 
# Stake You

## Stake You #1

## Claire Farrell

# Contents

Introduction

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Books by Claire Farrell:

# Introduction

Stake You

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By Claire Farrell

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Devlin O'Mara has spent a long time cultivating her reputation as a scary bitch, and nothing's going to change that. Not cheating boyfriends, annoying ex-crushes, or even a cheesy new kid who looks like he could have walked straight out of a young adult novel.

But life takes odd turns, and eerie events coupled with a stalking classmate threaten to send Dev's walls crumbling down around her, finally forcing her to face the true horror of her past.

Joining forces with an enemy is the only way to get to the heart of an enigmatic boy's true intentions and protect everyone in her life from a being who couldn't possibly exist.
**Copyright © Claire Farrell**

**clairefarrellauthor@gmail.com**

_Cover Images supplied by:_

Chesterf @ Dreamstime.com

Alen-D @ Dreamstime.com

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**Licence Notes**

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All Rights Reserved.

# Prologue

She struggles a little as she weakens, as the life flows away from her, as he consumes her entirely. One last ditch grasp at survival. That time has long passed. He couldn't stop himself even if he wanted to.

The blood isn't the best part anymore. It's a means to an end. A way to taste his addiction one more time. Fear, pain, terror—it can be a powerful seasoning. Her tainted memories are as sweet as his decaying recollection of honey on his tongue. Sweet, but not intoxicating. Not the best he's ever had.

He didn't take enough time when he chose her, he realises too late. His evolving desires beat his control again. Not enough time did he take to savour the pain and hurt inside her. Not nearly long enough to provoke those traumatic memories of the past that would transform her mental anguish to nectar as he took her to the next life. It's taking more of an effort to satisfy him now. More of an effort to quell the urges as the years go on.

But that beautiful look of betrayal on her face remains vibrant and complete until the light in her eyes dies. She thought he loved her, thought his saccharine words to be true. She believed everything he made her believe, and she never saw what he really was, not until the very end. Not until he allowed her to remember the things she had done under his control. Not until he forced her to accept the truth. But by then it was far too late for her to escape. By then her painful memories had been so overwhelming, she had longed for death to free her.

And that makes her demise all the more delicious.

Some have lust; he has the power of a lie. He's one who enjoys the dark patches on their souls. The sins begotten; the stains on their innocence. He swims in their mental agony before the ultimate torture begins.

The truth of immortality had weighed heavily upon his shoulders before he found his calling. Now his eternal youth simplifies his passion, makes it easier to prey on unsuspecting young girls. Weak ones. Vulnerable ones. They're all his for the taking.

But now he's ended a life, it is time to move on. He's used to moving, used to picking the right mark. She is that lone, perfectly-broken girl who will fulfil his needs, quench his cravings and desires. At least for a time.

The newest forms of popular media have made it oh, so easy for him to fit in as an enigmatic teenage boy. He's the oldest thing he knows, apart from the she-devil who created him. And she appeared younger than he. Coy, she had been, before she revealed the truth of her monstrousness. Shy, she had been, before she sank her fangs into his flesh and tore his life away. And the kind, innocent boy he had once been was lost forever to the hunger.

But those days are long gone, and he's forgotten the things that once made him human. Now he is a far worse monster than his bloodthirsty creator, although he sees her in every life he takes. She would be proud if she wasn't so terrified of him.

With a weary sigh, he acknowledges that this particular mark hasn't been enough to satisfy him, but he'll be sure to make the most of the next one. The next one he'll torment until her pain is almost too much for him to bear. The next one will be perfection.

# Chapter 1

It was close to 3am by the time I made it home from work. Only the blaring of the television overshadowed the snores coming from the sofa. The neighbours would probably complain again. I turned off the telly and gazed at my mother, waiting to see if she would wake. She didn't, not even when I brushed her grey-speckled fringe out of her eyes. I covered her with a blanket, set the timer on the heating so I could shower early in the morning, and headed straight into my room to fall into bed, ignoring the state of the kitchen. Cleaning up her mess would have to wait. My feet ached too much to do anything but lay down.

My makeup could stay on and give me spots for all I cared; work had been crazy, and I was worn out. An unpredictably busy Thursday in the bar with a predictably sleazy bartender who slapped my arse every time the manager wasn't looking wasn't exactly a recipe for a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed version of me.

Despite my exhaustion, I didn't fall asleep for an hour. Too many calculations in my head. What loan could I chip away at with my tips? What bill would be cleared for another month with my wage? Eventually, I dozed off, but three hours sleep just didn't cut it anymore.

Back up at seven, with a fuzzy head and a mouth tasting like sour milk, I jumped into the shower before facing the mess and the prospect of another day at school. I savoured the hot water for about thirty seconds before it went ice cold.

"Mam!" I screamed, knowing I wouldn't get a reply. I showered as quickly as humanly possible, cursing the thickness of my hair under the icy blast of water. After my shower, I got ready quickly, deciding my mop of a hairstyle could air dry, and headed into the sitting room.

Still snoring on the sofa, Mam lay there with her mouth wide open, a particularly unladylike glob of drool glistening on her chin. I checked the kitchen taps, finding the hot one running. As freaking always.

"Unbelievable," I muttered, deciding breakfast was a no-go when I saw what was actually in the sink. I didn't know what the hell she had been trying to make, but the way globs of black, congealed... _mess_ had stuck to every single pot and pan we owned, we were obviously lucky she hadn't set the house on fire.

I threw my hair up into a messy bun, grabbed my bag, and kissed Mam on the forehead before I left, but she didn't stir. Not that I expected her to. I had already spotted the empty bottle in the bin. She would be out until late afternoon, if I was lucky. Less time for her to try and cook.

But as I prepared to close the door behind me, a softly spoken voice made me turn back.

"Dev?"

"Need something, Mam?"

"No, I... I made a mess, Devlin."

"It's fine. I'll sort it out after school."

"You're a great girl."

"Go back to sleep," I said softly, leaning over to brush her fringe out of her eyes again. She ran the back of her hand across her chin to wipe away the drool. She gave me a rare childlike smile before conking back out again, and all of the grumpy morning anger I felt toward her dissipated. I could never stay mad at her. I loved her too fiercely.

I walked to school to save the bus fare for an energy drink and a breakfast bar. If I was going to skip lunch, I needed something to keep me going throughout the day. The late shifts in the bar were worth it for the tips, but they had led to an unholy addiction to energy drinks just to keep my eyes open in class.

I was one of the first into school, but I planned it that way. I had learned the hard way that the only time I could get any homework done was in school before anyone else turned up. Sitting in front of my locker, I made the most of the peace and quiet and scrambled to get as much done as possible. All of the classrooms were still locked, and a couple of bemused teachers nodded at me as they passed me by on their way to the staffroom.

As usual, the only other early bird in student form showed up and stared at me as he made the maximum amount of noise for the minimum amount of reason while opening his locker.

"Seriously, Base. Are you doing that on purpose?" I snapped, still trying to make sense of the equation blurring on the page in front of me.

"I get to open my locker, okay? You don't own everything."

I stared up at him, so _not_ in the mood for an attitude. He held my gaze for a couple of seconds, and I got lost in his dark brown eyes. Clearing my throat, I looked back at my homework, but then he went and slammed his locker shut louder than I thought possible. I threw my book to the floor and jumped to my feet. "Are you freaking kidding me?"

"Oh, shut up, Queen Bitch. I'm moving along now." He slung his bag over his shoulder and headed away, but I couldn't resist throwing my pen at his head.

He turned around, his palm rubbing the back of his head while an irritatingly adorable grin lit up his face. "Ouchy," he said mockingly.

"Get lost, _Brian_!"

I sat back down to finish off my homework, but it was no use. Anger made it hard to think, and of everyone in the world, Brian Gilligan, aka Base, was the one person who pushed my buttons just by existing.

I ended up sitting there, fuming, until my friends arrived. Shauna pursed her lips as she studied the frizzy wisps of hair floating freely from my damp bun, but she didn't say a word. She checked out her own perfectly straight, glossy red hair in a compact mirror before ignoring the rest of us to text rapidly on her phone.

Maisy sat on the floor next to me while the boys got their books out of their lockers.

"Early again," she said, rubbing the dents on either side of the bridge of her nose.

"Contacts again," I teased, and she shrugged.

"Shauna's strict instructions." She rolled her eyes in Shauna's direction.

"Next you'll be losing these." I tugged at her light brown curls.

She grinned. "Funny you should say that..."

"I can hear you," Shauna muttered.

"Yeah, yeah," Maisy said. "Ugh, how can you sit on this floor, Dev? My backside is killing me. Let's get our seats before I go completely numb."

The classrooms had been opened with five minutes to spare so we strolled into our first class together, me glaring at Base who pretended not to notice.

My kinda sorta boyfriend, Deco, tried to kiss me as he sat next to me, but I turned so his lips landed on my cheek. I wasn't into public displays of affection, not that I was into private ones very much either. Kissing was overrated.

Shrugging, Deco settled for wrapping his arm around my shoulder. I let him because I noticed Base watching. Not that he would care. Not that I cared if he would care. Not that... Seriously, what was _wrong_ with me?

"Coming to the party tonight?" Shauna asked me, checking out her eyeliner in the mirror she carried everywhere with her.

"Nah, busy," I said as nonchalantly as possible.

"Oh, come on," she said, pouting. "It's Bobby's eighteenth. It'll be fun."

"I barely know Bobby. Besides, I've got stuff to do." Like a job. But I didn't need anyone knowing all of my business. So I acted as though the party would be boring instead.

"Yeah, maybe I won't go either," Shauna said after a minute. Baa.

By the time I realised I was supposed to hand in a non-existent English essay during first class, it was too late to come up with an effort, so I bluffed.

"Well, where is it?" Ms. Jackson asked, her forehead creasing into a frown.

"Wasn't in the mood," I said. My friends all chuckled around me, but inside I was panicking. I hated not finishing something, hated giving anyone an excuse to gape at me, all of them waiting to see what I would say or do next.

"Got a staring problem?" I snapped at the blonde sitting next to Base. Her doe eyes hadn't left my face, and I had to transfer the attention to someone else. She snapped her head back around, her cheeks flushing red. My conscience bit at me, but I had to stay on top of the food chain. I had to be the strongest one.

"Get a grip," Base said, his eyes hot with fury.

I hadn't realised he was going out with Aoife, although they had spent a lot of time with each other over the last couple of years.

"Mind your own business, you idiot."

"Now, now. That's enough. _Everyone_. Eyes on your books. And you, Little Miss I Don't Care, have that essay on my desk first thing Monday."

That might be a problem. I had full shifts all weekend. In fact, I didn't know why my friends called themselves my friends when they rarely saw me outside of school.

As we left the classroom after the bell rang, Deco shouldered Base, who bristled but backed down when Aoife laid her hand on his arm.

"What did you do that for?" I murmured as we walked away.

Deco glanced back at Base. "Because he was bothering you," he said in an overly loud voice.

"I can fight my own battles." I managed to sound a lot more irritated than I felt, and Deco frowned back at me, apparently incapable of understanding anything I had to say.

"I have to take care of you," he said after a couple of seconds.

"No. You really don't. I get it. You don't like Base. Or maybe your pride is hurt if anyone has the balls to answer me back or something. But don't make out like I need saving. I can take care of myself. Okay?"

I linked Maisy's arm and stalked away from Deco before I said something I regretted. Or maybe something I wouldn't.

"Paradise not so trouble-free after all?" Maisy asked.

"I'm not a child. Not his property either. I don't need anyone else getting involved in the crap I start."

She grinned at me, her eyes seeming to sparkle. "You feel _ba_ -ad," she said in a sing-song voice.

I was about to tell her to shut up when Shauna broke through our arms and linked both of us.

"That was mean," she said. "I think you hurt his feelings."

"Whose feelings?" I demanded.

"Deco's? _Obviously_." She frowned at me.

"Oh. Wait, what are you, my conscience? He'll get over it. He always does."

But I didn't like the look on her face when I said it.

I struggled to stay awake throughout the day. I had to run to the bathroom between classes to splash my face with water. My life, the way we were living, wasn't working out so well. We couldn't survive on disability benefits. Well, _I_ could have, but my mother either let pathetic excuses for men take her money or squandered it on drink and junk whenever she was feeling low.

The heady days of a new relationship were high on the drama, but alone, she lost the will to survive, and that was something I was determined would never happen to me. She was the weak one; _I_ had to be strong. And that was partly why Deco bothered me when he behaved as though I were some child who needed their hand held. I couldn't let anyone take away my strength.

Besides, I was too busy working hard to be weak. I had to be the one to pick up the slack, to make a dent in the debt that just kept climbing higher no matter how much I money I put into wiping the slate clean. Going to school was kind of pointless considering I would end up taking my part-time job into full-time, and leaving school would have made more immediate financial sense, but some part of me refused to give up.

Aoife walked in as I dried my face. And immediately backed up out of there. That hit me hard. All I wanted was to keep people at arm's length. I didn't want anyone to fear me. I had seen fear. I had felt fear. That wasn't what I wanted for anyone.

So I followed her, calling her name and hoping nobody would see.

"Aoife, wait a second."

Reluctantly, she turned around, and I made a show of re-pinning my dark hair off my face to stall for time. I wasn't used to apologising.

"Listen. I'm, well, I'm sorry about snapping before. You don't have to run out of the bathroom because I'm in there, okay?"

A pink flush spread from her neck, up past her cheeks, and across her ears. "It's okay," she said shakily, fidgeting as though she were about to spring into flight.

"It's not. Don't listen to me when I'm tired, all right?" I smiled, and she automatically smiled back, her entire face brightening. "Well, see you."

I turned around to get to class, feeling as though a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, but I practically bounced off Base who had been standing way too close.

"What are you doing, stalking me?" I pushed him out of my way, making sure to wink back at Aoife, leaving Base stuttering in confusion.

"Hey, babe. He giving you trouble again?" Deco appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and grabbed my hand to lead me away from Base.

I shrugged him off. "We _just_ talked about that, Declan. And don't call me babe. Wait, where are you taking me?"

"Outside to have my way with you," he said, grinning. "Just kidding, Dev. The word is there's a fire drill scheduled in a couple of minutes. Wanna beat the traffic?"

Shrugging, I followed him. Anything that kept me out of one more soul destroying class was fine by me. Most of our friends were already outside, sitting on the patchy grass next to the badly maintained flowerbeds. I had to control my sigh and remind myself it was still better than class. Even if the grass was a little damp.

"Here, sit on my coat," Deco said, quite nobly, so Shauna, Maisy, and I all squeezed together on his jacket, much to his chagrin. He probably imagined him and me squeezing together instead, but I preferred to avoid his overly eager hands as much as possible.

The fire alarm sounded for the scheduled drill, and I was immediately thankful I hadn't been inside while countless chairs simultaneously screeched across the floor. Crowds of students pushed out of the school, a beating mass of people haphazardly making their way to anywhere they could find a space to sit. It wasn't exactly coordinated. Then again, not much about our school worked well.

I leaned back, not caring that my elbows rested on soggy grass, and stared up at the sky as a plane flew by. I would have given anything to be on it. Anything to have a reason to do something other than clean up vomit at home and at work. I closed my eyes and let the cool early summer breeze caress my skin. If I blocked out all of the chatter, I could imagine being somewhere peaceful. Somewhere safe.

"Oh, my _days_. Who is that?" Maisy squealed in my ear. Resisting the urge to smack her jaw for severely damaging my eardrums, I sat up and followed her gaze. Right outside the school gates was, predictably, a boy. A boy who apparently took the whole Edward Cullen thing way too far. Dressed in black, with his blond hair fashionably messy, he seemed to stare right at us, but his sunglasses covered his eyes so I couldn't tell for sure. Sadly, the sunglasses didn't cover his ridiculous duck-lipped pout.

"He. Is. Hot." Shauna said, but as I gazed at him, I couldn't see the attraction. Again. Maybe there was something wrong with me. I had never even felt goose bumps in the presence of Deco, and when we had first gotten together, Shauna had gone into great detail as to why I was so lucky he had been interested in me. He was fair-haired, sporty, blue-eyed, popular—all things that the other girls went crazy for. But not me. Of course, I wasn't exactly interested in losing my head over a boy, so maybe I was just sensible. Maybe.

Shauna and Maisy continued to chatter like birds about the apparition in the distance. And apparition was a great word for him. He was almost _translucent_ pale. Kind of weedy looking. And even at a distance I could see an incredibly annoying smirk cross his face, probably because he saw my crowd staring at him like open-mouthed goldfish. He got into a flash car across the road, revved up the engine unnecessarily, and rumbled away like the showboat he obviously was.

"What a creep," I couldn't help muttering.

Sadly, Maisy and Shauna didn't hear me because discussion over the phantom boy lasted until lunchtime. And they wondered why I rarely spent time with them outside of school.

"Who do you think he was staring at?"

Shauna giggled at Maisy's question. "Me, of course."

"It was Devlin," Deco said coldly.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, right. Who cares, anyway? He's just some rich tit checking out the poor kids' school so he can show off his new toy to make up for whatever's lacking in his life."

Maisy giggled. "Aw, don't try to put me off him. He was cute."

"You're mixing up cute and weird. Do we really need to have this talk again? Weirdos are the ones who stare at people inappropriately. I mean, look at Base," I said loudly, knowing Base was close enough to hear me and wanting to tease him to get my mind off my friends' incessant chatter about boys whose names we didn't know.

