This chapter is probably my favorite by far... I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

His name was John. He was eleven. He was homeless, confused and scared to death. He was a victim of the system that was supposed to be there to protect him but instead left him in a bad situation with his abusive step father after his mother overdosed on prescription medication. He was a runaway and he spent his time wandering the streets of Santa Carla, stealing what he could to get by and getting most of his meals out of the trash.

In a way, David really was doing him a favor. The streets of Santa Carla were dangerous enough for adults, let alone young kids who could hardly defend themselves. David was protection where John had none. He was the boy's savior in a way.

The problem, for me anyway, arose when David decided to turn the boy.

Providing the boy with shelter and protection was one thing but turning him into a vampire and forcing him to hunt and kill was another. I wasn't going to allow David to do something like that to an innocent child so with a heavy heart and sense of determination, I headed back to Santa Carla to stop him.

David was staying in the cavern at the time and John was using Marko's old bed to sleep in. John hadn't been turned yet. David was hesitating, though I didn't know why at the time. All I had seen was that he talked to John about becoming a vampire, explained what all it entailed and asked the boy if it was what he wanted, to which the child eagerly agreed. But that was just it. He was a child. He wasn't aware of the true repercussions of becoming a vampire.

When I came to the cavern that first night back, I was fully prepared for a fight with David. I had been so swept up in just getting there in time to stop him, I hadn't bothered to use my abilities to see what he was actually doing. When I arrived, I only found John in the cavern and he looked as though he already knew who I was.

"Hi..." I said softly, glancing around to see if David was there but I quickly realized he wasn't. I had keener senses now that I had become full fledged and I didn't pick up on his scent, outside of the lingering smell left from his years of residency. He wasn't home. "My name is Tawny."

"Yeah, I figured." John replied with a shrug. "David talks about you all the time."

"Oh he does, huh?" I said, forcing a smile. I stepped closer to John and took a seat on the corner of Marko's old mattress, looking to the boy curiously. "All good things I hope?"

"Yeah. Mostly." John said, shrugging again. "He mostly talks about when you guys were humans, how you used to be best friends. He said you're mad at him now though. Are you still mad?"

I thought about John's question seriously. Was I really mad at David? True, he had forced something upon me that I didn't want but I wasn't sure if it was anger that I felt. For some reason, my mind couldn't come up with an answer so I just chose the easiest response. "No. Not anymore."

"That's good." John replied, smiling up at me. He was such a sweet, innocent boy. I really hated the thought of anything changing that. "Does that mean you'll be friends with David again? He's a cool guy. He takes care of me way better than my step-dad did. And he told me that pretty soon, if everything goes right, he's gonna-"

"John, sweetheart, I need you to come with me." I said, cutting the boy off before he could tell me what I assumed I already knew. I needed him to leave with me. I had to get him away from David and I had to do whatever it took to do so. So I lied. "It looks like things aren't going according to plan for David. That's why I'm here. You have to come with me now so I can look after you while he works at getting everything in order. Okay?"

John looked at me then and it was almost as though he knew I was lying but he didn't want to say it out loud. "What does David have to do exactly? And why didn't he tell me?"

"John, the longer you get to know David, the more you'll realize he has a hard time telling people the important things." I said. This wasn't a lie, at least, not to me. David was the worst at talking about the things that truly mattered.

John seemed to buy my excuse because he let out a sigh and slumped down in disappointment. "Alright. But you better be as fun as David is."

"Well, I can't make any promises." I replied with a smile, nudging him lightly as he joined my side. "But I'll try." I draped my arm over his shoulders and led him out of the cavern that night for the first time but it wouldn't be the last.

That night was only the first of many in a vicious game of tug of war that David and I would begin to play. We were constantly battling each other, sneaking John away from one another and trying our best to keep him oblivious, but I think he really knew deep down what was going on the entire time.

My mother's home had been abandoned for some time. Max had done a good job of hiding her body; she was considered missing and never determined to be deceased so instead of the assets being turned over to the state, they were technically in my name until my mother's death could be confirmed. Of course I had left it all to rot but now I had nowhere else to go. I couldn't take John back to Florence with me. My grandparents were clueless in all this mess and I preferred to keep them that way. That meant we had to stay in Santa Carla and my old home was the only place available to me.

