AN: So sorry about the long wait! We'll try not to let it happen again! Enjoy...

The girl was crying.

Kevin wasn't sure what to make of that. It had all been a bit of a whirlwind. One minute he'd been a normal bloke, nineteen, struggling to get by. Then this old guy had offered him immortality; the chance to stay young and beautiful forever. It was an odd promise from a scraggly old man with grey hair and a beard and Kevin had laughed it off. Said if the old man could do that and prove it, Kevin would get down on his knees and suck him off. The man had turned Kevin into a vampire.

The old man had failed to mention that the price of immortality for Kevin was a never ending existence as the unwilling, unpaid slave of said old man. Or how very confused Kevin would feel, with endless cravings for blood and sex and the strange reforming of his sense of morality. He'd also failed to mention the necessity of terrifying young women. After a day or so trapped in a dungeon, held by chains and beaten until he had to figure out what was going on or go mad, the old man had given him a crash course in hypnotising humans, taught him to fly more or less safely and instructed him to go straight to a run-down council house and kidnap a skinny woman. Kevin had told him what he thought of the old bastard even as his feet obeyed the order. He'd been unable to do anything else, not even stand still. And the old man hadn't been forced to obey Kevin's order. And now Kevin couldn't even tell him to fuck off.

And so here he was, as instructed, in a dingy abandoned building in the centre of town, and babysitting a girl who he had been instructed not to hypnotise any more. She couldn't be any older than Kevin, and she looked so delicate.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked, between desperate sobs.

But Kevin had been ordered not to answer that question. So instead he put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. She shrunk away.

"I'm a mother," she said, "I've got two children."

Kevin flinched. "I'm sorry," he said, "but I can't let you go."

The old man had promised to return but it had been ages now. Though Kevin did seem to be constantly confused since he'd changed, so maybe it wasn't. The fridge was full of blood and Kevin had been ordered not to drink from the woman until Seamus returned, but he wanted to so much. She smelt so scared and innocent despite her two children. If he didn't get to go find something to drink soon, he might explode! But the old man had banned that too.

"Please!" the woman begged, "please!"

But Kevin couldn't let her go if he tried. So he did the best he could to make himself feel less guilty and gagged her with the gaffer tape the old man had provided. It quieted the sobbing too, though filled the room with sniffing as she tried hard to breathe through her snotty nose. Even then, he still wanted to drink her and shag her. He would never have been attracted to a crying woman before he was turned!

It was the pleading that was getting to him. Maybe he needed to distract her.

"We could play a game!" he suggested. She didn't say yes, but then of course she couldn't. "But you can't talk now. How about charades?!"

She looked at him through wide eyes.

She probably just needed convincing. She'd be fine once she got into it. So Kevin, kindly, said, "Look, I'll go first."

He got up. She still didn't seem too excited, but Kevin was really thinking what a great idea it was, now. She'd agree soon. And it was only until the old man returned. "Look!" He said, and did the traditional mime of an old fashioned film camera. She just stared at him. "Oh come on!" He cried, "You must have played before! Everyone's played charades! You know what that means!"

She watched with wary eyes. Kevin felt more pity for her than he'd ever felt and it confused him.

"Oh, I am sorry, blond girl," he said, "here, I'll give you a hug, that will make you feel better."

He stepped forward, and the girl shrunk back in fear and shouted "Mmmm! Mmmm! Mm M Mmmmm!"

"Film!" he cried back, pleased to finally have found a way to support her. "Yes, it is a film. Right, er..." he held up some fingers.

"Mmm mmm," she said.

"Yeah! Five words" he said, "Now..."

He acted out the film.

"The thing you've got to remember about Brendan and me, Steven, is that we lived in a different time."

"Yeah," said Ste. He'd never really thought about it, but if Brendan was as old as he said, he'd have been human in another century.

Seamus's voice was tired and sad, "We lived when you could be hanged for stealing a loaf of bread, and there's this lad of mine who likes boys more than girls. People who said things like that didn't have easy lives, Steven."

"No," said Ste, trying to follow his words and keep up with the break neck speed.

"I mean, people didn't understand it then. They thought it was just sinful and disgusting," Seamus continued, slowing down a little and beginning to head for the ground. "I didn't want someone I loved going through that misery, you know?"