"Yeah," he said just as loudly in a pissed off voice. "Because you're so fucking awesome nobody can help, like, think you're totes amaze."

I felt my heat rise. "Still mad I turned you down?" I said cattily, instantly regretting it. I wanted to forget about that day. Forever.

Once upon a time, a girl like me moved to a different school and developed a crush on a boy like Base. Except her new best friend warned her he already knew, and he was going to make her think he liked her, too, all to win a bet between the boys about who got into the new girl's knickers first. So when he asked her out in front of everyone, she turned him down just as publicly, and they had been arch enemies ever since. The worst bit was the way she couldn't truly hate him, even when she tried.

Base was silenced, but the look in his eyes made me feel terrible. He left the lunchroom amidst cruel laughter.

"Oh, shut up, you lot," I snapped. Again. The laughter died away as everyone exchanged uncomfortable stares, but I brooded for the rest of lunch, barely noticing Aoife staring at me. I had worked hard to be this person, but sometimes, even I didn't like myself very much.

# Chapter 2

I walked home after school, saving the money for eggs this time. I picked up some milk and a couple of other things, ready to force some food into my mother before I left for work. Friday night meant she could be alone until 5am. I needed to make sure she ate first.

As I left the corner shop, I noticed a vaguely familiar car parked outside. The engine revved, and I realised it was the same flash car I had seen at school. I moved closer to the car, and the driver pulled out sharply, but I caught a glimpse of his eyes minus the sunglasses and swallowed hard. A flash of red around the irises forced me back a step, my fingers gripping the plastic shopping bag as tightly as possible.

The car flew down the road and around the corner without any regard for the stop sign. I took a couple of deep breaths, mentally shaking myself for freaking out. He was probably wearing coloured lens contacts. What a gimp.

By the time I made it home, I had already forgotten about red-eyed little boy racers. My mother was sitting on the sofa when I let myself in. She hugged a bottle of wine to her chest, tears flooding her red-rimmed eyes.

"I called him, Dev. And he wouldn't even speak to me. Called me all sorts of names. Said... said his _wife_ was there."

"You didn't." I rolled my eyes. Great. I thought I had gotten rid of all of the wine. It had always made her weepy. She was getting sneaky again, and I had grown too lax when it came to searching the house.

"What did I do _wrong_?" She hiccupped a sob.

"Mam. It's not you, okay? Not this time. He's not a good person. You know this. Stop hurting yourself over him."

"But I _loved_ him. I still do. We had so many good times together, Devlin. You didn't see. You don't know. You can't understand what it's like to lose someone you love."

And I didn't understand. I would never allow myself to love anyone. I would never be her. I would never cry over a man, never give one the power to hurt me like this. But I sat next to her, wrapped my arms around her, and gave her exactly five minutes to cry. I let her wallow in her pity party for five minutes only, and then I was back on my feet, ushering her into the shower and ignoring her sobs.

I scrubbed as much as I could in the kitchen, made her an omelette, and stood there and watched her force down a glass of water. She spluttered, eyeing me carefully, but I had to be firm. As much as I loved her, I knew full well that she could be sly when tempted to numb the pain with alcohol.

I filled a second glass and left it in front of her before looking for my uniform to get ready for work. I would send a takeaway to the house around midnight, and that should keep her going until the morning. Or afternoon, depending on when she woke up.

But the clean laundry basket was full of puke. Right on top of my uniform.

"Shit!"

I scrambled around my room, trying to find my spare, but it was probably buried under the permanent laundry mountain that existed in the living room. Taking deep, calming breaths, I rummaged through my wardrobe for my old uniform. The one that didn't fit anymore. I really hoped a non-sleazy bartender was on call at work because the stupid uniform was way too tight and managed to look school-girl provocative instead of don't-notice-me-unless-you-want-a-drink professional. Godamnit.

I pinned up my heavy load of hair and prayed it wouldn't fall down at work. I wished I could have cut it short, but the last trim had made Mam cry for days, so I wasn't going to risk it again. I couldn't bear her tears.

Making sure I covered the dark circles under my eyes with makeup, I finally finished getting ready and made to leave. But Mam clung to me, gasping and crying, begging me to stay with her, desperate not to be alone. She was afraid of the dark, of the silence, afraid of everything, but she had me to depend on, and that was infinitely better than any of her loser ex-boyfriends.

The sole decent one had been driven away by her incessant neediness, and I couldn't find it in myself to blame him. But whenever I saw him, I flipped him off because him leaving had broken us and left me in charge. His leaving had hurt me, too.

Calming my mother down took long minutes I didn't have, and eventually I had to walk out and slam the door behind me. It took everything to ignore the wail of pain coming from the house, but I needed to be strong. I needed to be the adult.

Work was too far to walk, so I had to take the bus. I tended to get a lift home from the manager or my favourite doorman, but sometimes I was stuck and needed to waste money on a taxi. If the tips weren't big then I had no choice but to walk home alone in the dark, so I carried something sharp in my purse and my keys in my hand, ready to stab a potential rapist or thief in the eye. Nobody was taking my precious tips from me.

By the time I made it into work, the place was in an uproar. "Party upstairs tonight," Tom, the doorman, warned me.

"Please say it isn't a hens."

"Worse. An eighteenth." He grinned at me, showing his gold upper tooth. "And you're stung for it."

"Fabulous. Wait a minute. Did you say an eighteenth?"

He nodded, and I moved through the bar in a daze. The party Shauna had spoken about had been an eighteenth party. Probably coincidence.

Mark, the manager, was in a fluster by the time I put my apron on. "Big crowds tonight," he said running his hands through his thick red hair. "Reservations downstairs, party upstairs, and half the doormen rang in sick. This is fucked up."

"I can deal with downstairs with Tom," I said hopefully.

"I need you upstairs. Franco's alone up there, and you're the only lounge staff on roster tonight who can count change in a hurry _and_ pull a pint if he needs it. Try to work on the floor. Keep the bar as free as possible. If they get fiesty, I'll send Tom up."

"Fine. Float, please."

He stilled, eyeing the open energy drink can in my hand.

"Should I start paying you in these? Or would raw caffeine be more efficient?"

I smacked his wrist gently. "Don't judge. Remember that kid you hired a couple of months ago? You know, the one who kept taking naps in the ladies bathroom?"

He held up his hand. "Okay, okay. I'm extremely grateful to employ the girl who never sleeps." He handed me a pile of coins and some notes. "Call down as soon as it looks like it might get out of hand. All right, Dev?"

I nodded and ran up the backstairs to start arranging the tables properly. Someone had already come in to decorate the place, but there weren't even beer mats on the tables, and I silently cursed Franco. He actually had the nerve to stand in the doorway and watch me work.

"If you aren't going to get up off your arse and help me, then get back behind the bar and make sure there are enough clean glasses to keep us going for the first bloody hour," I snapped at him.

If I were full-time I would have been ahead of Franco. He was a lazy sod who spent more time chatting up drunken female customers than he did working. He was pretty good-looking, but a total sleaze, so I couldn't understand what anyone saw in him, apart from the free drinks he insisted on doling out to anyone in a short skirt. I had caught him shagging in the ladies more often than I could count, but he could pull pints quickly when he applied himself. I couldn't wait for him to mess up so badly that Mark had to sack him, because I was next in line for his job.

A gang of giggling teenagers burst through the doors as a DJ set up in the corner of the venue room, and I felt my shoulders tense in anticipation. Then I heard it.

"Dev?"

Christ. Straightening, I caught the eye of a couple of kids from school. We weren't close friends or anything, but they knew me, and they were obviously wondering what I was doing. Working wasn't heinous; most of my classmates had part-time jobs. It was the fact I would be serving at a party I had been invited to that was embarrassing. Nobody knew much about what I did outside of school, and I liked keeping it that way. Guess that was blown out of the water.

I spent the next embarrassing hour fielding comments and questions from belligerent classmates. Turned out the party had been a bit of a big deal after all. And I could have avoided the entire fiasco if only I had been paying attention when Shauna and the rest had been chatting about it.

I managed to skip out of the event room and back into the neighbouring upstairs bar when Deco, Shauna, Maisy, and a couple of others turned up. Peeking out, I waited for Deco to stand up to go and get everyone drinks, and then I hid in the bathroom until I felt sure he was gone.

With sweat dripping down my back, I tried to cool myself down until I heard a tell-tale cackle outside the bathroom door. Maisy. I ran into a stall, unable to face them yet, and hid like a coward again.

"I can't believe Deco actually brought a date," Maisy said. "What was he thinking?"

"Yeah, well, it isn't like Dev gives a shit about him," Shauna said with a laugh.

"It isn't right," Maisy insisted.

"What does she expect to happen? If you're gonna be a frigid ice queen, your fella's eyes are gonna wander."

She sounded drunk already, but I got mad. Cheeks flaming, nostrils enlarging, ready to kill someone kind of mad. To be humiliated? To be gossiped about? And all while I was stuck wearing an embarrassingly small uniform because my usual one was covered in my alco mother's vomit? No. No freaking way.

I barged out of the bathroom, enjoying the way Shauna's face paled. Maisy covered her mouth, hiding the smile I could see in her eyes. I had a feeling she knew I was in the bathroom all along. Bitch.

"I expect to be able to trust people who call themselves my friends," I said coldly.

"Wait, Dev. I didn't mean..." Shauna fell silent under my glare.

"Whatever. I have work to do." I felt better. Stronger. Ready to face everyone at last. I was Devlin O'Mara. _Nothing_ scared me.

I brushed past a crowd of people at the bar, including a confused looking Base, and stalked the room until I saw Deco and his date. I knew her. She was in the year below us. Tiny body, big hair. Keeping them in my sights and knowing full well that the tables were silencing as I passed them, I made my way to my so-called boyfriend.

He didn't even see me. He was too busy whispering in her ear and smiling when she laughed like a hyena at his stupid jokes. I knew they were stupid. I had heard them all before.

I picked up his full pint of beer. "Can I take this?" I asked in a sweet voice before dumping it over his crotch. "Whoops."

He jumped to his feet, ready to rip into me. Then he met my wry expression, and his eyes widened in shock. Subdued giggles rippled across the room.

"Bit old for accidents," I said, still smiling. Then I cast my gaze on the trembling girl beside him. She had a deer in headlights look on her face, and I actually felt sorry for her.

"You can probably do better," I told her, and she nodded slowly.

"Dev, wait," Deco said, jumping over the table to follow me to the bar.

"Unless you want to get hauled out by a 6ft 2 ex-army bouncer, I'd get back into your seat and stay there," I snapped at him, not even looking his way. He stopped following me. More's the pity. I would have enjoyed watching Tom sling him out on his ear.

I left the party room and leaned against the wall next to the bar, struggling to catch my breath. Confrontations came easily to me; dealing with the consequences was the hard part. I should have known better than to trust anyone to be loyal to me, but I hadn't imagined my hands would shake this much when I challenged Deco.

I closed my eyes and took a couple of shaky breaths, hoping my heart would stop racing soon.

"He deserved that," said a voice close to me.

I opened my eyes to glare at Base, annoyed he had witnessed my weakness. "You would know."

He flinched, shrugged, and walked away. I gazed after him, wishing for... _something_.

"Hey, slacker. Collect some glasses, please," Franco called out to me, his forehead shiny with sweat.

Gathering myself together, I faced the crowd again, this time looking no one in the eye. The atmosphere had changed, and everyone was on edge. I felt sorry for the birthday kid; his party had pretty much died.

But as more drink was ingested by anyone who was over eighteen, as well as the younger ones with fake IDs, the tension dissipated, and when the DJ played a popular dance song, most of them were on their feet on the dance floor, leaving the tables mostly clear for me to collect glasses and wipe up spills.

Carrying two handfuls of stacked glasses, I hurried back to the bar and caught Franco trying to pass a shot to Aoife. I wouldn't have put it past him to slip something into it.

"She's under eighteen, you idiot."

He scowled at me. "Dry shite."

"Get Base to pick up your drinks from now on," I whispered to Aoife. She nodded gratefully, glad for the chance to leave. She was too nice; she needed to learn how to say no to people.

The rest of the night passed by quickly enough in a stream of sweat, slurring drunks, and arguments. I didn't need to call Tom up, but I was glad when the night was pretty much over, and he came up anyway to kick the stragglers out.

"Time to clear out, ladies and gents," his deep voice called out. Most people had already left, but a couple of persistent groups remained to sup the last of their drinks. Too many of them had ordered triples on last call. The DJ was long gone, probably downstairs having a late drink with Mark, and I was busy cleaning up the mess. The people I knew were unbelievably filthy. Aoife offered to help, but I waved her off. It was my job. And a shitty job it was, too. At least on nights like that. No tips.

"Can you get me a glass of water?" a voice behind me asked.

"Bar's closed," I said without looking, shaking out yet another black bin bag.

"Just some tap water will do. Please."

"Fine," I said, dropping the bag and turning to look at the customer. I stopped short as I saw the boy who had been outside my school. Up close, his eyes were the closest to black I had ever seen which was an odd contrast with his blond hair. His mouth was wide, his jaws almost concave, and his skin so thin that I could see lines underneath the surface, but the colour seemed odd somehow.

"You," I blurted, unable to take my eyes off him.

"Water?" he reminded me.

I rolled my eyes and went to get him a glass of water, ignoring Franco's blatant flirting with Shauna. When I handed the glass to the customer, he didn't drink it, but he handed me a fifty euro note.

"Tap water's free." I shoved the note back at him, recoiling from the coldness of his hand.

"Then keep the change," he said in a low voice, never taking his eyes from mine.

"No, thanks," I said firmly. "Water's free."

He looked surprised, but he smiled and slipped his hand into my front pocket, uncomfortably close to my crotch. I slapped his face, hiding how painful it was to hit him, and glared at him. "Don't ever touch me again."

He grinned, a devilish grin, and swept away, leaving the water on the closest table.

"What an absolute tosser," I muttered to myself. It was only when I got home that I realised the money was in my pocket.

# Chapter 3

The weekend passed by in a haze of drunken spills and a house that smelled like vomit. It wasn't always that way. We were just going through a bad patch while my mother mourned the loss of the last boyfriend. It would end soon. It always did. Then she would clean the house and cook dinner, wear bright lipstick and dye her hair a vibrant chestnut shade. She would find another loser boyfriend, and the cycle would begin again.

I worked full shifts on Saturday and Sunday, making sure to dump the unwanted fifty euro into a charity box, and by the time it was over my eyes were blurring with exhaustion. That's why I had to triple check the roster for the following week.

"Mark? You've forgotten me," I called out to the manager.

"No, I haven't." He approached me with a cloth wrapped around his bleeding finger.

"You should have let me cut them," I said reproachfully. He was too easily distracted to slice up fruit.

"Arm you with a sharp knife while you can barely keep your eyes open? And let you lose a hand? No way. Listen, I didn't put you on the roster for the next couple of days on purpose."

"Mark." I lowered my voice. "I need the pay."

"I'm sorry, Devlin, but I'm worried about you. You're exhausted. I'm not going to take advantage of your willingness to work every single shift. Go home, get some rest, and I'll see you on Thursday."

He walked off before I could protest. Great. Monday through Wednesday wasn't good for tips, but it was quiet and relaxing. Plus I really needed the pay.

"Yeah, well, good luck dealing with the noobs trying to serve half-pulled pints of Guinness," I called after him. I heard his laugh, but it didn't sway my anger. It wasn't just the money. It meant I had no excuse but to spend time with my mother while she was stuck in one of the worst parts of her break-up cycle. I couldn't exactly hang out with Deco or Shauna anymore, and I wasn't looking forward to facing them the next morning at school in any case. I wasn't in the mood to face anyone.

"Come on, moody," Tom said, drawing me out of my thoughts. "Let's head on."

"I still have lots to do," I protested.

"Yeah, but I'm under strict instructions to get you out of here. And Mark's not the only one who's worried about you, Dev."

I grumbled all the way to his car, but I was secretly relieved that I wasn't faced with all of the cleaning. As I belted up, Tom opened his shirt and rolled up his sleeves to reveal his inked neck and arms.

"Ah, that's better," he said, stretching. He started the car and pulled out of the car park. "Franco tells me that eighteenth the other night was full of your school friends. That maybe something upset you?"

"Franco has a bloody big mouth. Did he also tell you about all of the underage girls he tried to booze up?"

Tom laughed. "Ah, don't worry about him. But you should have called me or Mark up to catch him this time."

I shrugged. "Not up to me to get people sacked."

"Mark will cotton on eventually. I'll bet you anything he'll find a reason to get rid of Franco once you're available for a full-time job."

"Won't be long."

He glanced at me. "Still no plans to go to college?"

"Not for me." Didn't stop me looking at the brochures though. "Besides, I love working at the pub. It's the going to school bit that I can't stand."

He laughed. "You're a terrible liar, Devlin."

He pulled in outside my house, but as I reached down to release my seatbelt, he laid his hand on mine. "Hold on a sec," he said, his forehead creasing as he stared in the wing mirror.

"What's up?"

"Some dude hanging around back there. I don't want him seeing you go inside alone. I'll walk you in, okay?"

"No," I blurted, panicking at the idea of him seeing my mother when she could be naked on the floor, asleep in a pool of her own vomit. It wouldn't be the first time. "I mean... that's fine. I'll lock the door."

"It isn't safe," he insisted. "Your mother's alone in there, right? Come on. I'll wait until he leaves before I head home."

He was out of the car before I could protest. I tried to catch a glimpse of the man he was wary of, but all I saw was a flicker of movement.

