A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome back to the first update of this story in this newest year that we have found ourselves in! I hope that the year has started off well for you all and I have found myself very busy creating updates for stories that need to be finished quite soon. This isn't one that needs to be finished soon-soon, but it's on the list to be finished in the next couple of months. Until then, please enjoy this little update! Thanks!

OOOOOOOOO

Iona's eyes watched Dwayne's face as her words sunk in. His dark eyes darkened, but he remained silent for several moments. She half-expected him to smile and joke about how she must have hit her head on something. It was crazy talk to call someone a vampire because vampires weren't supposed to exist. Yet, she had seen proof of vampires and she knew that they existed and she knew that the guy she was becoming interested in was one of those dark creatures.

And all of his friends must be vampires too, Iona realized, playing with the drawstring of her bag and hearing the money clink together. The redhead and the blondes…the little boy…

"I wasn't going to tell you," Dwayne said softly, once his voice was found again. "Not until I knew that I could. My sire…he's the one that makes the rules and for you to find out what I was – what I am – would only give you a few options if he knew that you knew."

"Death or joining you in the life of the undead," Iona whispered, looking at him once more. "Those are the only options that I have now, right?"

"You could run," Dwayne told her in a heavy voice. "You could get your things together in the morning and leave town for good. No one would be able to track you down if you leave during the daylight hours. You'd be safe."

Iona shook her head. "I would still be around vampires no matter where I went. They just wouldn't know that I knew about them being creatures of the night. It'd be no different." She sighed and looked down at her hands again. "I couldn't leave town anyway. My grandmother lives here and I can't let her live alone. My mother is buried in the local cemetery and most of my family is there too. I can't leave them."

"The dead don't care if you leave town. As long as you honor their memory and think about them –"

"I don't have the money to leave town." She showed him the bag of money that she had held onto during the entire scuffle. "This money, it has to get my cousin and his guardian out of here while they can. I don't want to steal this money from them. Roma needs to get away from here since so many vampires are starting to take root here. I can sense them…Roma can't fight them off like I can since he's crippled. He needs to leave long before I do if he's ever going to have a chance at a life."

Dwayne looked around them. "What if I could get you the money to leave safely?"

"I wouldn't take it," Iona told him. "This is my home and I'm not getting scared away from it because your secret has been revealed."

The gypsy girl climbed to her feet and dusted the back of her dress off. The jagged tear in the skirt made her heart ache – the dress had been an heirloom from her mother. Nothing could be done to fix it, she knew, but maybe her grandmother would try her hardest to do so. Too many memories had been made and woven into that silken fabric.

"You should be scared of what this means," Dwayne said, rising to his feet too. "I can only do so much to protect you from –"

"Dwayne, I never asked for your protection," Iona reminded him, crossing her arms as she looked up at him. "I'm grateful for what you've done, but I have to focus on getting my cousin and his guardian out of town before I can fret about this. Okay? Let me get my cousin out of harm's way before you try to scare me off." She bumped her elbow against his as she walked past him. "And I don't scare easily."

Iona could feel Dwayne following her up the beach in the direction of the boardwalk rather than hearing his footsteps. She pushed her hair back over her shoulder and stepped into the warm glow of the boardwalk's lights. Her body relaxed as the familiar sights and smells came rushing back towards her, enveloping her in a tight hug.

"Does your cousin know about vampires?" Dwayne asked quietly, joining her side. "His guardian?"

Iona shook her head. "They don't know anything about vampires actually existing. All they know is that a lot of shady creeps are popping up here, bringing crime with them. Roma already has a hard enough time dealing with the locals. These creeps are relentless when they find him alone. The sooner he's gone, the easier Grandmother and I will breathe."

"Your grandmother –?"

Dwayne didn't need to finish his question. Iona already knew what he was suggesting. She gripped her arm above the elbow and sighed.

"Grandmother knows and she's known for most of her life," Iona admitted. "She's not scared and she's already sworn that she won't be pushed around by vampires. This is her home more than it's theirs." Her gaze softened as she looked at Dwayne. "Grandmother is harmless, for the most part. She only told me about vampires when I asked her about the numerous missing people on the wall at the front of the boardwalk. She hasn't breathed a word about it since then. Not that anyone would believe her. And I know that she won't go around the town and tell everyone."

Dwayne was silent, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket. Iona looked ahead of her again, not knowing what else to say. She'd never really talked like this with anyone before. It was like she was trying to negotiate peace terms that she had no wisdom in gaining. She knew her grandmother could have done a better job – it was her life that was affected by vampires too. Grandmother Ruby would have done a better job at talking with Dwayne.

"Iona!" Roma's voice met her ears as she made it into the games section of the boardwalk.

Iona saw him break away from the small group that had gathered at Gage's booth and he launched himself into her arms. The gypsy girl hugged him tightly, feeling the eyes of everyone on her.

"Are you okay?" Roma asked, pulling back and readjusting his stance on his crutches. "Did that guy –?"

Iona shook her head and forced a smile. "I'm okay. He never got to do anything to me. Thanks to Dwayne."

OOOOOOOOO

Dwayne stood behind Iona, not talking to anyone. Faith was standing off to the side with David, tossing a ball into the air before catching it repeatedly. Laddie stood there too, playing on a handheld video game, clueless to what was going on around them. The owner of the game booth, most likely the boy's guardian, was watching the scene with hard eyes and had his arms crossed over his broad chest, just below the heavy crucifix that he wore around his throat.

"Dwayne?" Roma said, bringing Dwayne's attention onto the young gypsy boy. "Thanks for looking after my cousin. We owe you one."

