himself in a different way. About ten minutes later he'd managed to find Steven's hidden DVD collection, some of the names had given him a right laugh: Bryan the Bed Slayer had been his particular favourite. He'd almost felt guilty when he chucked them all in the bin, almost. But Steven wouldn't be needing them any more when Brendan got his hands on him. Not that Brendan planned to have his hands all over that golden skin, it was just in case of course.

Brendan was half way through rummaging through Steven's fridge, when he spotted it. A big piece of raw steak that was dripping with blood. His fangs automatically shot out, saliva starting to form at the corner of his mouth. As a human he'd loved steak and it had been so long since he'd had any. He grabbed the package and pulled it out of the fridge. He tore open the plastic and took the cold meat into his waiting hands. It wouldn't help just to smell the delicious meat, he hadn't fed from anyone since he'd met Steven. The urge to feed seemed to drift away each time he was in Steven's company. Why go out and get the equivalent of cheap beer, when he had a fine bottle of whisky within his grasp? Not that he'd ever open that bottle...Brendan lifted the meat to his nose and inhaled deeply, almost shuddering with pleasure at the smell. He hadn't realised how hungry he was until this moment. He lifted the meat to his mouth and began to suck the blood from it. He glanced up for a second and suddenly noticed a pair of blue eyes staring at him. Even though he was a vampire, the shock of someone sneaking up on him nearly caused him to jump. Nobody had been able to do that for years, it must be the boy's presence affecting his powers again.

A small child with long blonde hair was looking at Brendan with big eyes. Instead of the usual fear (which usually happened at the very sight of a vampire with their fangs out) there was a blatant and familiar curiosity. She was obviously Steven's daughter.

"Does Daddy know you're a vampire?" asked the small girl, not seeming one bit put out by this stranger in her kitchen.

"I'm not a vampire Princess, you're just having a bad dream." he said, putting on his softest voice. Brendan was seriously impressed, the girl had worked out in less than a minute something that had taken Steven days.

The little girl frowned and then pinched herself. "I'm not dreaming, you're a vampire. Vampires are my favourite monsters." she lifted up the bat teddy in her arms. "Bart's a vampire too."

"Cute." answered Brendan, he began to gently reach his mind over to the girl. Brendan didn't want to control her, just help her back to bed. "You will go back to bed sweetheart."

The girl raised an eyebrow at him. "No." she said firmly.

Brendan forced himself not to groan, looks like Steven's little girl was just like him.

"Shall I get Daddy?" asked the girl, a child like challenge in her voice. "Daddy doesn't think vampires are real, but they are."

"How much?" asked Brendan, resorting to the one thing that always worked when mind control didn't: blackmail. He pulled out his wallet and fished out a few tens. "Twenty pounds do?" He was willing to bet his immortal life savings that Steven wouldn't like finding out the fact that the girl knew he was a vampire. It certainly wouldn't help him get into Steven's pants any quicker! Not that he wanted to, of course.

The girl pulled a face at the money.

"There must be something you want."

The girl's eyes suddenly lit up. "I want you to sing me a song and then tell me a story."

Brendan groaned. "You've got to be kidding, kid."

She shook her head, and curled a strand of hair around her finger. "I could go wake Daddy..."

"What song?" growled Brendan through gritted teeth. He hadn't been outwitted in over a century by anyone and yet this small girl had complete control over him. If Leah had been older, Brendan would have thought she was a vampire herself.

"I kissed a girl." answered the girl, looking at him with big eyes.

"Don't know it." lied Brendan.

"Daddy!" shouted the girl, not taking her eyes off Brendan. In a way that suggested she was waiting for his next move.

"Alright, alright." Brendan said quickly and began to sing what he considered one of the most annoying songs of the century. He'd hated it when it played all the time in his previous club and he hated it even more now. "I kissed a girl and I liked it, hope my friend Ste don't mind it..." he cringed at the sound of his own voice. "It felt so wrong, it felt so right..."

"What's going on in here?" asked a male voice from the doorway. Steven stepped into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. "Is that my steak sitting on the table?"

"Your friend was singing Daddy." answered the girl, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"It's two in the morning Leah. He's not meant to be singing." Steven's eyes finally met Brendan's and for the first time in days they softened slightly.

Brendan glanced at the child with a healthy respect. So her name was Leah, he'd remember that. Not many humans, let alone a small child could outwit a vampire.