"I think he's gone," I whispered to Tom, who looked deadly serious for a change. He was on high alert, a state I had thankfully rarely witnessed, because the way he made himself appear remarkably taller and broader intimidated me a little.

"He's pressed against the bushes down there. We'll go inside, and I'll ring the police. Just in case. He's not up to anything good, put it that way."

He was at my door before I could think of a good reason why I shouldn't let him in. I prayed my mother was in bed. Prayed to every god I had ever heard of that she hadn't puked somewhere. That she hadn't set something on fire.

I groaned when I saw the takeaway bag on the front step. The delivery person must have left it there because my mother wouldn't answer the door. Great. She had to have cooked. Sure enough, when I opened the door, the tell-tale stench of burn filled my nostrils. Tom tried to step ahead of me, choking a little in surprise, and I shoved past him to run into the kitchen and remove a half-full pot from a still hot hob.

"Fantastic," I muttered, forgetting that the handle might be hot and burning my fingers as I lifted the pot to the sink.

"Shit." I shook my hand and turned on the cold tap, wincing as the water ran over the now reddening skin.

"Devlin... everything okay?" Tom asked, and I could see the query in his eyes.

"Fine," I said, too cheerily. "Use my mobile to call the police if you want."

A scream vibrated through the house as if it had been physically wrenched from my mother's body. As though someone were murdering her.

"It's fine. Wait here. Don't move," I babbled as I tried to run up the stairs, but Tom, ever the protector, got in my way and made it up and into her darkened room first.

She squealed louder as he stepped inside, holding her hand to her neck. "He _bit_ me. He really _bit_ me."

"It's okay," I said, embarrassed beyond belief as I brushed past Tom to wrap my arms around my mother. "It was just a dream." The room stunk of vomit and alcohol and sweat, a less than desirable combination. She rocked to and fro, muttering in slurred words, and I couldn't face Tom.

"Dev, I'll be in the living room when you're ready," he said softly.

She began to settle down after a while, and I prayed Tom had left already. "He bit me," she whispered over and over.

"Just a dream, Mam. Just a dream."

She still cried with fear, even in her sleep, and I realised why. Her room was dark. So as I left, I switched on the light, wondering how she had managed to fall asleep in the darkness in the first place.

Tom stood when he heard me return.

"Everything all right?" he asked briskly.

"Yeah. Bad dream. Night, Tom."

"I rang the police. I'm going to stick around until I see them drive by."

"Okay." I sat in an armchair, hiding a yawn.

"That's your mam?"

"Yep."

"Like this a lot?"

"She doesn't like the dark."

"Dev..."

His tone was drenched with pity, and I didn't want to hear it.

"You can go home, you know? I'm sure whoever was out there is long gone. Probably some drunk got lost on the way home."

"Maybe." He glanced around the room, making no attempt to move. "This why you work so much?"

"Don't work that much. I've the next three days off."

"Yeah, I know." His gaze was relentless. "Need a loan?"

I laughed, but tears formed in my eyes. I looked away. "Nah. We're doing great, thanks."

We sat in silence until the lights from a police car flashed outside.

"I'm going to speak to them before heading home," Tom said, getting to his feet.

"Okay. Night, Tom. Thanks for the lift."

"You ever need help with anything, you call me. Do you hear me? This isn't right. You know that. Don't you, Dev?"

"We're fine," I said firmly. "This is nothing, and it's my private business. Do _you_ understand?"

"I'm not going to make anything harder for you. But you shouldn't be doing this alone."

"I don't have a problem."

"I meant what I said about needing help. Anything at all, and you call me."

His eyes were honest, an awful reminder of the one she had driven away. Ignoring the lump in my throat, I nodded. But both of us knew I would never call.

He left, and I locked up after him, wearier than I had ever been. Protecting Mam—hiding her struggles—had been a full-time job, and now I had screwed up. But it was different these days. I was technically an adult myself, so I knew nobody could interfere. Small mercies.

I checked on my mother before I went to bed. A tiny pinprick of blood stood out on her throat. Ignoring the shiver running down my spine, I figured she must have accidentally scratched herself in her sleep and dreamt the pain was from a bite.

It killed me to get up out of bed early on Monday morning, but I really needed to finish that essay for English. I had gotten a start on it before work on the weekend, but there was still a lot to do, and school was the only place I could work without my mother needing me to do something for her every five minutes. I should probably have felt guilty for running away from her so much, but Tom seeing her had mortified me enough that I wanted to avoid the house as much as possible.

Base showed up a few minutes after I did, noisy as ever, and I watched his broad back as he rummaged in his locker. He turned quickly, caught me looking, and grinned. Stunned, I gazed at my essay, my cheeks burning.

"I could send you a photo," he teased.

"Get over yourself. I was staring into space. I barely even noticed you."

He snorted. "Whatever makes you feel better."

I opened my mouth to give an indignant reply, but footsteps caught my attention.

That boy again. Great, he must have enrolled in our school the first time I saw him. I supposed that kind of made his hanging around less creepy.

He walked over to stand in front of me and stared down. Even Base turned his head to watch, a sardonic smile curving his lips.

"I'm Sully," angsty pretty boy said in a low voice.

"Good for you." I looked back down at my notes. Maybe home would have been better for essay writing after all.

"Good weekend?" he asked.

"No," I said. "Now do you mind?"

He actually had the gall to sit on the floor next to me. I inched away in revulsion.

"My personal space? You're in it."

He took off his sunglasses and stared at me.

"Sit with me," he said, and his words wrapped around my mind. I stared at him, not really seeing him, and stopped trying to back away on the floor. Maybe I did want to sit with him. I drowned in his unexpectedly colourless eyes, and the rest of the world fell away. I moved closer to him, desperate to be near him, next to him, _with_ him.

Something cold touched my wrist, and it was as if a spell had been broken. I glanced down to see his fingers on me, as if he were checking my pulse, and I pulled back in revulsion, leaving him with a confused expression on his face.

"Get lost," I snapped, angrier at my own actions than his. What the hell had I been doing?

I grabbed my things, left both idiots in the hallway together, and went to find a new place. What did it take to get a little peace?

Obviously not going to school. At least not while Deco and Shauna were on a mission to ambush me.

"You're overreacting," she said when they found me in an empty classroom, giving me her best smile.

"Really." I observed them both, her smug grin, and his apologetic one.

"Of course you are," Deco said, trying unsuccessfully to wrap his arms around me. "You've got it all wrong."

"Didn't sound like that to me in the toilets." I stared at Shauna pointedly.

"We were just joking around because we saw you run in there," she said. "Seriously, would we ever do that to you?"

I huffed out a laugh. "Yeah, actually. I'm pretty sure you would."

They were both in my first class. Two free seats. One next to Deco. One next to Base. I couldn't believe Base was actually the lesser of two evils for a change.

"Don't even say a word," I hissed at him as I sat down.

"Chill out," he whispered back, his knee nudging mine under the table, sending a shiver throughout my body.

"Are you really that desperate for a chance to touch me?" I arched a brow in challenge.

He choked on his own laughter. "Not full of yourself at all, are you?" But his eyes twinkled with amusement which just reminded me why I used to like him... which just reminded me why he was evil.

The day could be summed up in a flurry of pleadings, accusations, avoidance, and dull classes. At lunch, I was too tired to even face Deco and Shauna, so I sat alone, twisting the cap on a bottle of water. Maisy joined me warily, but I shrugged my indifference as she took her seat.

"Gonna be mad for much longer?"

"Yep."

"Was I wrong?"

I sighed heavily. "No. Glad I had a heads up, to be honest."

She heaved a sigh of relief. "Good. I don't want to fall out, but he was acting like a creep, and she practically put him up to it."

"She's saying you were lying in the toilets. That it was a joke you all came up with."

She held my gaze steadily. "I wouldn't joke about stuff like that. You know that, right?"

"Doesn't matter anyway. It's done now. I would have seen him with her at some stage during the night. And Shauna's been a massive bitch since I moved here. Why would I expect any different now?"

She started on her lunch, glancing at me every now and then in a way that made me sure she wasn't finished questioning me.

"Why didn't you tell us you were working there?" she asked a few minutes later. "I mean, why hide it?"

I shrugged. "Nobody's business, is it? I need to work. It's no big deal."

"You're right. It's not a big deal. That's why it's odd when you hide stuff."

"I'm not hiding stuff. I'm just not chatty."

"No shit, Sherlock." She grinned at me. "The party didn't go as planned for Shauna either, if that makes you feel any better. Her date stood her up. Guess who it was?"

I stared at her.

She sighed. "Fine. Don't. Remember that fountain of hotness we saw outside school that day?"

A chill ran down my spine. "The creepy one?"

"You say creepy; she says hot. Point of the story is she saw him again and invited him. As a date. But he didn't show."

"He did, actually. But later on. When the party ended."

She gazed at me in wide-eyed shock. "Seriously? But why?"

I opened my mouth to reply when Sully, a.k.a. the creepy one, took a seat at our table and just stared at me.

I inched away, an old saying popping into my head uninvited. Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. And again with the sunglasses.

"You smell really good," he murmured, sniffing the air like a hungry dog. I stared at him, aghast, before breaking into peals of laughter.

I tried to calm down when I saw how taken aback he was.

"Is this a bet or something?"

He shook his head, confusion marring his features. But then he twisted his lips into a grim smile that left me cold.

"I would never be interested in something so... _base_."

I exchanged glances with Maisy, but she seemed enthralled. Which was beyond strange, considering how off the wall Sully was coming across. And what a peculiar thing to say. Base had acted as though he liked me for a bet, and then Sully seemed to bring it up. Or maybe it was my imagination running away with me. How could Sully possibly know about my past already? Unless Shauna told him, which probably shouldn't have surprised me.

"Okaaay. Listen, we were in the middle of a conversation here, so..."

"Maisy doesn't mind. Do you, Maisy?"

She shook her head dumbly, still staring at him with her chin resting in her palm. Her eyes clouded over. I snapped my fingers in front of her face, and she jerked back to life.

"Earth to Maisy. You mind, right?"

She shook herself as though trying to clear her head. "No. Yeah! Uh, I mean... privacy, give us some."

Sully leaned over and brushed a lock of hair behind my ear before drifting away, ignoring my kneejerk reaction to flinch away from his touch.

"What is his deal?" I stared after him, half-bewildered, half-amused.

"Who knows? He's quite cute though. Very angular."

"But did you hear what he said? He made it sound like he knew," I lowered my voice, "about years ago, with Base."

She stared at me blankly. "What did he say?"

I made a sound of frustration at her terrible memory. Had she been paying attention at all? "Maisy, you were right there! I asked was this a bet. You know, the screwed up way he's acting, and he said he wouldn't do anything so base. Emphasis on the word, base. Don't you think that's strange?"

She shrugged. "Not really. It's just a word." She caught sight of my expression and sighed. "Fine. Maybe someone's been gossiping."

"About stuff that happened a lifetime ago? If someone was going to gossip about me, there's plenty of new stuff to say, right?"

"I suppose," she said slowly. "Maybe it was Shauna, trying to make you sound bad. I mean, he seems interested in you, even though she already asked him out."

"She can have him. He makes me want to vomit."

She giggled. "Not me. I think he's delish. I'm thoroughly enjoying the whole mystery man vibe he has going on. Anyway, what should I tell Deco and Shauna if they ask me about you? I mean _when_ they ask."

"Tell them they're dead to me." But I was grinning.

"You're a mean girl," she teased.

After school, Maisy strolled home with me, and I discovered I liked her a lot better without Shauna around.

Sully's car slowed down next to us, and Maisy gave a little yelp as Sully took off his sunglasses and peered out at us. His eyes were screwy, somehow reminding me of earlier when I had gone temporarily insane and actually wanted to be next to him. I looked anywhere _but_ his eyes after that reminder.

"Need a ride?"

"Yes, please," Maisy said breathlessly, preparing to jump straight in.

"Um, no thanks," I said.

"Just you then, Maisy?"

Sully winked at me as Maisy clambered into his car, ignoring my protests. It was as if she were hypnotised by Sully, as if she would do anything he asked of her. And that was a stark reminder of my mother. How that was her reaction to every bad man in her life. She did what they asked because she was desperate to please them, desperate to be loved.

And maybe that was why I pulled Maisy out of the car and refused to let her get back in.

As if he knew what I had been thinking, Sully glared at me warningly, but I kept my hands on Maisy, refusing to let go.

He pulled away sharply, tires squealing, and Maisy slackened in my arms.

"Maisy, what are you thinking? You don't even know him."

She shuddered. "I know. I _wasn't_ thinking. I need to get home, Dev. I've a massive headache."

She looked pretty pale, all right. I walked her home, just in case. At her gate, she surprised me by giving me a quick hug.

"Maybe we could hang out tomorrow?" she said hopefully.

"Maybe. If I can get away."

"Get you playing hard to get."

"Shut up. Fine. I'll try my very best to get away."

I walked home after that, wondering why Maisy would even want to spend time with me. I wasn't a great friend. Then again, maybe even _I_ was better than Shauna.

# Chapter 4

Having so much time off work was unusual for me, and I didn't quite know what to do with myself. Spending time with Mam could sometimes be hard going, but at least I could keep an eye on her. I limited her drinking, only because our GP had warned me cold turkey would send her system into shock, and made her eat full meals for a change. We watched soaps on the television, and eventually she grew antsy again, her fingers twitching to hold a glass or a bottle.

"You'll be fine," I said without looking in her direction.

"I need something before bed."

"No, you don't."

"I do. I won't sleep otherwise. You know that, Dev. And _he_ might come back again."

"Who? Tom? Mam, he's a good person. He was giving me a lift home when he heard you scream. That's the only reason he was in your room."

She stared at me blankly.

"Come on," I said. "You've met Tom before. He works with me, remember? He's the only person who was around apart from me. He definitely didn't bite you, and I'm pretty certain I didn't, so it must have been another nightmare."

"Not him," she said impatiently. "The other one. The one with the red eyes. He made me stay quiet. Then he made me scream. He made me remember _everything_. He could make me do anything. Anything at all, Devlin. Why is it so easy for them to make me do whatever they want?"

The rambling went on for what seemed like an age, but I was used to it. When she drank, she had difficulty separating her nightmares from reality. That's all it was. So why did I feel so chilled?

Eventually I gave her a watered down drink to settle her down and give me time to catch up on my homework. Although I had plenty of time for a change, I couldn't concentrate. I had the eeriest feeling that someone was watching me. I turned off my music, removing my headphones to listen intently for sounds of an intruder. I had no idea what was making me so paranoid, although my mother probably hadn't helped.

I gave up on the homework, made sure all of the doors and windows were locked, watched a little more television with my mother, and then sent her to bed early. My own body loved me for letting it sleep, but typically, I woke up at the usual time even though I wanted to sleep in.

I groaned at the time on the clock and shivered, pulling the covers around me. I glanced at my window and sat up straight. It was wide open. I never opened my window that wide, and I was sure I had double-checked the lock before I slept. I ran to check on Mam, just in case, but she seemed fine.

Except...

She rolled over, and there was a drop of blood on the pillow. Maybe from the other night, but still, it freaked me out, what with all of the talk of red eyes and biting, and waking up to a wide open bedroom window. The doors were all locked, and nothing seemed disturbed. I had to be imagining it.

Maybe I had forgotten to lock my own window, after all. Mam could have opened it during the night even. There was always a logical explanation for everything, I knew that, and yet my stomach kept turning.

Still disturbed, I got ready for school and headed in early to finish the homework that had been an epic failure the night before. I finished surprisingly quickly, probably because I actually had a full night's sleep, and ended up sitting on the floor, staring into space until Base arrived.

He made his usual racket, but I closed my eyes and ignored him.

"You dying or something?"

My eyelids flung open. He was staring at me, looking entirely bemused.

"I mean, no nasty comments? No rude insults slung my way? No projectiles aimed at my head? Are you sick by any chance?"

"Ha. Bloody. Ha."

"Hi, Devlin."

Base and I both jumped with fright as Sully's voice filled the hallway. He slunk right over, looking down on me in a way that made me feel powerless on the ground. My heart raced at the sensation. As if he knew what I was thinking, he smiled. An eerie, intense smile that made me even more uncomfortable.

"Enjoy your sleep last night, Devlin?"

Something about his words sent off alarm bells in my head. There was a warning there.

"What do you care?" I snapped back.

"You wound me. I care a great deal."

He blew me a kiss before sloping off, leaving me open mouthed at the sheer ridiculousness of his cheese.

"Is he always like that?" Base asked in wonder.

"How should I know? Run along before someone thinks I'm voluntarily talking to you."

"Anything for you, Queen Bitch." Base bowed deeply, and I tried not to laugh. The unidentifiable cold feeling in my stomach that kept showing itself whenever Sully appeared seemed to fade away. Base was such a dope. But yet again, Sully's backhanded comment about Base filtered into my brain, and I got away from Base as quickly as possible.

The day passed uneventfully until lunchtime. Maisy had stuck to my side for most of the day, and Shauna had obviously begun to feel left out because she kept throwing nasty looks my way. It reminded me of when I had first joined the school I now attended, of the days when Maisy and I could be friends with Shauna, but not each other without it causing ructions.

At lunch, the anger kind of spilled over, leaving a path of bloody entrails behind in its wake. _Maybe_ not literally. Tension between Shauna and I had existed since I moved to town and decided I wasn't going to be stepped on ever again. We both liked to be in charge, and I had realised a while back that we were only putting up with each other out of convenience, so the fact that we were no longer spending time together actually felt like a major relief.