John lived there with me for the first few weeks and he was actually a very helpful boy. While I slept my days away, he was bugging the fishermen for blood. Fish blood. In all honesty, it was the most unpleasant thing I'd ever tasted but it was easy to come by and it helped sustain me.

He found it fascinating that despite being a full fledged vampire, I didn't want to kill anyone. It was in such contrast from what he had seen of David but I made sure to remind him that I was very different from David and that killing wasn't a necessity as long as there was some kind of steady supply.

But despite his kind and helpful nature, John was discontent. He often complained that David used to take him to the boardwalk and let him ride whatever he wanted. I found it hard to allow that because I knew David was looking for him but after days and weeks of begging and pleading, I finally relented.

I took him to the boardwalk and I tried my hardest to use my powers as an all-seer to find out where David was but I needed complete concentration and it was hard to focus with all that was going on around me. The night seemed to go fairly smoothly, but of course, I was bound to get caught eventually.

"Tawny!" I heard that oh so familiar voice calling to me, but it didn't sound happy in the slightest. I kept walking, placing my arm around John to lead him away in hopes that he hadn't heard but it was useless. David was quicker than he'd ever been and he was in front of us before I could blink. "Well, well you two. Long time no see. Johnny, where the hell you been, kiddo?" He said this to John with a smile, though his glare was fixated on mine.

"It's okay, David." I said, pulling John closer against me. "He knows all about those plans you have to finish. I don't mind watching him for a while longer."

"Well, I'm almost finished with those plans." David said, his smile faltering as he glanced up at the Giant Dipper. He dug into his back pocket and fished out a handful of ride tickets. "Tell ya what, kiddo... why don't you go ride the coaster? Tawny and I need to discuss some things."

John glanced up at me then with questioning eyes since I had told him he needed to stay by my side at all times but I patted his back and forced a smile. "It's okay. Go ahead. We'll be right here when you get off. The both of us." I then watched as he accepted the crumpled up ride tickets from David's hand and hurried off, my gaze never leaving him until he disappeared from sight.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Tawn?" David asked, and there was a playful nature in his voice but I knew that was only because we were in public and there were ears all around. Underneath that, it was dark and infuriated.

I turned my gaze to David and stared hard at him, crossing my arms over my chest. "If you think for an instant that I'm going to let you turn that sweet little boy into a killer-"

"You don't even know what you're talking about, Tawny." David said, his smile and pleasant demeanor deteriorating to an angry scowl. "There's shit going on here that you couldn't possibly understand. You need to back off. And what the fuck are you doing here anyway? Did you finally come back to kill me and rid yourself of your ailment?"

I froze then, unsure what to say. I averted my gaze and pulled my arms more snugly across my chest. "No. Killing you now would do me no good."

I could see his face out of my peripheral vision, his eyebrow cocking in interest at my words. "You did it? You fed?"

"I didn't mean to." I whispered, my gaze snapping back to his. "It was an accident, and I haven't done it since! I've found other ways."

He was smiling then and his smile seemed genuine. "Tawny, that's great-"

"If you think I came back to join you David, you can wipe that smirk off your face. It's not happening." I said quickly. "I came back for John. To protect him from you."

I watched David's face get angry all over again but it soon subsided to a look of confusion. "Wait, you came back for the kid? How'd you even know about him?"

"I can see you, David." I replied. I was unaware at the time that my powers were fairly rare in the vampire world so when David acted as though he had no idea what I meant, my frustration grew. "You know, concentrating really hard on thinking about a person so you can see what they're doing no matter where they are. You're the only person I can see for some reason though, so don't get too flattered."

"You're an all-seer." David said, the look of realization taking over his face. "Just like Max."

"A what?" I asked with a scoff, irritable at being compared to Max in any way.

"It's... not important." David said with a half chuckle. "Listen, Tawny, about the kid-"

"Save it, David." I said, shaking my head. "I don't care how lonely you are and I really don't care how justified you think it is, you are not turning John. I won't stand for it."