"Right..." said Ste, still listening, still wondering where Seamus planned to go with this conversation.

"So, I tried to discourage him. I wasn't violent, not for the time, but I did punish him when I saw him acting on it. If it was now, I'd have just taken him aside and had a talk, but it wasn't like that then. Real men didn't talk about feelings and stuff. But if he'd got caught it would have been prison, or worse. He'd have been ostracised. He could have starved if people didn't look out for him. I was trying to look out for him, trying to keep him safe, you know? Knock some sense into him. You understand, don't ye, Steven? If your lad was trying to do something that would get him hurt, you'd try to stop him, wouldn't you?"

"Er... yeah, I suppose," Ste replied, uncertainly.

"But Brendan... my Brendan's never quite forgiven me for it," Seamus explained. "He thinks I was a harsh man, cold and unloving. But it was the opposite. I cared about him so much I risked our relationship. Do you understand, Steven? Do you?"

"Er, where are we going?" Ste asked, partly to end the conversation and partly through simple curiosity. Seamus had promised him dinner and Ste had no reason to doubt him, but this seemed an odd place to come for dinner. It was a normal residential street. "I ain't eating some family or owt!" he said, "Brendan said there's enough people who want us to drink."

"Steven!" scolded Seamus, "what sort of a monster do you take me for? I don't..." He stopped and sniffed the air. "Do you smell that?" he asked.

Ste sniffed. He could smell lots of things. Dozens of people, maybe hundreds who had travelled this street today.

"Someone's scared," said Seamus.

Ste frowned but sniffed again. That was an impressive sense of smell. There were hundreds of emotions and he was only just beginning to recognise them; picking second hand feelings from the breeze seemed magical to him.

"What should we do?" he said.

"Well, that depends what sort of vampire you are, Steven. You the running in and saving kind? Or the all you can eat kind?"

"I told ya!" Ste snapped, "I don't drink people who don't want it!"

Seamus smirked, "Then I guess we'll be running in and saving them, then."

He turned and ran faster than a blur. Ste didn't think twice about following.

The blond girl took ages to guess Kevin's film (though she may have had to say it a few times through the gag before Kevin understood it. Then it was supposed to be her turn, but her hands were tied behind her so Kevin had another go.

"Er, it's a ..." He mumbled and drew a box in the air."

"Mm mm mmm?" Said the blond girl.

"Yeah, TV show," said Kevin, "and er, I think it was a ..." He did the film mime again.

"Mmm," said the girl.

"Yeah, film!" said Kevin, "you're good at this, aren't ya?"

"Mmm," said blond girl with a shrug.

"Aww, and you're shy!" he said, "right, er..."

He counted out the words and showed her with his fingers. "Yeah, four words. Right. Ok so this is the hard bit... Er..."

He pointed at the sheet on the bed, "No, I don't mean that, er... Sounds like er..." He tugged on his own ear and pointed at the sheet.

Blond girl frowned, "Mmm mmm mmmt?"

"No not sheet" he said, "not what it is, how it is... Er..."

"Mmm?" said the girl. He had no idea what she guessed but there was only one syllable so it was wrong. "No!" he said, and looked around. He spotted the towel she'd been holding when he caught her, "this!" he cried, "sounds like this!"

"Mmm?" said the girl.

"No!" cried Kevin, "I told you, not what it is, how it is!"

"Mmm-mmm?" She said.

"Yes!" he cried, "Sounds like fluffy!"

Blond girl blinked. Maybe she hadn't said fluffy after all. "Mmm-mmm?" She tried.

"Oh you're never going to get it!" He cried. "So, sounds like fluffy, then..." He held up two fingers. "Second word," he repeated after her mumble, then made the universal hand gesture for 'T'.

"Mmm," she said.

"Great!" He cried, "so something that sounds like fluffy, the... Then..."

He let his teeth grow long. She didn't squeal, but he saw tears coming from her eyes. He pounced, ready to bite her.

"Mmm-mmm," she half sobbed half screamed through her gag.

"Yeah! Vampire!" He cried. And stood up straight, and tried to put his teeth away. "Oh, they won't go away, now, never mind."