A couple of our other friends joined Maisy and me at the lunch table we chose to sit at, and I could see it made Shauna's blood boil. She might not like me, but she wanted to be part of the centre of attention, and it wasn't where she was sitting.

"Hasn't this gone on long enough?" she demanded, pulling Deco alongside her to confront me.

"Nothing's happening, Shauna. Go away."

"You're making everyone choose between us, and that's not on."

"I haven't made anyone choose between us. People can be friends with whoever they want. It seems like everyone knows that except you."

"These grudges you hold are pretty childish, you know."

I widened my eyes at her innocently. "Diddums. Go bitch somewhere else. You're ruining my mood."

"You're the bitch!" she practically screamed. The room fell silent as everyone waited to see what happened next. So, yeah, I had a reputation. I could lose the rag _maybe_ more than most people. But I had slept well the night before, so it didn't get to me as much as usual.

I yawned. "If you say so."

Somehow, that bothered her more than if I had yelled at her.

"You think you're so much better than the rest of us. Why do we even bother with you? You look down your nose at everyone, but you're not even anything special. I don't blame Deco for looking elsewhere because you aren't worth it. You don't make any effort with yourself, so why wouldn't he sniff around girls who actually care what they look like. I mean, look at you. Have you even brushed your hair today? You can't be bothered to look nice, so why would you keep his interest?"

I smiled, and she tensed up. I didn't blame her. I tended to smile before I completely lost the rag. But not on that day.

"I couldn't be bothered to make an effort with you because you're nothing to me. Please. Remember that. It's the most important thing I'm ever going to say to you. The world doesn't revolve around you. The sun doesn't shine out of your arse. You don't exist to me. And as for him?"

I narrowed my eyes at Deco. The big betrayer.

"As for him... It doesn't bother me in the slightest who he "sniffs around" because I can't bear him touching me. If either of you mattered to me, you would only disgust me. As it is, you're like an annoying little bee buzzing around. But one sting, and you die."

"Ugh, what does that even _mean_?" she said in a whiny voice.

"It means you can't hurt me twice."

"Don't act like you weren't into me," Deco piped up, his ego bruised.

"I doubt anyone could accuse me of being overly into you, Declan. But feel free to think what you like. I really don't care."

Except I did. Except it had hurt to see him with someone else. Except I hadn't expected it from him. Except I thought I had done enough to protect myself. A lump in my throat appeared, and I knew that was my cue to leave.

So I did.

But I only made it to the hallway because Deco followed me, grabbing my arm to stop me from running off. Bitter tears stood in my eyes, but he didn't see them. All he saw was his hurt pride. Well, I had pride, too.

"Stop acting like this," he said. "Give me a chance to explain or don't, but don't talk shit about us."

"Us?" I spluttered. "Us? Seriously? As soon as my back was turned, you were out there lifting skirts. Don't insult me by saying _us_."

"What did you expect to happen? You're never around."

"Then you should have ended it! I thought we were both on the same page with this. You know what I'm like about... You just know. And I was _working_. What part of that don't you understand? I don't have a choice."

"Everyone has a choice, Dev. And you choose to check out even when you're sitting right next to me, so don't lie to yourself."

"So because I'm not fulfilling your fantasies of grinding in your lap in front of everyone like a little ho-bag, I don't deserve any loyalty?"

"Don't give me that. Don't twist my words. I don't push you, Devlin. I keep waiting and waiting for you to be ready to be real, but it's like you were waiting for an excuse to get rid of me. How do you think that makes _me_ feel?"

"As if I—"

"You can back away from her now." Sully's cold voice brought an involuntary groan to my lips.

Deco glanced from Sully back to me, his face clearing as he put two and two together and came up with five.

"Are you seriously that much of a hypocrite?"

"This kid has absolutely nothing to do with me," I insisted. "Go away, new kid."

"I don't like seeing this lovely lady unhappy," Sully said.

Again with the cheese. And Deco looked as though he was torn between laughing his head off, or ripping Sully's head off.

"Why don't you mind your own business, all right kid?" Deco said kindly enough.

And then Sully shoved him, knocking Deco back into the lockers with a crash. That surprised me; Sully didn't look strong enough for that.

Deco recovered quickly, squaring up to Sully, his cheeks flaming, and it was all I could do to get between them and stop things from going overboard. I pressed my hands against their chests, trying my best to push them away from each other. Deco was so hot, Sully so cold, but I couldn't think about that.

"You. New kid. Get lost. Deco. We're through. Let's leave it, okay?"

I held his gaze pleadingly, hoping he would understand. He stiffened, ready for a fight, but then his shoulders seemed to deflate, and he nodded. "Fine. We're done."

The lunch bell rang, and everyone moved on to their classes, but Sully followed me to my locker.

"I won't allow him speak to you like that again," he hissed through clenched teeth.

"Seriously. What is your deal? I don't even know you, and what goes on between Deco and me is none of your business."

"I'm just trying to protect you."

I threw my hands in the air in irritation. "Have you any idea of how creepy you sound? How annoying? I don't need to be protected. I don't need to be saved. I can take care of myself, and I don't even know you." Did I have a flashing sign over my head saying victim? What was with everyone trying to keep me safe?

"But I know you." Sully's voice lowered, turning stonier, sending goose bumps across my skin. Any humour was gone from his face, and all that was left was a cruel mask. "And I don't believe you. You've needed protection before, haven't you? Someone to save you? But nobody came, and you were so scared that something worse would happen." He sucked in a breath. "Ah. And then it did. Shame you had to move, to run away."

My retort caught in my throat, and I backed up slowly, shaking my head. "What did you... How... What are you even talking about?" Memories flooded my brain. Of the past, of my mother's exes. Of situations I wanted to blank out forever. Of things I _never_ willingly thought about.

"Oh, I think you know." He grinned as if delighted, matching me step for step.

"Why don't you ease off there?"

I had never been so happy to hear Base, and I tried to ignore the frustrated voice inside my head that said yet another male was trying to protect me in some way. Right then, I didn't care. I was too relieved to see Sully's approach halting.

Sully's head seemed to snap around at the interference, and he glared at Base before relaxing.

"Ah, yes, Brian, isn't it? What a sweet little girlfriend you have, Brian. So sweet and... _innocent_. Maybe keep a tighter hold on her."

"What the hell?" Base said, obviously hearing the same vague threat as I had.

Sully lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles before I could pull away, letting loose an exaggerated sigh and giving me a little bow before he strolled down the corridor.

"What a loon," I muttered.

"Yeah. You okay?"

He touched my elbow lightly, and a spark ran under my skin, leaving me with goose bumps. The good kind. I gazed up at him, wondering if the concern I saw in his dark eyes was real or imagined.

"Dev?"

I mentally shook myself, realising he had witnessed the entire embarrassing scene between Sully and me, but I recovered quickly, shoving all of my memories back into a box. "Like you care. And what's with you listening to all of my conversations lately? Are you stalking me again?"

"Yeah, 'cos you're just that hawt," he said mockingly. "Get over yourself." He moved away from me and slammed his locker shut aggressively.

But between Deco, Shauna, and Sully on my back, Base seemed like the least of my worries. I knew Sully was trying to be mysterious and cool, but his enigmatic words kept hitting too close to home for my liking.

Loyalties and hierarchies of power had switched around since the argument in the lunchroom. Who sat next to who had changed, and it was all very strategic. Open messages of defiance and/or loyalty defined each of the moves.

Shauna was now next to Deco, and I took her place next to Maisy. Some nodded or smiled at me, others turned up their nose as I passed them by. Deal with it, I wanted to say, but I didn't. I didn't have the energy. It seemed like so much needless drama going on. Yeah, some people had hurt my feelings. Big whoop. It didn't require a social revolution.

My disgust at Shauna and disappointment in Deco were overshadowed by the complete and utter weirdness that was Sully. I watched him for the rest of the day as he skulked around, charming girls and scaring off boys everywhere he went. And those ridiculous sunglasses might as well have been welded to his face.

In one class, just one, he was confronted by a teacher about the glasses. Ms. Jackson was a bit of a tough nut at the best of times, and she didn't seem so impressed by the latest wannabe bad boy.

"Take off those glasses, please. I'd rather see your eyes."

"You really wouldn't." There was something slimy in his voice, as if his words crept over my skin and stayed there. I shuddered in spite of myself.

"Excuse me? Get up here. Now."

Sully slunk to the top of the room and stood in front of Ms. Jackson's desk.

"Take off those glasses," she said, not even a little intimidated by him.

"As you wish," he said, slowly removing the glasses. He swayed toward Ms. Jackson, reminding me of a snake about to attack. He laid his palms on her desk, and I held my breath, certain something bad was about to happen. "Now never ask me to do that again."

She nodded slowly, her eyes taking on a glassy stare that reminded me of Maisy at his car. What was with this kid? Was he really that scary? That persuasive? Charming?

To me, he was a creep through and through. And something had to be done about him. I didn't fall for his overdone cheesy lines, but it was obvious other people did, and he was far too convincing for his own good. Ms. Jackson was pretty tenacious and strong-willed, and very few students managed to get the better of her, which was why my alarm bells were ringing on full blast.

"That was strange," I whispered to Maisy.

"I know," she hissed back. "Freaky."

But then Sully caught her eye on the way back to his table, and she shut up. She didn't make another sound for the rest of the class.

That alone was the most outlandish thing that happened that day. Maisy shutting up.

# Chapter 5

I hung out at Maisy's place after school. She had dance practice four times a week and a part-time job of her own, so I was kind of touched that she would give me the little spare time she had. I longed for her energy. She was the bright spark who never tired, and I liked that about her. Maybe because I was permanently in a slump.

"That was kind of madness today," she said as she rolled over on her bed to switch the song on her mp3 player.

"Ha. Which bit?"

"I don't know. You being calm when someone called you a bitch?"

I grinned back at her. "Everyone calls me a bitch. I'm used to it by now. Water off a duck's back. The weirdest bit was that new kid jumping in like he knows us. What's his deal?"

"Okay, he's a bit eccentric, but he's so freaking pretty I can let it go."

"I don't get why everyone is fawning over him any chance they get." I frowned. It bothered me way too much.

"Haven't you seen him?"

"Yeah, I mean, he's okay if you're into the emaciated look, but he skulks around trying to act enigmatic and shit. He's such a fake."

I truly hated the persona he tried to put on. That intense, brooding, _I act all distant because I'm obviously awesome_ crap that boys all of a sudden seemed to think worked on girls. Although he had done pretty well so far if Maisy and Shauna were anything to go by.

"So you like a bit of meat on their bones?" Maisy asked, grinning.

I shrugged. "I suppose. Better than Skeletor Junior, anyway."

"That might explain Deco, I suppose. Which I've never really gotten."

"You wouldn't understand," I said.

"Oh, thanks for the credit. Maybe try me and then see?"

Sighing, I stared at the posters on her walls. Her room hadn't changed much in the last four years. "Deco was... safe. Or so I thought."

"Safe," she echoed. "Is that what the kids are calling it these days?"

I threw a pillow at her. "It was just easy to say we were together and never have to do any of the actual relationship stuff."

"So you never..."

I shook my head. "I'm abnormal, right?"

"I don't know. You never seemed _into_ him. That's what I don't get. Why be with someone you're not crazy about?"

I stared at her meaningfully.

"Oh," she said slowly. "Oh, Dev. That's pretty sad."

"Works for me. Or at least it did."

"But if everything was different, and you weren't such a complete wimp, what kind of person would you go for?"

"I should kick your arse for that wimp comment."

"You don't think it's cowardly to avoid love in case it hurts?" she said frankly, uncharacteristically serious. "I mean, if you can't even tell me what kind of person you'd like."

"You're so annoying sometimes. I'd go for someone who is the opposite of Sully." I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Hmm, let me see. Goofy, available, and buff. Let me think. Someone like Base?" she said cheekily.

I burst out laughing. "Oh, Maisy, you're lucky I had a good sleep last night."

"Come off it. All of that angry flirting has to come from somewhere. And I remember a time when two were becoming quite close."

I blew out a sigh. "And look how well that turned out."

She screwed up her nose. "I don't know. All of that happened on Shauna's say so. Given her recent behaviour..."

"It doesn't matter anyway. If he had really liked me, he wouldn't have let anything stop him."

"You kind of tore him apart though. That would have stopped me." She frowned. "I think you're both as stubborn as each other anyway."

"So it would never work," I said. "I'm keeping away from the male side of our species for a while. Too much trouble."

She smiled, her eyes going distant. "They're good for some things."

"So you keep telling me." Maisy wasn't exactly a never kiss and tell kind of girl. I knew way more about her than I needed. "Anyone new caught your eye lately?"

"New guy at work. Sizzling hot."

"He interested?"

She frowned. "He's kind of oblivious actually. But I'm patient."

"Lies!" I teased, and she threw that pillow right back at me.

I stayed at her place for as long as I could, persuading her to study with me, much to her despair.

Eventually, I had to make the journey home. I dreaded going inside because I could imagine what I would face. It seemed like there was less and less out there for me.

Feeling guilty for even having those kinds of thoughts, I squared my shoulders and put my key in the door. But I didn't turn it. Glancing over my shoulder, I realised there was a car parked right outside. A flashy black car. A familiar car that automatically made me uneasy.

Sully.

With my stomach launching into nervous somersaults, I let myself into my home.

Sully sat on _my_ sofa next to _my_ mother watching _my_ television. When he met my eyes, his expression brightened, but there was a cruelty there that I might have missed if I didn't find everything about him extremely suspicious.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I said through clenched teeth, my fingers gripping the strap of my bag so tightly they went numb.

"Visiting." The smugness of his voice, the way he inched closer to my mother... I needed him as far away from her as possible.

"You weren't invited. Get out." My voice shook with anger, but he smirked as though I feared him.

"Dev," Mam said in a perfectly clear voice. "That isn't polite."

Her eyes were blank, her words completely lacking the usual slur. Even in sobriety, she crushed her words together, sliding over letters as though they didn't exist. And now? Perfect elocution.

My spidey senses went into overdrive.

"I said, get out."

He rose slowly, obviously relishing the way he made me wait. I hated him. I really, truly hated him. There were warning bells constantly ringing around him because he was bad news. And he was in my house doing who knew what to my mother. He was going too far. This had to end.

"I'll see you tomorrow. Have a restful sleep tonight," he said. "Oh, and my number is in your phone. Call me if you need a lift. I hate seeing you walk alone."

I tensed up. Had he been watching me?

He brushed past me. Ice cold. Inhuman. A nightmarish soul. The oddest thoughts flooded my mind as he touched me.

And when he left, the room seemed to freeze. My mother sat there, on the sofa, barely moving and not responding to me. She didn't drink, didn't fuss, and eventually I draped a blanket over her and cleaned up before bed.

Remembering Sully's comment about my phone, I checked my contact list, and sure enough, there he was. When the hell had he gotten to my phone?

I fell asleep almost instantly when I lay on the bed. It was as though my body were making up for lost time or something.

Something stirred me from a deep sleep. Eyes still closed, I vaguely recalled a tapping sound. My eyelids fluttered open, and my heart might have stopped because I glimpsed a figure at the window. A dark shape that was gone before I could focus. But I couldn't miss what looked like red eyes peering in at me. I jumped up, breathing heavily, my heart racing in my chest.

What the hell?

I raced to the window, unable to stop myself from looking outside. There was nothing. Emptiness. Silence. As though I were the only one left in the world. It had obviously been a dream, but that dream had shaken me to the core.

I pulled the curtains closed as if to protect myself from the outside world before going downstairs to check on Mam. I bit down on a scream of fright. She was still in the exact same position. Lights and telly on, her back ramrod straight, not blinking or saying a word. I clicked my fingers in front of her eyes and seriously considered phoning for an ambulance.

"Mam?" I spoke softly, but her eyes fluttered a little. I tried again.

"Mam. If you don't talk to me then I'm going to have to ring someone. The police or an ambulance or something."

Her gaze fell on me, but she looked right through me. Looking, but not seeing me. "I'm fine, Devlin. Go to bed."

She frightened me so much that I had to get away from her. I wanted to run, just to stretch my legs on the empty streets, but something deep inside me told me the streets weren't really empty. That there was a danger out there. A malevolence in the air.

It took me a long time to get back to sleep that night.

I awoke cranky, plain and simple. Disturbed by the night before, and more than a little embarrassed by my little girl reacting to a dark shadow response to it, I was wrecked. And ready to take it out on someone.

Base was victim number one, but I had my eye on another target. Sully. That creep deserved to be punished, deserved to feel terrible. I sensed him trying to intimidate me in a passive-aggressive sort of way. He was being threatening in ways I knew I would never be able to clearly explain to anyone else, and that was what bothered me so much.

It reminded me of one of Mam's ex-boyfriends. It was as if he picked her out when she was at her most vulnerable, when she couldn't see the light. In front of people he had acted as angelic as anything, but alone with her... Let's just say I saw the bruises. But they only came after months of subtle mental abuse that she hadn't even realised was happening until it was too late, until it compounded into violence, too. I brought her to the hospital; I witnessed the aftermath. I knew the sort of things those kinds of men were willing to do to get their way. And I knew she had been more than willing to crawl straight back into his arms if I hadn't pressed charges against him.

Eventually, he lost interest in her, and that might have been the worst bit. He had been the one who finished things. She had never had the backbone to leave him herself, and because of things that had happened in our past, she felt as though she deserved how he treated her. That he would absolve her sins. Her drunken apologies and pleadings had revealed that much.