"You don't owe me anything," Dwayne said slowly.

David rolled his eyes and snatched Faith's ball out of the air. He threw it towards the tower of cans that needed to be knocked down and managed to knock them all down. Automatically, the game booth owner moved towards the prizes, handing the stuffed animal to the white-blond leader of the Lost Boys. David held it just out of Faith's reach until she punched him in the stomach with a small laugh.

"Dwayne," Faith said, holding the stuffed animal to her chest. "The boys and I are going to go have some fun. You make sure that everything's fine here and we'll see you by curfew."
"Don't be late," David warned, clapping his hand on his brother's shoulder. "We'll do damage control for you," he added in a whisper that the humans around them couldn't hear. "Come on, Laddie. We'll get you some ice cream."

The little half-vampire looked up and took hold of one of Faith's hands. "Double chocolate this time? With sprinkles."

"Sure," Faith said, leading them away.

"You need to stop spoiling the kid," David muttered, draping his arm around her shoulders.

Dwayne watched his family walk away until they had disappeared into the crowd of tourists. Iona muttered something about changing her clothes and headed into the darkened backroom of the booth. Dwayne could feel the game booth's owner glaring at him as he closed up the booth earlier than some of his counterparts.

"You saved my friend," the booth man said, bagging the balls that he used in his game. "From a very bad man. I thank you for that. Iona, no doubt would have been hurt severely if you had not saved her from that bastard."

Dwayne's undead heart clenched painfully as he thought about what could have happened if he had been a minute or two later than he had been. He tasted a heavy bitter taste in his mouth and had to swallow it down.

"Anyone would have done the same thing," Dwayne muttered, even though he knew that most people in the area wouldn't have even looked twice in Iona's direction when she was in trouble. He looked away from the man and frowned. "I would never let someone like that lay a hand on her."

The man shook his head. "I ask that you keep an eye on her when I'm no longer around, boy. Roma and I are going to be leaving town soon – maybe in a couple days – and that will leave Iona alone. I need you to be her guardian when I'm gone. There are too many shady characters coming into town and they won't hesitate to harass a young woman like her. You saw what happened with the bastard who fathered her. I can't go away, knowing that she's exposed to scum like that."

Dwayne's eyes turned onto the man once more and tried to see into the man's head, but that had never been his forte. If the man knew about vampires, he didn't show any of the signs of his knowledge. Dwayne hoped for Iona's and Roma's sake that the man didn't know about vampires existing in reality.

"I'll keep an eye on her," Dwayne swore. For as long as I can, he thought.

"Good." The man turned when Iona reappeared at his side, bag in hand.

"I'm going to let you count the money tonight," Iona said, handing her bag over to the game booth man. "I didn't get as much as usual because of what happened, but it should help some." Her gaze flittered briefly towards Dwayne. "And don't you dare offer money to us, Dwayne. We're doing okay on our own and he –" she gestured at the booth owner "– has too much pride to take money that he hasn't earned."

The man nodded and took the bag from Iona. He leaned close to her and whispered something in her ear that Dwayne couldn't understand. The gypsy girl glanced at the booth man and nodded, smiling a little bit.

"See that you and Roma make it home in one piece," she said, bowing her head in acknowledgement to the boy who had suddenly reappeared from the nearest restroom. "Tell Grandmother that I will be out late again, okay? I'll see you in the morning."

Dwayne watched her hook her arm around the cripple's neck and place a kiss on the boy's temple. A small burst of jealousy bloomed in his stomach as he watched how tender she was with the boy. He had to suppress the thoughts of what it would be like to kiss her before his brothers could get hold of them and make fun of him for hours on end.

"Dwayne," Iona said, breaking him out of his train of thought. "Would you like to go out and catch a bite to eat? We could go on the rides afterwards, if you want. I'll pay."

The vampire was slightly taken aback by how calm the girl seemed and how she wasn't turning him away. She jumped over the counter of the booth and joined his side, hooking her arm around his. For a moment, Dwayne thought that maybe the gypsy girl had taken a few hits on a joint while she was back in the confines of the booth, but he couldn't smell it on her.

"See you later, Gage, Roma," she said, smiling.

Dwayne allowed himself to be steered away from the carnival game section of the boardwalk without putting up any resistance. His confusion had made him more malleable than he normally would have been with anyone except for Faith.

"Okay, what's going on?" he demanded quietly as they headed for a concession stand. "Why are you acting so…"

"Calm? I don't know. Maybe because vampires love the scent of adrenaline coursing through the veins of their prey," Iona muttered back in a low voice. "And I know that you won't hurt me, even if I know your secret. Maybe your sire doesn't know about me knowing yet. Why give him a clue?"

But he does know, Dwayne thought, glancing back in the vague direction of Max's Videos. And that puts you in grave danger.

Dwayne slid his arm free from Iona's grip and instead caught one of her hands tightly in his own. "If we're going to eat, we're going to eat proper food," he announced, pulling her towards the front of the boardwalk.

"Like a date?"

"Maybe. You could call it that, if you want."

Dwayne didn't miss the smile that stretched across the gypsy girl's face as he pulled her to his motorcycle. And he hoped that he never would have to miss that smile again.

I will protect her.

OOOOOOOOO

A/N: So, this chapter update is over and you've read through it. What do you think? I know that this is going to reach about fifteen chapters, if I'm lucky, and there's so much that still needs to be done. The fate of several characters is dangling by a thread and we'll have to see which one gets cut first. Please leave a comment in the review box. Thanks everyone! –Scarlet