He put up four fingers, and mimed a big death, being murdered by a stake. She sobbed but muttered "Mmm-mmm mmm mmm-mmm mmmmmmm."

"Yeah!" Kevin cried. "Well done you! Buffy the vampire slayer! I used to love that show! Bet she wouldn't love me much anymore though, would she?"

He sighed, with real melancholy. He hadn't meant to become a vampire. He didn't really know what it meant. There were whole big questions he'd intended to answer with his life. He'd intended to prove to his parents who had doubted him and Mr Peterson who had believed in him, that he could be a success and he could find a good job and keep it. He would find someone nice to settle down with and have babies and stay unlike his own stupid father, and not do drugs like his own stupid mother. He told blond girl all of it, all of his dreams. He didn't know why. Maybe there was just something about her, something in her eyes that made him want to share.

"In here, I think, Steven," hissed a voice from not far off. Blond girl didn't look up, so maybe it was his super vampire hearing that had heard.

He recognised the voice, though. He thanked whatever God vampires had that the old man hadn't come back when he was pretending to bite blond girl. He would have been really angry and he might have ordered Kevin to do something horrible, again, like putting his hand in the sunshine or holding a crucifix or something.

Then he remembered the other order. Maybe Seamus had ordered him to forget it until the moment of his return. He didn't want to do it. He would give his right arm not to do.

His body did it without permission from his mind. His teeth were already out, he was close to blond girl. His legs jumped and he landed on top of the girl. She screamed this time, at the top of her voice, but his teeth were already sinking themselves into her neck, tasting her gorgeous, terrified blood. It tasted so wonderful, like life and love and sex in liquid form. But he didn't want to hurt blond girl. Blond girl was kind and sweet and scared.

"Amy!" shouted a voice and suddenly he was being thrown across the room. His legs still trying to get back to her, whatever his head was trying to make them do.

The old man was half glaring, half smiling at him, one hand around his throat. "Hands off!" Seamus growled in his face, as a fair head scooped up blond girl.

"Amy?" cried the blond man, "Amy?"

"You know her, Steven?" Seamus growled, and Kevin frowned.

"You…" he began, intending to point out that Seamus knew blond girl too. He'd been very specific about who Kevin was meant to kidnap.

"SHUT UP!" Seamus shouted, with fury and Kevin's lips smacked together.

"She's the mother of me kids," sobbed the newcomer, a young man Kevin had never seen before. "Amy? Amy?"

Kevin stared at Seamus. Why was he furious with Kevin, he'd done everything the old man had asked? "I…"

"Keep your mouth shut!" growled Seamus, with righteous fury, "You attacked my family, so you attacked me!"

Kevin tried to argue, but it was hard when his mouth was glued closed by his maker's order.

Seamus pulled a plank of wood from his jacket. "You'll pay for that!"

"Stop!" cried the young man, Steven. Seamus hesitated, his wood, which Kevin recognised as a roughly hewn stake, was poised centimetres from his chest.

"He nearly killed her, Steven," he said, "You can't want him to live."

"No, but there's this guy, right?" said Steven in a rush, "and he's been doing stuff, trying to hurt me. We think it's someone trying to get control over Brendan."

Kevin didn't know who either of those people were. He wondered if it mattered.

Steven addressed him directly, "Did you send those people to hurt me?" he demanded.

Kevin tried to shout no. He couldn't. Seamus grabbed his face so he couldn't even shake his head in denial.

"Tell him," Seamus growled, "Tell him it was all you. Tell him that you hurt those people."

Seamus gave his head enough give so Kevin could say "It was me. I hurt those people."

"Why?" cried Steven. "Who are you?"

But Kevin couldn't answer that. He had no answers. Could he say anything else? He'd admitted to something he didn't do at Seamus' order. Could he deny it now?

"No…" he tried, "No… it wasn't…"

"Look at him, Steven," Seamus interrupted, "Look, he's mad. You're mad aren't you? I bet he didn't even have a reason."

"I di…"

"Shut it you filthy coward!" shouted Seamus, and Kevin's mouth slammed itself closed again. "Was it to hurt my son? Was it? You admit it! You tell me you did it to hurt my Brendan!"

"I did it to hurt your Brendan," Kevin said. He had to. He had no choice.

And with a small contented smirk, Seamus pulled Kevin's head off. And Kevin knew no more.