I paced the hallway edgily, wishing I could stop remembering things I had shut away. I was in school early out of habit. I had no real reason to be there. So I paced. And practically snarled at Base when he turned up, making a racket as always.

"Relax. I'm just trying to get my books," he said, shaking his head as though I were the crazy one. Okay, so maybe on that particular morning the craziness wasn't exactly running away from me.

I mumbled something in response, and he paused to look at me. "What? No witty comebacks yet again? You really must be dying."

I gazed past him to Sully. We stared at each other for a couple of tense seconds. I could feel him daring me to do something to him, to even try. There was a serious challenge in his eyes, and I could feel my insides shrivel up in denial. Maybe I should leave him alone. Maybe he would leave _me_ alone. But that wasn't me. I couldn't back down. I would deal with him, one way or another, and I would make him think twice about trying to intimidate my family again.

He didn't speak, but Base kept glancing from one of us to the other warily, like he expected us to either rip each other's faces, or clothes, off. I wasn't planning on either of those options.

"Don't come near my house again," I said in a low, determined voice, not caring that Base was listening. I wasn't scared of Sully. No way.

Sully raised a suspiciously neat eyebrow. I turned on my heel and walked away, shaking on the inside. Every time he looked at me, my skin wanted to crawl away from my body and hide. And maybe that was what he wanted. He wanted me to run because he liked the chase. And chasing he was doing. He followed me around school, making bad situations worse, and he had basically admitted to spying on me outside of school. After all, how else could he have known where I lived? My nerves were pulled tight, but I would wait patiently.

All day, I refused to respond to his creepy questions, and he grew more and more confident with it. As if he thought he had actually managed to break me. As _if._

Lunchtime came. Perfect opportunity. I sat alone in the very centre of the lunch room and waited for him to come to me. Of course he did. Like I knew he would. He couldn't help himself. He couldn't help trying to freak me out.

"Go away," I said, giving him one last chance to leave me alone.

"You don't really want that, do you Devlin? You want me to chase you. It makes you feel special. Makes you feel loved."

He laid his hand on mine, and the shiver of cold that ran through me made up my mind for me. If I didn't do something now, it could escalate and backfire on me. I had no choice.

"Get your hands off me!" I said as loud as I could, jumping to my feet. He stood, too, and all eyes turned to us. "You had better stop stalking me. My friend saw you outside my house, I see your car everywhere you go, and you're a filthy creep in general."

He glanced around the room, realising everyone was sniggering at the scene. Genuinely surprised, he seemed unable to form a response, and I pushed harder.

"Did you actually think stealing my phone to save your number in my contact list was the way to go? That's freaky, even for you. I'm not interested in you. Nobody in their right mind would be interested in a naff git like you. I mean, look at you. Sunglasses and a leather jacket in school? All day, every day? Riiight. Why don't you crawl back under whatever hole you made it out of and leave the rest of us alone?"

I turned on my heel and left the room amidst laughing and jeering. Anyone else, and I might have felt guilty. But I needed everyone to know exactly what he was like. I needed him to know that I wouldn't put up with his crap without retaliating in some way. Base was right when he called me Queen Bitch.

That's exactly what I was. And Sully would know all about it when I got through with him. I would prove to him that I wouldn't stay quiet, not ever.

# Chapter 6

Sully didn't turn up to the next day of school. I held my breath in the hallway that morning, and even Base kept glancing around as if watching out for him.

"Looks like your little display worked," he said.

"Here's hoping."

He looked at me as if to say something else, but then he shook his head slightly and turned back to his locker.

"What? You think I was wrong?"

He heaved a sigh. "I think you had to do something. I also think there are better ways to deal with people."

I had a feeling he wasn't talking about Sully. I stared at him, thinking hard.

"Maybe," I conceded.

He turned to look at me then, and I sucked in a breath, waiting for him to speak, but people started turning up, and the moment was gone.

"Is it true? Was he really hassling you?"

I glanced up at Deco and shrugged. "I wouldn't lie about something like that."

"Aw, Dev. I'm so sorry. Why didn't you tell me? I could have done something about him."

"I can handle myself." I smiled. "Besides, he hasn't been back. Maybe I ran him off for good."

"I hope so." He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked on his feet. "So."

"Yeah, I better get to class."

"Right." His face fell. "See you."

Maisy linked arms with me before I could make it to the classroom. "Well? Alls well again, yeah?"

"With me and Deco? Nah. I don't make the same mistakes twice."

"Neither will that creep. I still can't believe he was stalking you like that."

"Yeah, well, he's..."

I was about to say gone. I was about to savour the word. But I was wrong. He wasn't gone. Not at all. He had only been absent for a few days. And now he was back, this time sitting next to Aoife who seemed to be lapping up everything he was saying to her. Her normally timid demeanour was still there, but she watched him out of the corner of her eye, half-afraid to look straight at him, probably.

I leaned over Sully, outraged.

"What are you doing?" I could taste my irritation, and I knew part of it had to do with how much he scared me. There was something wrong about him. More than just a general creepy stalker. He was more like a general creepy serial killer.

Deep down, that's what I was afraid of. I sensed something dark in him. I feared he would find pleasure in another's pain, but what I didn't know for sure was how far he would go. And Aoife was pure innocence itself. The kind of girl who couldn't defend herself. I couldn't let him hurt her just because I hadn't let him hurt me. There wouldn't be any trade-offs if I could help it.

He leaned back in his chair and gave me a cold smile. "You're not interested. I moved on. Good choice, no?"

"Leave her alone."

"Dev, I..."

"Aoife, seriously. You know what he's like, right?"

She reddened and looked away.

"Maybe Aoife here knows how _aggressive_ you can be, Devlin. Maybe she thinks you weren't telling the truth."

"It's the truth," I snapped. "People like him take advantage of people like you, Aoife."

She met my gaze, her face flushed with anger now. "People like _me_? How exactly would you know that, Dev? When do you ever bother to get to know anyone?"

"Fine. Be walked all over. See if I care." Except I did care. I cared a great deal. I saw Mam in girls like Aoife, as long as they were next to boys like Sully, and I wanted to firmly guide her off that particular path.

I took my seat next to Maisy, but I couldn't help noticing Base sitting at the back of the room alone, staring miserably at Aoife. I felt an odd pang of sympathy for him, but when he caught me watching, his eyes narrowed and cast their gaze to his book instead.

I observed Aoife and Sully together all day, scrutinising his every move. Fuming, I realised Aoife was more than willing to soak up everything Sully pulled on her. All the broody, angsty crap. All the rudeness followed by sweet sentimentalities. It was all an act to pull her in. A well-played act. Smooth for a teenage boy. How many girls had he taken in so far?

The tables turned, and I skulked after the pair all day, noticing how many times Aoife snubbed Base for Sully. They always sat together, and now suddenly Miss Sweetness and Sunshine was ditching him for the noob? That made no sense at all.

I confronted Sully as soon as Aoife wasn't looking. I didn't want to make an enemy out of her. I knew from experience that Mam would always get defensive about her boyfriends if I tried to show her what they were really like. Scaring away the men sometimes worked. But when Sully stared me down, I knew there was nothing I could do that would likely run him off. I had been too loud of a target, too outspoken about letting people know what he was like. Aoife would never embarrass him.

"What are you doing?" I murmured under my breath.

"What are you? Jealous?" he said loudly. A couple of heads turned. I sneered back at him.

"If I find out you hurt her in any way, I'll make sure life is never easy for you again."

"Terrifying," he said mockingly. "How about this? If you keep out of my way, I'll make sure to keep out of yours. It might be difficult. After all, I have a bit of a taste for your mother."

"What in the actual fuck is that supposed to mean?" I demanded. "You keep away from her as well."

"I usually like them a bit younger, but her misery is kind of addictive." His voice changed, somehow sounding a lot older. "Broken women are always that much more enjoyable."

He swept away, leaving me stunned. What on earth did that even mean? He liked broken women? But I wasn't broken, and Aoife didn't exactly look broken either. And a taste. That was an odd word to use. Images flashed before my eyes. My mother's behaviour. Drops of blood. Red eyes. Shadowy figures at my window. Was I losing my mind? Or did Sully _really_ get into that bad boy persona of his?

After school, Maisy asked to walk home with me, a look of worry in her eyes.

"Yeah, but we have to hurry. I have work tonight."

"That's fine. I just... I need to talk to you about something."

Icy fingers poked my stomach. "That sounds ominous."

"It's not. But people have been talking today."

"Let me guess. Shauna?"

She shrugged. "Not just her. It's just this thing with you and Sully. You embarrassed him, and he hid out for a couple of days. Kind of normal. Then he comes back, maybe interested in Aoife, maybe trying to make you jealous, and you pretty much shadow him all day. It makes you seem a little... obsessed."

"Are you serious?"

"Look. It isn't me saying this. A lot of people are, but I wouldn't. Just know that. But..." She shifted her schoolbag, looking uncomfortable. My stomach turned. Had I given Sully exactly what he wanted, after all?

"It doesn't come over the best, you know? I mean, you say he's following you, but when he gives someone else attention, you hassle him all day. That's not cool."

"I'm not hassling him." I sighed at the look on her face. "Okay, I am. But it's not because I'm jealous or obsessed. I'm worried sick about Aoife. He's threatened me, threatened my mother. He's been hanging around outside my house and stuff. And Aoife's been stuck like glue to Base forever. She's too nice to ditch anyone, but she gets rid of Base because some arsehole pays her attention. Surely you don't think that's normal."

She sucked on her lower lip, looking thoughtful. "I get all that. I do. But I'm warning you how it looks to everyone else. Maybe you could talk to Base, ask him what happened." She caught the look on my face and laughed. "I know, I know. He's, like, your arch-nemesis, but better the devil you know."

"Yeah, maybe. Do you think I'm crazy? For being suspicious of Sully, I mean."

She looked at me steadily. "I'm on your side. If you say you're afraid of him, I've no reason to think any differently."

"I never said I was afraid," I scoffed.

"Then why do your hands shake whenever you speak to him?"

"Do they?" I stared at my hands, hoping he had never noticed. Of course, if Maisy noticed, the rest of the country already knew. "I just get this vibe off him. Like he probably doesn't have a conscience. He's just like..."

My voice faded away, but Maisy looked at me with interest. "Just like who?"

I hesitated again, unable to finish the sentence the way I meant to. So I jumped with both feet into pop culture looking for a solution. Mark Wahlberg won the day. "Ever see the film Fear? Reese Witherspoon?"

She shook her head.

"Yeah, well, it's old. Anyway, she meets Mark Wahlberg, and he's really good looking, but he's totally insane, and he'll do anything to get what he wants. Gave me the heebie-jeebies bigtime. Anyway, Mark Wahlberg's character totally reminds me of Sully. All intense and self-righteous and dangerous and shit."

"Maybe I'll check it out sometime."

"Do. You'll get it, I swear." Or she might think I was completely exaggerating. And maybe I was. After all, Sully hadn't physically hurt anyone yet as far as I knew. He might be all talk. Or he might be too subtle for that.

Back home, Mam was putting on a normal face. As far as normal went for her, anyway. She hadn't begun to drink, probably trying to make me proud or something, and she had even tried to tidy. Of course her tidying led to me opening a press and having its contents fall on top of me, but at least she made an effort.

I cooked her some food, got ready, and went to work. Having time off might have been nice if I had managed to get some decent sleep, but ever since the other night, I had been having trouble sleeping, despite my window and curtains remaining firmly closed at all times.

That evening wasn't so busy, but I couldn't concentrate. I broke at least three glasses to many cheers from the drunks at the bar, and eventually sliced my finger badly.

"What are you doing?" Mark chided, putting pressure on the wound. "You're supposed to be the reliable one."

"It was all that time off," I joked. "Got me out of my routine. I'm back into noob mode."

He grinned down at me. "Yeah, well, hurry up and snap out of it. I don't want my kid having to take over the slicing. Her mother will kill me if she goes home with less digits than when she left."

I watched him trying to show his youngest daughter how to hold a lemon and slice it without cutting off her hand. She giggled and teased, but he had a lot of patience. All of his kids, and even some of his nieces and nephews, had worked in the bar at some stage. Most of them half-heartedly, but he was all about instilling work ethics into them. I wasn't sure it was quite rubbing off, and it was kind of funny that he wished his kids worked as hard as me, but it was because he had been a decent parent that they didn't.

That night I surprised Tom by asking him to wait in the car until I got into the house.

"Want me to check it out first?" he asked knowingly.

"Nah, it's nothing. I'm just being silly."

"Something happen?"

"Just having problems with a kid at school. He's probably gotten bored of bothering me by now, though."

"If someone's making you afraid to go inside then you need to be calling the police."

"I can't prove anything."

"Well, you don't have to prove anything to me. Okay, Dev? He comes around, just call me. I'll deal with him. We're bar family. I have to keep you safe, or Mark will kill me."

I laughed out loud. "Yeah, he hates hiring new staff."

Tom pushed my shoulder. "It's not just that. Go on in, and get some sleep. You on early or late tomorrow?"

I winced. "Early. Lots of cleanup and hangovers with the lunch crowd."

"At least you'll get home early enough to have some fun yourself."

"Or sleep. There's always sleep."

I waved goodbye from my doorstep, but my hands shook as I fumbled with the keys. What would I find now?

The answer was nothing. I gave another quick wave to Tom who was still outside, and then locked the front door. Mam was asleep, snoring, a half-empty bottle of vodka on the coffee table beside her. I covered her with a blanket, did a quick clean of the kitchen, and went to bed, purposely leaving my light on, too.

# Chapter 7

When I left for work the next morning, I had that feeling. As though someone was staring at me from the distance, and it made me twitchy. But at least I would be home early enough. I fully planned on locking all of the windows and doors as soon as I got in.

Yet as I made my way to the pub, I wondered if I was being paranoid, if I had worked everything up in my head. Maybe my mother's insecurities were hereditary or something. After all, Sully had pretty much left me alone. Only problem with that was him having a new target.

The weekend cleaner had already swept through the pub by the time I got there. With an evil smirk on her face, she warned me she had left the bathrooms for me. Lovely.

After scrubbing up vomit, blood, and God knew what off the bathroom floor, I pushed through the rest of the pub, attacking whatever the cleaner had started... but not finished. She did it every time she saw I had been rostered for the day because she knew she would get away with it. I would rather do her job than have the day start with a filthy pub.

Bitch.

After the cleanup, the only other floor staff for that afternoon turned up, and I moved into the kitchen to start the soup. The chef didn't start early enough on a Sunday, at least in my opinion, and I had to prep for him. Which sucked. Every week.

By the time he turned up, I had already chopped up everything and started on the sandwiches. He hated when I did that.

"I told you I didn't want to do sandwiches this week," he roared at me from the kitchen door.

"Tough shit. It's on the menu. You want to cut something out then turn up on fucking time for a change."

"Uppity bitch," he muttered, forcibly moving me away from the food.

"And don't forget the dinner menu's already up. Get it ready after lunch."

I left the kitchen with a grin on my face. His slurs were worth it if it meant I had ruined his day. I hated lazy people, and he was part-sloth.

The afternoon passed by quietly. A few regulars, one or two families. I wasn't rushed off my feet, and I got to play with a cute baby. The harried parents were so happy to eat their food without being hassled, they gave me a massive tip. Which only served to remind me of Sully's excessive tip at the party. Which reminded me of the things he said about my mother.

I sat at the bar on my break, sipping on a cordial and emoing over Sully. If he hurt my mother, I would...

"Devlin, can I talk to you?"

"Shit." I knocked my drink over as I swung around to see who was speaking. I couldn't believe the relief that seeped through me when I saw it was Base. "It's just you."

"Who were you expecting?"

I shook my head as I cleaned up the spill. "Never mind. What are you doing here?"

"It's about Aoife... and Sully."

"Ah."

"Yeah. Ah. Can we talk?"

"I have about ten minutes on my break left. Take a seat and be quick about it."

"Still bossing me around." But he smiled, and I was relieved we weren't about to have a blazing row. Yet. He took a seat next to me, but he twisted a beermat into pieces, much to my silent annoyance.

"Why are you really here?"

"Sully came back, and now he's latched on to Aoife."

"And she's lapping it up," I said.

He nodded glumly. "Yeah. This stuff between you and him. Is it for real, or just some crappy drama?"

I stared at him in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"Think he's actually dangerous?"

"Maybe."

"I'm worried."

"So am I. Why does nobody else think he's weird?"

He inched closer to me. "I know, right? I feel like I'm in the freaking Twilight Zone or something. And remember that stuff he said about my sweet little girlfriend? That kept playing on my mind, and now they've twinned up? Is this like some kind of payback or something? I don't get it."

I sighed heavily. "I think so. It's like he's playing some kind of game. Like creeping people out is fun for him."

"Did he hurt you?"

I scoffed at his question, but my hands were shaking again. "He didn't lay a hand on me, if that's what you mean. But he's said some weird stuff. I mean, _really_ weird stuff. Stuff he couldn't possibly know. About my mother, my past. He even made an odd comment about you. He's been following me around. And no, I don't think everyone likes me, okay?"

He flinched. "That was just a joke. This is serious. This isn't like Aoife. We hang out pretty much every single day. Now he basically tells her to stay with him, and she does. No looking back. I don't like him at all. The things he says are way off the wall. I don't understand why Aoife would suddenly be into him."

"I keep saying it's strange!" I was just delighted there was someone agreeing with me. Even if it was Base.