"Is that so?" David replied, the amusement on his face falling away once again to reveal a look of irritation. "Well, if there's one thing I won't stand for, it's you getting in my way. Don't oppose me, Tawny. It's not wise."

"The only thing unwise is you threatening me, David." I placed my hands on my hips and looked up at him furiously. "I can't stand who you've become. I used to think that you'd be one of the good ones but after all this time it turns out that you're just like Max."

David reached out then with lightening quick speed and grabbed my wrists, pulling me close against him as he pressed his mouth to my ear. His next words sent chills down my spine. "I'm not threatening you, Tawny. I'm warning you. This is not a game you want to play with me. Quit now while you're ahead because if you continue to fuck with me I'll be more than happy to show you just how muck like Max I really am."

He released me then and I took a step back, staring at him in disbelief. He was certainly a different man from the one he used to be. David had never threatened me before and I didn't know what to make of it. I didn't get any time to retort. John was returning from the roller coaster and that meant the niceties had to return.

David placed an arm around John and stared at me with a devious smirk. "Anyhow, as I was telling you, I'm pretty much done with everything I needed so I'll be taking John back home with me now. Thanks again for taking such good care of him."

I looked from David to John, panic filling me. I didn't want to let him go but fighting with David didn't seem like an option. He was more powerful than me, I knew that. I also knew that we couldn't have it out in front of John. If the boy realized I'd been lying to him, it wouldn't matter if I won or not. I'd lose his trust so I resolved to just let him go. "Alright." I said with a nod before pulling John into a hug. "But you be sure to come visit me every once in a while okay?"

John nodded happily. "Sure thing! I still gotta take care of your fish blood supply."

David snickered and rolled his eyes at the fish blood comment but his condescension was short lived. I quickly dove against his chest and wrapped my arms around his neck. To John and other passersby, it appeared as though I was giving David a long overdue hug but that was the furthest from reality. I pressed my mouth against his ear much like he had done to me earlier and kept my voice at a whisper. "I swear to god, David, if you turn that child I will spend every waking moment of the rest of my life trying to end you. Do not do it."

As I released my hold on David, I could hear him let out a chuckle and in my mind I could hear his voice. "I'd love to see you try, sweetheart." He pulled away and grasped John's shoulder, leading the boy away from me. "See ya around, Tawny."

And he definitely would be seeing me around. We were continually snatching John back and forth from each other and we always had to play nice about it, though David was often snarkier than he should have been, especially in my head where he could say whatever he wanted to me without John hearing. Still, he could have been worse to me. He could've killed me if he really wanted to.

But everything changed once again during one of the occasions that I had John in my custody. It was his twelfth birthday and when I asked him what he wished for, his answer was a surprise. All John wanted was to be a healthy little boy.

As it turned out, John was sick. Really sick. He'd contracted a disease that was still pretty new to the world at the time; AIDS. When he was a lot younger, he was involved in the car crash that took his father's life. He was seriously injured and had lost a lot of blood. He had endured several blood transfusions and ended up contracting the virus that the world only knew as a death sentence. John, unless a cure was found, was going to die a very young death. My heart broke in that instant and I had no idea what to do so I did the only thing I could do.

I went to David.

David had known all along about John's disease and he scolded me like a child when I mentioned it to him. He told me that if I hadn't been so quick to anger and threaten, I would have known about John's ailment sooner. He was right. I was the one who had messed up.

Now John's health was fleeting. He was starting to get weaker and I knew there was a good chance that he might not live to see his thirteenth birthday. After a long discussion with David about what needed to be done, he convinced me that the obvious answer was simply to turn John. No disease could kill the boy if he was immortal.

So David, John and I sat down and talked everything out and when it was all said and done, David turned John with a cupful of vampire blood. Of course, there was still the matter of John needing to make his first kill and accepting the fact that he was to remain a child forever, but those were things I tried not to dwell on.

And, for a while, that was the end of the squabbling between David and I. I still stayed separate from him but I did join him and John on occasion for a few outings before I decided to go back to Florence and put as much distance between myself and the past as I could.