Brendan violently kicked open the front door in front of him, beyond which he was sure that he would find Amy Barnes. The door flew aside and smashed into the wall, causing wood to splinter across the hall. Brendan stepped into the house, ignoring the exacerbated look Walker was giving him.

"Really?" said Walker, raising an eyebrow.

"What else did you expect me to do, Walker, knock?" asked Brendan angrily. "Threaten to blow the house down if he didn't answer?"

"Might have been a start." Walker muttered under his breath.

"Oh, so now I'm meant to take advise from a man who couldn't even keep an eye on one small human woman. I gave you one job Walker, one job!" he turned away from the frame of the front door and grabbed a hold of Walker's jacket, slamming him into the wall. His teeth slid out, waiting for any excuse to rip the other man's throat out.

"Do you two mind?" said an angry voice.

Brendan released Walker, making sure to slam his back fiercely into the wall before he did so. He hoped the man would have a few bruises in the morning. After everything that had happened he needed to hurt someone, crush something...just let out some anger some how.

"That's the second door you've ruined, you owe me another door!" said Vinnie sourly.

Brendan stepped away from Walker and began to predatorily advance at Vinnie. "Where is she?"

"Where's who?" asked Vinnie, his expression blank.

Brendan could hear a heart beat coming from inside the house, it was definitely human. He knew he should have staked Vinnie when he had the chance.

"Amy!" answered Walker dangerously.

Vinnie's face suddenly twisted with recognition. "Amy, so that's what her name was! I thought it began with a B or something."

Walker pulled out a stake from his jacket pocket, pushing past Brendan. "I'm going to finish you vampire. If you've hurt just one hair on her angelic head."

Vinnie let out a girlish scream and dodged out the way. "Okay, okay!" he jumped behind the sofa, still letting out high pitched noises as Walker continued to advance. "She never told me her name, she just told me she was a school teacher and wanted to do all sorts of weird things to me that involved all sorts of household objects that I just knew I didn't have. So I got a little freaked out and well," Vinnie looked awkward. "I escaped. But I swear I didn't hurt her! If anything she wanted to hurt me, I mean where do you find a dog collar and lead this time of night any way?"

Brendan grabbed the back of Walker's neck and yanked him back. "He doesn't know where Amy is and we're wasting time."

Walker flushed pink. "There's a human in there." he pointed at a crate in the middle of the room.

"I can have a human in a box if I want to!" imputed Vinnie angrily.

Brendan ignored the other vampire. "It isn't Amy, I'd know her smell anywhere, the smell of Steven lingers on her. This smell is a lot more...desperate."

"Wait...Isn't Amy the mother of Ste's kids?" asked Vinnie, scratching the top of his head. "You say she's missing, right? Have either of you thought about just calling Ste?"

Brendan and Walker suddenly froze, both unable to stop the looks of surprise on their faces. Brendan pulled out his phone and began to dial the mobile number he knew almost off by heart by now.

"You haven't, have you?" Vinnie rolled his eyes. "And everyone calls me the stupid one."

Walker began to advance forward again. "You're the one who has a human trapped in a crate."

"He likes it in there! I put in a few air holes and added a few yoghurts, what's the problem?" said Vinnie angrily. "I've tidied away my toys just like my Mummy always told me too."

"You can't do that with humans." growled Walker, clenching his stake.

Vinnie looked puzzled for a moment. "Is it because I forgot to put in a spoon? Because he could always eat those yogurts with his fingers, you know?"

"In a minute I'm going to put an end to your miserable life." growled Walker.

Vinnie childishly stamped his foot. "I brought him home and he was proper boring, okay? He wouldn't leave and kept wanting me to cuddle him, so what else was I supposed to do with him? There's only so many times you can listen to him sobbing about some bloke called Ste. Even mind control didn't make him any less wet!" cried Vinnie.

Walker swept forward and yanked the lid off the crate, as he looked inside he noticed a pale brunette man. The man looked at him disorientated, his blue eyes confused and a mouth covered in yoghurt. It actually seemed like he had been quite enjoying his time in the box.

Vinnie perched next to him and patted the human as normal people would pat a dog. "He said his name is Doug, I mean he's a bit wet...but I can still keep him, right?"