He deflated. "To be honest, I was kind of hoping I was overreacting."

"Sorry. I don't know what his game is, not exactly, but he's sending off all the wrong signals. He basically threatened my mother, but he phrased it oddly, made it sound like he was a... Never mind. All I'm trying to say is I think he's bad news. Especially for Aoife."

"Why especially for Aoife?" he leaned toward me, interest in his eyes, and I couldn't help reciprocating.

"Well, she's too sweet. She won't say no to anyone. She would rather be hurt than hurt someone else. The girl has no backbone."

He jerked back. "There's no need to say it like that. Just because she isn't a ball-buster doesn't mean she's a doormat."

"That's exactly what it means. And don't kid yourself. He's the kind of person who would happily walk right all over her. What kind of nutter follows girls he barely knows home? Serial killers and rapists, that's who. It isn't right."

He took a sip of my now half-empty drink. "I hate that I'm agreeing with you."

I snatched the glass out of his hands. "Don't think it's fun for me either. So what are you going to do? I tried talking to the pair of them, and Aoife got all defensive. But you're her friend. Won't she listen to you?"

"I've tried, too. I can't get her alone. They're glued at the hip. I thought maybe you could speak to her when he's not around. Catch her in the bathrooms or something."

I made a face. I really wanted to get as far away from the situation as possible. But something inside pulled me toward Aoife, and only partly because I felt as though Sully was messing with her to screw with Base and me for standing up to him. With that in mind, I nodded at Base.

"I want to help her get away from him," I said. "But she has to want to get away. I mean, maybe there's nothing going on, and we're both paranoid."

"It's possible. But I doubt it. I could say a lot of things about you, Devlin, but you aren't a sheep. You think for yourself. And if you agree with me, then I know there's something badly wrong here. Wanna hang out later to make a plan of action?"

"Oh. I, um, I can't. I have to have dinner with my mother after work."

He looked disappointed, and for some reason, I couldn't stand it.

"Maybe after school tomorrow."

"Okay. I might go to see Aoife and try to talk to her again."

He hung about for a little while, but eventually left, leaving me confused. He had validated my concerns, but I was now more worried about the way we had been so easy together, as though we weren't enemies. Then again, enemy of my enemy made a lot of sense. Sometimes desperate times called for desperate partnerships.

The kids at school might have thought I was harassing Sully, but I was determined to find out something about him. Something that might help us scare Aoife off. I could only hope we were right, and that we weren't making a massive mistake.

A larger part of me hoped we were wrong.

# Chapter 8

My stomach churned with nerves on my way to school the next morning. Not only because of Sully, but because I had made plans with Base, too. Before, when I used to like him, we had spent months flirting together, but I hadn't really spent much time alone with him, which was why it was so easy to believe Shauna when she told me about his bet.

I sat on the floor at my locker, putting the finishing touches to some homework, when Sully arrived. I felt him rather than heard him. Some kind of chill alerted me to his presence. He stood two feet away, a disturbing sneer on his face.

"All alone, are we?" he said in a threateningly low voice. "Maybe I should have some fun with you, Devlin O'Mara. Maybe I should teach you what happens to mouthy little girls who try to get the better of me."

I jumped to my feet, feeling vulnerable on the floor. All I had was an act. "Why don't you fuck right off? Psycho."

He took a step toward me, and I backed away, unable to stop myself.

"Do you think anyone would care if I hurt you, Devlin? Do you think they would even notice? Your mother doesn't love you enough to take care of you, or even stop her drinking. Your own boyfriend couldn't stay faithful to you. Your best friend has deserted you. Even sweet little Aoife can't stand you. You have nothing. You have no one."

I retreated until my back was against the row of lockers, his words filling me with a cold dread and terror that crept all over my skin.

He planted his hands on the locker behind my head, his arms surrounding me as he leaned in closer. He knew everything about me. Everything. It was the sound of his voice that horrified me; it made me feel as though millions of little insects were crawling up my legs, eating away at my skin.

He took off his sunglasses, and as much as I tried to avoid his strange eyes, I couldn't help myself. I had to look, had to see what was in there.

Darkness. Only darkness.

A memory wrenched itself from the place in my brain I hid them. My mother's ex and his pet tarantula. Me screaming as he held me down and let it crawl across my neck. I could feel it move there, and I longed to brush it away, but my hands were trapped. I couldn't help myself. Again.

Gasping, I was forced back into the present, back into Sully's obsidian gaze.

"You're so worthless that even _I_ don't want you anymore. You're the most pathetic girl I have ever come across, Devlin O'Mara, and I have known many a wretch. You act like a bitch so nobody will see how scared and hurt you are, but I see it. I see everything in you. You're so weak, so full of fear and self-loathing. How do you even get up in the mornings? Why haven't you freed yourself from your own misery?"

I shook my head, my entire body shuddering at the effort.

"I might take pity on you, Devlin. I might let you come with me. After all, you have nobody else."

Dazed, I nodded with an eagerness I didn't know I was capable of, desperate for some love and affection, desperate for something other than the heart-wrenching pain I lived with. Tears rolled down my cheeks. Nobody wanted me. My friends feared me. I was nothing. He was right. He could make it better.

"She has me," said a voice behind me, and the spell was broken. Whatever was holding my gaze to Sully's snapped free, and everything came rushing back. How he had made me feel, how easily I had believed him, and how I had automatically become everything I had ever detested.

Gaping at Sully, I brushed the tears from my face, feeling safer knowing Base was there. Knowing I wasn't alone. But the memory of what had just happened was a sucker punch in the stomach, and I struggled to catch my breath.

Sully's glare turned to Base, his eyes still mocking. "A challenge, is it? Two birds with one stone. She's poison, but you already know that. Don't you, Brian?" Sully hissed before turning away.

Base moved closer to me, and I heard a sharp intake of breath.

" _You're_ crying? What else did he say to you?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. It was nothing important. I just... felt sick for a second there." I hiccuped, mortally embarrassed by my lack of composure. Base took me in his arms, and I let him, let the last of the sorrow run free as I clung to his shirt.

"He's totally fucked in the head," Base said after a few minutes, his voice shaky, and he drew back to take a good look at me. "If you end up alone with him again, just keep walking away, okay?"

He used his thumbs to wipe away a few tears I missed, and I quivered beneath his touch. Both the look in his eyes and the way I reacted to him confused me, so I shrugged him off to gain some control. "I'm not scared of him, Base."

He held up his hands, not bothering to hide the frustrated rolling of his eyes. "Whatever you say, Queenie." He walked away, still shaking his head.

"Base!"

He stopped and turned to look at me, his expression unexpectedly serious.

"Still on for later?" I asked, still trembling, both from my reaction to Sully and the fear of what making peace with Base meant to me.

His eyes twinkled. "Of course." Then he walked away.

I handed my homework in during the next class, but the teacher barely looked at me as she accepted it. Sully was probably right. Who would notice if anything happened to me?

I glanced around the room as I took my seat, and the only person who looked in my direction was Base. He nodded at me before gazing at his books, but I watched him for the rest of the class, and he never turned a page. I didn't either.

Aoife trailed after Sully throughout the rest of the day, and he gave me these self-satisfied grins every now and then. Every time he looked in my direction, my skin crawled. He was beginning to terrify me, and I couldn't even express why. It was as if he were trying to be vaguely intimidating. Not just trying; I _was_ intimidated. And exceptionally pissed off.

The power he had over me came out of nowhere, and I couldn't understand it. Maybe he was trying to make me crazy, trying to make me say stupid things. After all, how could he have bitten my mother? Or climbed up to my bedroom window and vanished in the middle of the night? How could he really do a thing to me unless I consented?

There lay the problem. Every now and then, I seemed fully capable of allowing him to do whatever he liked, and that made no logical sense. I wasn't even sure if I was annoyed because of my own actions, or the fact I'd had to rely on Base, of all people, to rescue me.

I was running out of people to talk to, but I still had some friends, so when I saw Base alone in the lunchroom, I hesitated at my usual table.

"Save me an extra seat," I said to Maisy.

"Okay," she said, staring up at me with concern evident in her eyes. I heard her sharp inhalation as I walked toward Aoife and Sully, but I passed them by and headed straight over to Base.

"Base."

No answer. I yanked the earbuds out of his ears. He jumped with fright, almost as edgy as me.

"Relax," I said, holding up my hands. "Sit with us today."

"Why?" He frowned, glancing in Aoife's direction.

"Because there's no point in you sitting alone when there's a seat at our table."

He regarded me with narrowed eyes.

"I'm not... I'm not trying to trick you, Base. Jesus." I glanced at Sully who was watching us carefully. "But a show of solidarity might be in order, you know?"

Base nodded slowly. "Okay, thanks."

I made a scornful sound. "I'm not doing you a favour." I grabbed his bag and strode past Aoife who didn't bat an eyelid, but I sensed Sully's eyes on me.

Maisy raised a brow when Base took a seat next to me, as did everyone else at the table, but nobody said a word. After a couple of minutes, everyone was acting as though Base always sat with us.

"Deco and Shauna don't look impressed," Maisy whispered in my ear after I laughed at something Base said.

I refused to look in their direction. "Not my problem."

"You aren't trying to make him jealous, are you?"

"Who, Deco? With Base?" I hissed under my breath.

"No. Sully. And yes, with Base."

I frowned. "I wouldn't do that, Maisy. I wouldn't use someone like that."

She shrugged, her face brightening. "Just checking. 'Cause it's kind of weird."

"Let's just say he did me a favour, and leave it at that."

I rubbed my temples, trying to stave off the massive headache that was threatening to invade. I glanced at Base who was trading banter with the boy to his right. Base was still cute, but in a much more grown up way than before. He was eighteen, but he looked older. He was definitely attractive, but all I could think about was how humiliated I had been when Shauna warned me he was about to make a fool out of me. It didn't matter if she had been right or wrong; the feeling still remained, and I doubted I could ever shake it.

Base glanced at me, grinned, and went back to his conversation. I sat there, stunned, as a tremor of... _something_ ran through me. Shaking myself, I turned to Maisy and pretended to be interested in the conversation she was having. What the hell was wrong with me lately?

"Mind if I sit with you?" Base asked in our next class together. I shrugged, aiming for nonchalant, but every nerve in my body seemed to come to life. Deco was different in that I knew I had nothing to worry about. Although, I had been fonder of him than I realised, due to the amount of hurt I had experienced from his betrayal.

With Base, I remained on edge the entire time around him, and my body kept responding to him in ways that I really did not want. Sometimes I felt exactly as I had when we were younger, when I felt certain he was trying to make a fool of me. I still waited on the edge of my seat, half-expecting him to laugh in my face. It was hard to relax around someone you didn't quite trust.

"If all of this is some kind of joke to make a fool out of me, you'll so regret it," I hissed under my breath, making him jump.

"What?" He looked so confused that I almost laughed.

"I mean it," I said urgently, trying to contain my anxiety. "If you and Sully cooked up this entire thing together, I won't hold back."

"You're actually a crazy person," he said with a groan.

I gazed at him, feeling the colour drain from my cheeks. "It's not funny to scare people," I insisted, but there was a panic in my voice that I couldn't control, and even he heard it.

The tips of his ears reddened under my stare, and he spoke in a steady voice. "I have nothing to do with Sully. I wouldn't scare _anyone_ like this. Okay, Devlin?"

Looking at the sincerity in his eyes, I couldn't resist taking his word. I let out a whoosh of air, more relieved than I could say.

"Why would you even think that?" he asked curiously.

I gazed at my book, embarrassed by my outburst. "Track record, Base."

We said nothing for the remainder of the class, but the air permeated with embarrassment and tension. I was relieved to get it off my chest, but everything was so awkward that I regretted speaking my mind. We had planned to meet up after school, so why did I have to put something out there that we couldn't ignore?

I expected Base to pretend he had forgotten about meeting up, but he found me before I left school grounds.

"Wanna come to my house to do some, um, homework?" he asked in front of a startled Maisy. She giggled uncontrollably, looking from Base to me and back to Base again.

"Homework," she said with a snort. "Fine, I'll disappear. See you tomorrow," she said to me, giving me a look that said an explanation would definitely be necessary.

"Did you really have to say it like that?"

He frowned. "Embarrassed to be seen with me now?"

I rolled my eyes. "That's not what I meant."

"What did you mean then?" he asked as he followed me outside.

"She's going to ask me a million and one questions until she finds out the truth. Which she can't because she wouldn't understand."

"So lie," he said. "Do you actually want to go to my house? Or would yours be better?"

The idea of facing Base's family or him seeing my mother was too much. "Maybe we should go to the library instead," I said. "And actually get some homework done while we're there. I have to work later, so I don't have much time." My lack of time was more due to the fact I would have to cook and convince my mother to eat, but he didn't need to know all of that.

"That's fine," he said, to my relief. "I have an essay to finish anyway."

We walked on in silence, but when a car revved next to us, I clutched at his arm. He glanced at me and, likely seeing the expression on my face, he followed my gaze to see Sully grinning at us, Aoife by his side. Aoife who didn't even look in our direction.

"Need a lift, Devlin O'Mara?" Sully called out. "I'd love to catch up with your mother again."

I shuddered as he drove off.

"What did he mean?" Base asked, his hand closing into a fist.

"I came home one day, and he was sitting with Mam, and she was acting all _weird_. She said... Never mind. He's just being a creep. Let's hurry, okay?"

"Maybe we should go to your house," Base said slowly. "Make sure he isn't hassling your mam or anything like that."

I hesitated, but I was desperate to run back home. "Yes, please," I said in a small voice.

Without discussing it, we both hurried to my house. Some kind of urgency drove both of us, but I couldn't think what we imagined might be happening. As we reached my street, I gripped Base's arm again, apologising but unable to let go. I stopped walking and released him, breathing deeply.

"That's his car," I whispered. "Outside my house."

"Come on." Base grabbed my hand and strode straight toward my house with little hesitation. He probably thought Sully wasn't a match for him, being about half his width, but there was something dangerous in Sully's eyes, and I didn't want to test the theory.

I unlocked the door with shaking hands, but as I pushed it open, I heard a cheery voice calling hello.

"Mam?"

"Just in the kitchen!"

I glanced at Base, ridiculously confused.

"Oh, we've company," she said, beaming, coming into the living room with a bowl in her hands.

"Uh, yeah," I said. Then I stared at her appearance. "Is that... an _apron_?"

She twirled around with a girlish giggle. "I found it at the end of my bed this morning. I thought you left it there. Isn't it cute?"

I shook my head. This was getting more bizarre by the minute. "Yeah, adorable. This is, uh, Brian. He's helping me with some homework."

"How lovely. Won't you stay for dinner, love?" she asked Base. He looked at me warily, and I couldn't help shrugging.

"Food poisoning," I muttered under my breath.

Base grinned. "I'd love to," he said, to my surprise.

"Was anyone here before I came home?" I asked her after she invited Base to sit down.

"Here? No, love. Why?"

"Just asking," I murmured, moving to the window to peer outside. "Base, the car's gone."

He joined me, and we exchanged worried glances.

"Yeah, I definitely think he's trying to scare you," he said after a minute. "He's probably too much of a wimp to actually do anything, but maybe be careful who you answer the door to late at night."

"I come home from work late at night," I reminded him.

"Would you like a drink, Brian?" my Stepford Wife of a mother asked, interrupting us.

He shook his head. "No, thanks."

"We're going into my room to do some homework," I said.

"Leave the door open," she said, smiling merrily. "Dinner's ready in about thirty minutes."

"You need any help with that?" I asked her warily. I didn't trust her cooking, although she seemed sober. Undeniably strange, but still sober.

"No, no. You run along and get some work done before we eat."

I led Base into my bedroom, realising too late how great the potential for embarrassment would be. He gazed around the room, not at the mess, but at the dodgy teddy bears and silly trinkets that I had kept for years.

"This is girlier than I expected," he said, grinning.

"Shut up. Get out some homework and pretend you're helping."

"You seemed a bit surprised back there." He wandered around the room, picking up things. My nerves were shot to hell by the way he touched my stuff.

"That's an understatement. I do the cooking around here, and I don't know where the hell that apron popped out of." I moved to the window, watching out for Sully's vehicle. "Maybe it wasn't his car before."

"I checked the reg," he said, dashing my hopes. "My question is why he's still trying to mess with you when he has Aoife."

"Payback," I said. "Boys don't like to be embarrassed."

"No, we don't," he said drily, and my cheeks burned with heat.

"Base," I began, but when he held my gaze, I couldn't finish the sentence. "I, uh, have you tried talking to Aoife?" I said instead.

"I've called her a few times. Her Dad asked me to stop calling last night. He sounded more embarrassed than I felt. I mean, he knows me. And now..."

"Yeah," I said. "If Aoife wasn't so quiet, maybe more people would have noticed."

"Everyone noticed you. Maybe that's the point."

I stared at him, fully aware of how much sense that made to me.

"Maybe she just likes him," he said, swallowing hard. "Maybe she _wants_ to spend all of her time with him."

"Haven't you heard the way he speaks to her?"

He stared at me, waiting, and I forgot what I was going to say. "Stop looking at me like that."

He shook his head, obviously startled, but he grinned. "How am I looking at you?"

"In a way that makes me feel uncomfortable. Obviously." But I was smiling now, too.

"Do you think you could talk to Aoife at school?" he asked, kicking me out of the mood I was in.

"I'll try," I promised. "But if she won't listen to you..."

"I can't get her alone though," he said.