"You should be in bed." said Steven firmly to his daughter. "Say goodnight to Brendan."

"Goodnight, Brendan," said the girl, giving him a bright, approving smile but letting her Daddy take her hand. Steven took his daughter back to her room and after a moment returned to the kitchen. The two looked at each other for a moment, neither saying a word.

"Thank you for looking after Leah and not going all vampire on her." said Steven quietly.

"I'm not a complete monster Steven, I did have kids of my own, a long time ago." answered Brendan, feeling the familiar ache that came whenever he thought about Declan and Paddy.

Steven pulled a face. "Vampires can do that?"

"It was when I was human."

"What happened to them?" asked Steven.

"They died."

"I'm sorry." said Steven softly.

"It was a long time ago." Brendan answered, even though it hurt still like it was only yesterday. Brendan would never understand why vampires had the ability to feel love and loss. "And at least they never had to be like me."

Steven was suddenly looking at Brendan witth an expression on his face that almost looked as if he wanted to take all of Brendan's pain away. He walked towards Brendan with a determined look on his face.

"Steven...what are you..."

Brendan didn't have time to finish the sentence as Steven stepped forward and pressed his lips to Brendan's. There was all sorts of reasons why this shouldn't happen, but Brendan couldn't think of any in that moment. He knew one day he was going to hell, but just for this moment in time he suddenly felt like he was in heaven.

Amy Barnes slipped out of the flat unnoticed. She'd picked the exact right time, Ste and Brendan were too busy with one another to notice her go. She walked through the dark streets only wearing a long, white, cotton nightdress. Even though it was a cold night she did not shiver or even flinch as her bare feet scraped against the stones on the path.

A clock struck two somewhere in the distance, but Amy didn't pause and continued to move almost zombie like. She stopped as she reached the park, only taking a moment to swiftly climb over the locked gates. Her nightdress caught on the rails and caused the material to tear at her shoulder, but even that didn't stop her from continuing onwards. Amy stopped as she reached a bandstand and sat down on it, her eyes glazed and an odd smile on her face.

"Hello darling, you look delicious tonight." said a voice softly from behind her.

Amy turned, almost robotically. "Master."

A man slid into the space next to her, sitting so close that Amy was almost sitting on his knee. "Is everything going to plan?"

"Yes, master." answered Amy. "Ste has a job at the night club and the vampire is already entranced by him. Just as my master wanted."

"Excellent." said the man. "It won't be long now my precious." he pushed a strand of long hair behind her ear. "It's such a shame, I'll almost regret having to kill you when it's over. You've done such a fantastic job and been such a...distraction." he dipped his cold lips down and kissed the bear skin on display from the tear at Amy's shoulder.

She shuddered with pleasure at the contact. "The vampire is at the house at the moment, heard he is afraid for Ste." continued Amy.

"He doesn't release the boy is the key to his downfall. Brendan will kneel and kiss my feet when this is all over." He licked his lips, noticing how pale Amy's skin looked in the moon light. "I think it's time for your reward my precious."

He pushed Amy back into the wood, climbing on top of her form that was beginning to shiver in anticipation. With one hand he pushed the nightdress over head, exposing Amy's pale naked body.

"Please." whispered Amy desperately, clawing desperately at the man's clothes.

He pushed forward, as Amy rubbed herself against his clothed bulge. He could smell already that she was over aroused, since becoming a vampire, sex with either sex had become amazingly pleasurable. He pulled his trousers down quickly and pushed himself into her warm body. Amy screamed out with pleasure immediately, it was one of the things he loved about the girl: she wasn't afraid to scream. He pressed deeper, hearing the wood bellow them creak and crack with the intensity of their activities. Sex was the reason Amy Barnes was so easy to control, she was almost addicted to him now. It took little effort these days for her to answer his call and do his bidding. By day she would not remember a thing, but in the middle of the night she came to him and offered herself happily. He knew the girl believed what happened between them was part of several connecting dreams. It was silly that the bite marks hadn't been a giveaway to her by now. As he felt her shivering to a climax his fangs slid out and plunged straight into her shoulder, his tongue lapping and sucking at Amy's lifeblood.

The girl wasn't too bad considering she wasn't his usual type, shame she'd have to die soon.

(AN: *sniggers* didn't say it was Stendan sex!)

Appreciate the slow build, people! Slow build!