"So did she dump you? Or just ignore you until you got the idea?"

His eyes widened slightly. "We're just friends. She's like a little sister to me. That's what worries me. She had never even talked about him before, except for maybe once saying how terrible it was that he had upset you. So it was bang out of the blue what happened. She woke up one day all obsessed with him or something. That's bizarre, right? Even for a girl."

I smacked his arm. "Even for a girl? No wonder she ditched you for Sully," I teased.

"Harsh. What were you saying before? About the way he speaks to her? What did you mean?"

I thought about it before attempting to express what I meant. I pulled my knees close to my chest and wrapped my arms around my legs as if to protect myself. "It's like... he puts her down so that when he's nice to her, she's so grateful that she'll put up with anything... just to get him to be nice again."

His forehead creased, but he didn't say a word, so I carried on.

"He snipes away at her all of the time, and she acts like he's doing her a favour. But she's fallen for it so quickly. That's what I don't get."

He cocked his head to the side. "You see this before or something?"

I opened and closed my mouth. Mam saved the day by calling us for dinner, but I realised how close I was coming to revealing way too much of my life, and that wasn't like me at all. I was giving out about Aoife changing abruptly, and yet there I was, doing the exact same thing. I got rid of Base as soon as I could under pretence of having to get ready for work. He offered to go with me, in case Sully was hanging around, but I refused because, in a way, I was more afraid of Base than Sully.

# Chapter 9

Work had been tough going the night before, but Tom gave me a lift home and nothing untoward happened. I was so hopped up the next morning on my own agitation that getting up for school early wasn't a problem.

The school felt empty and cold when I arrived, and I realised I was even earlier than usual. It gave me time to do the homework I had pretended to do while Base had been in my house, but too soon, a biting chill spread across my arms, raising goose bumps on my skin.

I glanced around, saw no one, and tried my best to concentrate again, but it was no use. My nerves were gone. I had always been able to fake confidence, but even that was gone now. I pulled my hood up and shoved my hands into my sleeves, trying to coax some warmth into my body.

I heard the scuffle of a clumsy footstep, and I looked up with a fright. Two figures down the hall. Sully and Aoife. Her blonde hair was greasy, a complete change for her, and tied up into a high ponytail. Her skin was pale and drawn, and huge bags were under her eyes. A polo neck covered up her throat, and her appearance echoed mine, with her sleeves covering her hands.

Sully carried her schoolbag, with a sneer that might as well have been tattooed across his face. His sunglasses hid his eyes, and yet indifference emanated from him. He moved to my feet, and I felt myself at a serious disadvantage on the floor, yet again.

"Good morning, Devlin O'Mara. Isn't it a sweet, sweet day?"

I stared up at him, pulling my knees up close to my body.

"Cold, are we?" He pulled Aoife toward him, and she bounced against his frame like a puppet, her eyes dull and unfocused.

"Aoife?" Base called from the other side of the hallway. Within a couple of steps he had closed the space between us, and I felt better, warmer, all of a sudden. I got to my feet as Base asked Aoife if she was okay.

"She's fine," Sully said. "Not that it's any of your business." He laughed softly. "Not anymore."

"I wasn't talking to you," Base said aggressively. "Aoife?"

"She doesn't want to see you anymore, Brian," Sully said slowly. "She doesn't like you. She wants nothing to do with you ever again."

I glanced from one face to another, trying to figure out why Aoife wasn't speaking.

"Tell him, Aoife," Sully urged.

Aoife looked our way for the first time. Her eyes found Base, and she spoke, but it was a warped, cracked sound.

"I don't want to see you anymore, Brian," she echoed creepily. "I don't like you. I want nothing to do with you ever again."

Base made a strangled sound before storming off, his cheeks redder than usual.

"What are you doing to her?" I demanded of Sully. "Aoife, is he hurting you?"

She refused to look at me, and Sully only laughed. "Keep out of my way, little girl," he said, but he sounded like an old man. Experienced. In control. I couldn't look away, couldn't move, couldn't protect myself if he attacked me.

"If you don't," he whispered. "Then your mother will truly suffer. And we both know she's had so much of that already."

He breezed away, closely followed by Aoife, leaving me stunned into silence. He had actually threatened Mam. There was no way around it now. He was trying to scare me to keep me out of his business with Aoife. And that just made me eager to interfere.

I searched for Base, but he was nowhere to be seen. At lunchtime, I spotted Aoife leaving the canteen, presumably to use the bathroom, and I followed her without hesitation. If I could speak to her, reach out to her, maybe she would see she wasn't alone. That she could get away from Sully's threats, from the dreary hopelessness that followed his path.

I waited by the sinks until she left the stall, but she didn't even glance in my direction. I hesitated then, feeling uncomfortable, and I watched her dry her hands with a sideward glance into the mirror.

"Aoife," I began. "Everything okay?"

She gazed at herself in the mirror, acting as though I wasn't there. Alrighty then.

"Listen, I know you think Sully's something special, or whatever, but if he's hurting you, you can tell me. And Base... Base really cares about you, so why would you shut him out like this?"

She headed for the door, still avoiding my eyes. I blocked her way.

"Aoife, wait. Talk to me about this."

With a strangely feral sound, she threw herself at me before I could defend myself, knocking us both to the floor, her arms flailing, and her hands curved into claws. She scratched at my face as I tried to push her away, and hot, stinging pain seared across my cheek. After that, it was all I could do to keep her off me.

"Jesus," I spat when I managed to kick her away. "What are you doing?"

She fixed her hair in the mirror and walked out without a word. What in the hell was going on?

I stayed in the bathroom for a while longer, trying to process what had just happened as I held some damp tissue against my skin in an attempt to cool down the inflammation. Aoife, little Aoife, the quietest girl of all time, had just attacked me. Actually physically attacked me. What was I supposed to do with that?

I tidied myself as best I could, trying to cover the scratches on my face by letting my hair down and hiding behind it. I didn't want to get Aoife into trouble because she obviously wasn't in her right mind, and it had to have something to do with Sully's influence.

Base still wasn't around, so I couldn't talk to him about it, and when Maisy asked what happened, I blurted out the truth, but she looked so disbelieving that I left school early and went home. Nobody would notice if I wasn't there, and I would only miss one class, so I really didn't care.

Mam didn't realise I was home earlier than usual, and she was back in a catatonic-like state anyway. Sometimes I worried that one day she would retreat into herself and never come back.

I didn't have work that evening, so I took a long shower while dinner was cooking. The doorbell rang while I was in there, and to my disgust, my mother didn't answer the door, and the doorbell rang again.

"For the love of..."

I jumped out of the shower and pulled a towel around me, overly conscious of my red, blotchy face and wet skin and hair, and ran to the door to open it.

Base.

I cringed. "Really?" I demanded, trying to act brave despite my obvious nudity.

He stuttered for a few seconds. "I, uh, went to school to walk you home, and you weren't there, so I felt like, um, I should check up on you?" He rubbed his cheek nervously before stopping short as he tried to keep his eyes on my face. "What the hell happened to you?"

I let my wet hair fall across my face. "Nothing important," I said.

He brushed my hair from my face and peered at the marks Aoife had left. He winced. "It looks important to me."

"At least let me get dressed first!"

"Yeah, of course. Sorry, Dev." But I heard him laughing as he followed me into the house, and I prayed fervently that my towel covered everything.

I ran back into the bathroom, my heart racing with embarrassment. I would never hear the end of this one. But by the time I dressed, pinned up my hair, and returned to the living room, it was Base standing around awkwardly, his face a deep shade of red.

"Is your mam okay?" he asked, looking confused. "She keeps ignoring me."

"She's... Never mind. Want something to eat?"

"Nah. Thanks anyway."

"Well, I'm just going to leave some food out for her, and we'll chat, all right?"

He nodded, and I dashed around, finishing preparing a meal for my mother. I led her to a chair at the table and put the food in front of her, encouraging her to take a spoonful. After a minute, she began to feed herself, and I heaved a sigh of relief.

I dragged Base into my bedroom, half-hoping my mother would notice and throw a hissy-fit like a normal parent, and closed the door behind us.

"Aoife did it," I said when I noticed him gazing at my cheek again. I moved to look at the wound in the mirror on the wall. "I tried to talk to her in the bathroom earlier, but she blatantly ignored me. I blocked her way, and she threw herself at me, scratching like a cat or something. She's not herself, you know?"

"That's obvious," he said, frowning. He came up behind me, and as I glanced at him in the mirror, I caught him staring at me. I turned in a panic, realising too late how close he was to me.

He looked down at my face and touched my cheek softly. I inhaled sharply, a wave of heat flooding through my body. "That's pretty bad. She's never even killed a spider. This is just not Aoife."

"Maybe you could talk to her parents," I suggested, turning away so he'd stop touching my skin, but my heart didn't stop racing. "Maybe they could keep her away from Sully."

"It's just her dad," he said slowly. "But I could try. What am I supposed to say though?"

"The truth. That he's manipulating her, and you think he's dangerous."

"Do you really think he would hurt her? I know it looked bad before, but is it really what we think?"

I chewed my thumbnail, anxiety tearing my stomach apart in hard yanks. "I think he's capable of anything," I whispered.

"Will you come with me?" he said, urgency in his tone. "If it's just me, he might think I'm jealous or something."

"Aren't you?" I asked before I could even think.

His frown deepened. "Not jealous. Just concerned. And if a girl is worried, then it adds more weight, right? Will you?"

I nodded. "Okay, but it has to be either now or straight after school tomorrow. I have work tomorrow evening."

"We could do it now, but..."

"But what?"

He gave me a lopsided grin. "I have to work up the courage."

"You're scared of her Dad?" I scoffed.

"More like I'm scared she'll hate me forever if I interfere. It is kind of like ratting her up to her dad."

I shrugged. "If it keeps her safe then it's worth it, in my opinion."

"We _are_ right, aren't we? I mean, this is way more than bullying or stalking or possessiveness or any of that." He didn't sound convinced.

"Well, _I_ think it's more than that, so I could go alone, if that's what you're worried about."

He grinned, and I was stunned by my body's overreaction to it. "That's okay. But thanks. You're not so bad, even if you do believe everything you hear."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

His cheeks flushed pink. "Nothing. So what do you think I should tell her dad?"

It was a desperate attempt at changing the subject, but I let him get away with it because I wasn't sure I wanted to have a real conversation with Base. He unsettled me in a different way to Sully, but unsettled me all the same.

"The truth."

"What's the truth? I mean, we haven't actually seen him do anything in particular to her. He's a nasty git, but that isn't proof of anything."

"Yeah, but surely he'll see that she's changed. It's obvious."

"What if he doesn't care? I mean, people change. Devlin, what's the story with your mother?"

"Nothing," I snapped. "Don't talk about her."

"Okay, chill. But I was thinking... what if we really are overreacting? What if she's sick of me, or I offended her or something? What if she really does like him? Then what?"

I made an exasperated sound. "You're blind if you think that. I mean, it's Aoife! You've been glued at the hip for ages. That doesn't just go away overnight, no matter what you did to her." I realised what I was really saying, and my face heated up. He frowned, and I broke from his gaze and tried to sound cross. "Are you seriously backing out? Even after the way she was at school?"

He held up his hands. "I'm not backing out. No way. I'm just saying, if Aoife keeps telling me to stay away, why would we ignore her?"

"Because he's making her say that!"

"How, Devlin? How could he possibly make her say that?" His bottom lip trembled a little, and I shook my head firmly.

"You don't understand what he's like. When he tells you things. You believe him," I said without thinking. I rubbed my upper arms, chilled by the memory of Sully's touch, the way his eyes captured me and held me in his web.

Base's hands covered mine, his expression dead serious. "What exactly did he say to you?"

"I just meant that's what creeps like him do. They make you think certain things. They keep you away from your friends and family so you feel alone without them. They hurt you and make you think it was your fault, that you deserved it. They make you think that you're worthless so you won't have the strength to leave them."

His hands gripped me tighter. "How do you know all this?"

"Maybe we should hang out in the living room," I said abruptly. "I probably shouldn't have a boy in my bedroom. Even if it is only you."

He flinched, letting go, and he picked up his bag. "I need to get going," he said, and when he left, he slammed the door after him. I had no idea what just happened.

"Boys," I muttered, and went out to make sure my mother had eaten something. She had taken a few bites, but she had more colour in her cheeks. I put us both to bed early that night, although I sat up working on some homework for a couple of hours. I had taken to leaving both our bedroom doors open, just in case she cried out in the night, but she seemed to be getting through her constantly-drunk stage, if experience had taught me anything. Next would be the boyfriend-seeking stage.

I fell asleep with my book open, only mildly disturbed to feel fingertips against my skin. Someone stroked my arm, and I leaned against them.

"Base?" I whispered, still in a dream world. I heard a hiss and felt a pinch.

I sat up straight in the dark, wide awake and panting, my arm stinging like hell. I touched it, felt something wet, and turned on the lights with my stomach churning from the worry.

In the sudden light, I had to blink, and I could have sworn I saw something run out of my room. Without thinking, I jumped up and knelt on the floor to grab the bat I kept hidden under my bed. I ran out of the room, yelling, and a shadow moved in the corner of my eye. I swung the bat and felt the vibration of connecting with something, felt the tremor run through the bat and right up my arms, but there was nothing in the hallway. Nobody was there, so I moved slowly toward my mother's room, dreading what I might find.

She was still asleep, curled up under the blankets, her breathing slow and steady. With a sigh of relief, I realised I must have been dreaming. I glanced at my still stinging arm and virtually fell over with shock. Scarlet gouges marked my skin. Almost like fingernails had been embedded in my arm. I pressed the wounds with a piece of tissue from a box on my mother's bedside locker to stop the bleeding, and I made a point of checking all of the doors and windows before searching under the beds and in the wardrobes. I knew I would find nothing, and that scared me all the more.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked Base shyly the next morning between classes. He avoided my eyes, and I realised he was mad at me. "Did I do something wrong?" I said, completely forgetting what I had originally wanted to tell him.

He sighed. "No. I'm just stressed out." He looked at me for the first time. "Are you okay? You look terrible. Sorry," he added when I made a face. "I didn't mean it like that."

"I don't want to show you in front of everyone," I said, eyeing up the passing students.

"Meet me outside at lunchtime then," he said, waggling his eyebrows.

"Oh, shut up making it sound like that. Just meet me at lunch."

"Your every wish," he said, bowing.

At lunch, I saw him heading outside, and ran after him.

"Wait up," I said, grabbing his sleeve.

"You're keen," he teased.

"Yeah, yeah. So are we Jekyll or Hyde this afternoon?"

He rubbed his cheek, looking bashful. "Like I said, I'm stressed out. Tormenting you cheers me up though."

I couldn't help laughing. "Nice to see I'm good for something."

He bumped off my hip. "I bet you're good at a lot of things."

"Sleaze," I retorted, but I was completely at ease with him when I allowed myself to relax. When he joked like that, I was fine around him. I knew he didn't mean those kinds of things, unlike Sully, who made my skin crawl at every opportunity, so this was far safer territory for me.

"I'm glad you're here," I blurted. He stared at me in surprise. "I just mean... I'm glad I have someone to talk to about this kind of stuff. Everyone else thinks I'm insane."

He stared at me for a couple of seconds, and I felt safe territory slip away. I looked anywhere but at him, and as if he sensed my panic, he moved away and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"So what's up?"

"Last night, something, um, unusual happened, and I need you to give me a reasonable explanation for it."

He looked confused. I pulled him behind a wall, shielding us from the lunch time smokers. He opened his mouth to say something, but I yanked up my sleeve to show him my arm, and he held my wrist and elbow to pull my arm closer to him. The wound looked worse now, red and inflamed.

"What the hell?" he whispered. "It looks like someone took a chunk out of you. What happened? Was it Aoife?" But even he sounded doubtful.

"I don't know what happened. I woke up like this. I thought... I thought someone was in the room with me, and I called your name, and—"

"You called _my_ name?" he said with a grin.

"I must have been having a nightmare," I said dryly.

He clutched his chest as if wounded, so I thumped his arm. "Be serious! Anyway, then I felt the pain, and I sat up straight, but nobody was there. I turned on the light, and I thought I saw someone, but it must have been a shadow because all of the doors and windows were still locked. I picked up something and ran out into the hall, and I thought... I mean, I thought I hit something, but there was nobody there. It's spooky, right?"

"It's extremely spooky. Does it hurt?"

"A little, but I'm more concerned about reasonable explanations, remember?"

He thought for a second, holding on to my hand to keep my arm steady as he took a better look at the wounds. "Maybe, you were dreaming about me, and I was so good that you thought you were clawing my back, but you accidentally clawed your own arm instead."

I burst out laughing, all of my nervousness gone. _"That's_ your reasonable explanation?"

"Yeah. Then you realised you hate me and went on a little sleepwalking rampage to hurt me." He cocked his head to the side. "You probably scratched yourself accidentally, and thought you saw someone when you were still half-asleep. I mean, what else could it have been?"

But as we both stared at each other, my growing concern reflected in his eyes, I wondered if we were both thinking the same thing.

Sully. Somehow, Sully.

# Chapter 10

Deco sat next to me before Base could the next morning. I half-shrugged apologetically at Base, but he didn't seem bothered. Maybe it would be nice to talk about something other than Sully and Aoife for a change.

It wasn't.

"Aren't you over it yet?" Deco whispered.

"Over what?"

"Us. Splitting up. It's time we made up. People are starting to talk."

My laughter turned into a snort of derision. "Let them. I don't care what anyone says. I don't make the same mistake twice."

"Oh, is that why you're hanging around with Base?" He spoke loudly as he glared in Base's direction. Base turned in his seat to wink provocatively at him, pouting his lips and making me laugh again.

Deco scowled at me. "He's not funny, Devlin."

"I can hang around with anyone I like," I insisted. "And making friends is never a mistake. What do you care anyway? You cheated on me." I made myself furious just thinking about it.

"I didn't actually cheat. Okay, so I spent time with someone," he admitted. "But I didn't do anything more than that."

"That's because I _caught_ you," I hissed under my breath. "Oh, forget this." While the teacher's back was turned, I grabbed my stuff and slipped into an empty seat beside Base.

"Not a word, please," I whispered pleadingly, and he stared straight ahead, his mouth twitching. The teacher turned around, frowned, and then got on with the class.

Later, at lunch, Maisy got with the Deco program. "Maybe you should give him another chance," she said. "Unless you've someone else on your mind," she added, fluttering her eyelashes in Base's direction.

"Enough of that," I warned. "I've had enough of men to last me a lifetime."

Maisy rolled her eyes. "I would hardly call Base a man."

Base turned to her. "What was that?"

"Never mind." I glared at Maisy. "She's being her usual daft self."

"Anyone see Aoife today?" he asked. Nobody had. Maisy raised her eyebrows in concern. Not at the fact Aoife wasn't around, but at the idea he would ask about her in front of me when she clearly believed something was going on between us.

"I'm not with him," I whispered to her, but she shrugged.

"It's not a big deal," she replied. "You can do whatever, and whoever, you like."

I made a face. "You don't have to make it sound so trampy."

She laughed. "He's really into that Aoife chick."

"He's worried about her. Because of the whole Sully thing. I'm worried for her, too."

"She'll be fine. She's a big girl. You can't be everyone's big sister."

I stared at her in surprise.

She smiled. "Don't act like you don't know what you do. That whole bitchy act doesn't fool me, especially whenever someone needs help. I'm on to you, O'Mara."

"I seriously have no idea what you're on about, Maisy." But I grinned as she patted my arm affectionately. Sometimes I was grateful to Deco for screwing up, because the result had been Maisy and I becoming much closer.

After school, Base and I headed straight for Aoife's house. I sensed the nervousness emanating from Base, and it unsettled me, too.

Aoife's home was a small cottage. The well-kept window-boxes made it look pretty, and I felt a twinge of embarrassment for the state of my own home. Base hesitated at the door, taking deep breaths as if working up the courage.

"Oh, for the love of..." I rapped on the door sharply, ignoring Base's groan. After a moment, Aoife's father appeared, as Base had predicted.

But her father didn't look good. His eyes were red-rimmed, his stubble at least four days old, and his shirt was stained with God knew what.

"Um, is Aoife here?" I asked, unsure of myself. Aoife's father wasn't what I expected.

"In bed," he said, and he moved his bulk in the way of the doorway as if we would try and get past him.

"Is she okay?" Base asked.

"She doesn't want to see you anymore," he said in a dull voice.

"Is she sick?" I stared at Aoife's dad, weirded out by his appearance. He sounded like Aoife, and his eyes had that look in them, the one she had when she attacked me.

"No," her dad said.

"Then maybe she should be going to school," Base said.

I pulled Base backward just in time. Aoife's Dad swung a punch right at his head, but he didn't seem to care that he missed.

"What the hell are you doing?" Base pushed me behind him, but he didn't back off. "Where's Aoife?"

"Don't come back here." Aoife's Dad lurched toward Base again, but his coordination was off, abruptly reminding me of Aoife at school when her body appeared to work against itself.

"Let's go," I whispered. "This is getting too weird."

"I'm not going until he tells me what's going on," Base insisted, and he called out Aoife's name.

I tugged at his sleeve, calling his name, and he finally realised that we weren't getting anywhere. He let me lead him away, but Aoife's dad watched us until we turned a corner. Base still shook with anger, and I had to physically push against his chest to stop him from going back.

"Leave it, okay? Don't make it worse."

He glanced down at me, but I wasn't sure he was even seeing me.

"Please," I said softly. "Come home with me. We can't do anything here."

Sighing, he took my hands away from his chest. "Sorry. I'm just..."

"I know, but there's nothing for us here."

He nodded, letting go of my hands.

"What the hell is happening to everyone?" he said as we walked to my house.

"I don't know, but he was acting just like Aoife. That, I don't understand," I said. "I kinda get how Sully could, like, brainwash Aoife, but her dad, too? That's really unsettling."

He hesitated, his cheeks turning pink. "Ever think about the idea it could be something a little abnormal?"

"Like what?"

"Like _para_ normal."

"What are you saying, Base?"

"None of this makes sense, so what if it's magic or something?"

I stopped walking and faced him. "Magic? Really, Base? _Really_?"

"It has to be something," he murmured. "And you told me about your mam talking about getting bitten. People just do whatever Sully wants when they look at him, including you, by the way. What if he's—"

"Do _not_ say it."

"—A vampire?"

"A vampire," I echoed, thinking of all of the troubling things that had been happening, thinking of how that word had been on the tip of my tongue since the very first time I had laid eyes on Sully. The blood, the figure at my window, the gouge marks on my arm, Sully and his sunglasses, and me feeling inexplicably under his spell.

"Let me get this straight," I said, my heart racing. "You think Sully is a vampire."

"I'm just saying it's a possibility."

"It's... I really need to get ready for work. I have to get out of here."

I left him standing there, unable to deal with what he was trying to say. Adding up everything made no sense. Or rather it made too much sense. But vampires weren't real. Sully was just some creepy kid trying to scare people. Maybe he was in a gang, and Aoife's dad was terrified. He had scared me with little or no effort, after all. But not in a normal way, and there were all of those little things that didn't have reasonable explanations.

The stuff with Aoife was just typical dickhead stuff. Treating her mean to keep her keen. It didn't mean anything. Not really. Certainly not anything paranormal. It wasn't logical.

I thought about it all night at work, unable to concentrate on anything else. Base had really gotten under my skin again. I knew spending time with him would turn out to be a terrible idea. That's what happened around Base, I lost my damn mind.

Of all the stupid things... a vampire. If Maisy had said it, I would have accused her of reading too many young adult romances with handsome vampires. In fact, from the beginning, I had assumed Sully was influenced by those kinds of stories, trying to be that unattainable, dangerous boy that all of the girls fell over themselves for.

But I hadn't fallen for it, and he had moved on to Aoife, who now acted truly brainwashed all of a sudden. That kind of thing didn't usually happen overnight either, no matter how good at it the man was.

In this case boy.

_Vampire_.

Why would Base even come up with something like that? Just because Sully was an oddball who tried to act mysterious and would happily wear sunglasses in the rain. Just because... a million other reasons.

I had work all weekend. Mark had obviously gotten over the whole time off thing, probably because he couldn't get anyone to replace me. I was shocked to see Base, again, turn up during my shift.

"Thought I'd have some lunch," he said warily.

I rolled my eyes. "What can I get you?"

"Anything. Are you still mad at me?"

I bit my lip and doodled on my notebook, purely out of habit. I didn't need it, but some customers complained that I didn't write down orders, so Mark made me carry the notebook around and pretend to use it, even though I was fine memorising orders by now.

"I wasn't actually mad at you," I said, tapping the end of my pen against my chin. "But you have to admit it's a fucked up thing to say. Especially after everything. Yeah, he's peculiar, but I mean, paranormal stuff?" I shook my head. "That's a bit much, even for you."

"It makes sense though," he said, leaning forward, his dark eyes gleaming with excitement. "Doesn't it?"

"Yeah, a certain kind of illogical sense," I said. "But it doesn't make actual sense."

He frowned. "There's a difference?"

"Um, yeah. I mean, imagine if we started telling people we thought he was a, well, _you_ know."

"Fine, I get it. Nobody would believe me, even if it was true, but there's something dodgy about Sully. Look at Aoife. Look at her dad. Look at how shaken you've been by him. And all of the stuff you talked about before: your mam, your past, the way he made you feel that day in school. He has to be doing _something_."

"Yeah, and maybe he's pretending to be doing something paranormal. Maybe this is some kind of creepy role-playing game he's taking a little too far. And what can we do about it anyway? He obviously has a lot of people fooled."

"We film him," he said enthusiastically. "We follow him around, video any unusual activities, and get some proof that he's up to no good."

"So we stalk him?"

"Pretty much."

"I'm going to order your lunch before you get into this. What do you actually want to eat? I'll take my break when it's ready, and you can talk me through your lunatic plan."

"Whatever's good."

I sidled up to Mark. "Think I'll take my break now. That okay?"

He looked up from the pint he was pulling to glare at Base. "He bothering you?"

I covered my smile. "Not right now, no. He's a friend from school."

He shook his head. " _That's_ what passes for a school kid these days? Holy hell, Devlin."

"Are you quite finished? We have homework to discuss, so I'll be taking my lunch with him. But if you're run off your feet..."

Mark stared around at the mostly empty lounge and sighed heavily. "Fine. Help yourself in the kitchen. Go ahead. Feed my profits to the man-child eyeing you up."

"Is he?" I blurted. I glanced over my shoulder to see Base regarding us guardedly. "Oh. You're freaking him out. Stop, please."

"Maybe I should introduce myself," Mark said, only half-teasing.

"Don't you dare! I'll be in the back for five minutes tops. I'll blame you if he's gone by the time I get back."

"Oh, God," he said with a groan. "That serious?"

"It's not... Oh, shut up," I said as I saw his grin.

I hurried into the kitchen, still half-afraid Mark would embarrass me, and when I carried the sandwiches past him, he stopped me for a few seconds.

"Let him know I don't appreciate hands on my staff, all right?"

I rolled my eyes and headed over to Base. We ate together, squashed up in the corner, as far away from listening ears as possible, but Mark kept inching his way along the bar to get closer to us.

"What's with all of the evil eyes?" Base asked between bites.

"My boss is afraid I'll run off and have a baby instead of being his slave my entire life," I said loudly enough for Mark to hear me. He grunted and moved on, acting as though he hadn't been listening.

"Seems protective."

"He doesn't like man-children." I sniggered.

"Um, what?"

"Never mind. So any new thoughts on the Sully situation?"

"If we can get evidence that he's threatening Aoife, we could go to the police or the school, or try her father again," he said eagerly.

"Her dad won't believe us," I said slowly. "But the school might take it seriously. Bullying and all that. The police... I don't know."

"Hey, it's worth a try."

I drummed my fingers on the table, thinking hard. "If we could catch him on camera, threatening someone, insulting Aoife, anything at all, the school would probably have to do something, right?"

"If it's bad enough then maybe even the police. People would _have_ to pay attention to us."

"What if we don't find anything?"

Base stared at me. "Then we're going to have to accept that we're wrong about Sully. That's all. Are we agreed on that?"

"Of course. But there has to be _something_ going on. It's just how zombie-like she is," I confided in Base. "I've seen it before. That look. Like she doesn't even have to think anymore because he'll do it for her. And I hate it. I don't want to see Aoife go through that. I know she's a softie, but she seems too smart to fall for this crap, and it would suck if he got away with taking advantage of her vulnerabilities."

"That actually makes a lot of sense."

"What does?"

"About her vulnerabilities." He heaved a sigh. "She had a tough time of it before," he said in a soft voice that showed his affection for her. "And it's pretty hard for her to talk about, so I'm surprised if she's told Sully any of it. But how else would he know that she's vulnerable?"

"Why? What happened to her?"

He pushed his plate away, clearly disgusted. "It's not a secret. Most people know about it already, so I'm surprised you don't. But I'm going to tell you so you'll start cutting her some slack. She's not a doormat. She's just been hurt before."

"What do you mean? By a boyfriend?"

He shook his head. "Nah, worse than that. And it was a long time ago. Her parents had already divorced by the time her mother died, and her grandparents took care of her, but they weren't so good at watching out for her, and let's just say her uncle took advantage of that."

"Are you serious? Poor Aoife."

"Yeah, I know, but she rarely lets it get her down these days. When it finally came out, her dad was awarded custody, and she's been with him ever since. She's been happy. That's why it makes no bloody sense that he'd let this happen to her, too." He sounded so angry that I was afraid.

"I'm sorry," I said.

He flinched. "You did nothing. But she's had it so tough that I can't see her go through any more misery. She's so sweet. With her uncle... she made excuses for him. Didn't tell anyone what he was doing, but finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She told her grandparents, but they wouldn't believe her. Eventually, it all came out, and she ended up having to give evidence against him. That was harder on her than anything else. She's been doing so well, you know. With her dad and school and everything. She was so scared, and lately, she's been more confident. Then he comes along and ruins it."

"You sure you're not together?" I asked.

"We're like family. I feel like I'm supposed to protect her, and I let him take her."

I stared at him, seeing him through new eyes. "I'm sorry I've been horrible to you. I thought... you were someone else."

He rubbed the back of his neck, looking embarrassed. "Thanks. I'm glad we've been talking again."

I bit my lip, worried about what I wanted to say and knowing I was about to ruin a potential moment. "Here's the thing. Sully keeps talking about misery and broken girls and all of that stuff, and, well, you talking about Aoife's story makes me think there's some kind of a pattern."

"How do you mean?"

"It's just that a lot of bad things have happened to my mother, and he's said stuff, as if he knew about it. As if he _got off_ on it. I mean, he's picking on both of them, and both of them have gone through a lot. Makes me think, is all."

"Dev, he's picking on you, too." Base gazed steadily at me, and I needed to swallow down the emotions that threatened to suck me under.

"Wow, Mark's giving _me_ evil eyes now," I lied. "I had better get back to work. But yeah on the stalking plan. In for a penny."

"Good." He cleared his throat. "Start after school on Monday?"

"Yeah. But probably not for too long. I usually work most nights."

I thought about the logistics of following Sully around all evening and finally decided I needed some time off.

But after work, Mark approached me. "Hey, Dev. Good news."

"You sacked Franco?"

"Now what did Franco ever do to you?"

"Took my job." But I grinned.

"Pfft. You don't want his job. You want management. What the hell do you think I'm training you up for?"

"Wait, are you serious?"

He stared at me as if I were mental. "Who the hell else can tell everyone what to do without apologising for it? You're my little star in training."

"You're messing with me."

"Fine. I'm messing. Live in denial all you want. The actual good news is you're looking a little more alive, so I'm rostering you as much as you want for the rest of our natural lives."

I winced. "Actually, I was thinking I needed some time away during the week."

He shrugged. "All right then, throw my nice gestures back in my face. But it's good to see you finally getting a life."

"Um, what?"

"That young fella in here earlier. I suppose you could do worse. If you tried. I take it this turn of events is down to him."

My cheeks burned. "Well, yeah, but not in the way you think. I mean, it's—"

"Hey, I don't need the details. And Tom," he called out. "You'll be pleased to hear you won't need to give this one lifts all week for a change."

"How's that?" Tom approached the bar with interest.

"New boyfriend."

"He's not... he's not my boyfriend," I told Tom.

Tom and Mark exchanged amused glances. "Well," Tom said. "I hope it isn't that young lad who was bothering you."

"No, actually, he's helping me do something about... that person. We're going to catch him in the act, kind of use it against him if we can."

"What's this?" Mark asked.

"Some lad who can't take no for an answer," Tom said. "If anything happens, call me, okay? You never know if these kinds of idiots are harmless or not."

"Yeah, I know." All too well.

"Be careful," Mark said urgently. "I need you safe to cover hours next week, okay?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'll try not to get myself killed."

# Chapter 11

Stalking session number one came directly after school on Monday. Base had somehow managed to persuade his mother that he could drive her car without crashing, and it had slightly tinted windows, so it seemed like the perfect solution. I wasn't convinced it was a good idea, but I was unusually willing to take the chance. I wasn't prepared to analyse why.

We were in the car park before anyone else, watching Sully's car, and it was such a lovely day that it seemed a shame to be stuck inside.

"Let's hope he goes to a park or something today," Base said, opening the sunroof. "It's too hot for this shit."

I unzipped my tracksuit top and took it off. The car was sweltering, and the air conditioning didn't work. "Am I even safe in this car with you?" I asked.

"Afraid you won't be able to resist me?" he teased. "Of course you're safe. I'm an excellent driver."

"When did you even get a licence? You're like twelve. Oh, wait, that's just your mental age."

"Funny, aren't you? Mam made me learn when she was pregnant, just in case I had to drive her to the hospital or something crazy like that, and I figured I might as well go for the driving test when I was old enough. Might as well try do what I can now to lower the insurance when I save up for a car." He shrugged. "Didn't think I'd pass, but I lucked out."

"When was she pregnant?"

"She told me on my 14th birthday. I nearly passed out. He's almost four now. She named him Francis, so we call him Frankie to annoy her, and now he refuses to answer to Francis. He's a little cool dude though. Running around like a lunatic, climbing everything, calling me Base, and driving Mam demented. Great craic. And Damon's ten now. He's the quiet one, knows more than me about everything."

"I always wanted a little sister," I said wistfully.

"Nah. You'd have to share everything. I can't even have a sandwich without the little dude robbing half."

"I can't believe your mam had another baby. I can't imagine mine having one."

"It was a bit of a surprise. After Dad died, nobody really expected her to move on. Frankie's dad is okay, I suppose, but he doesn't live with us or anything. He's a bit of an idiot really. I'm more of a dad to the kid than he is." His cheeks flushed red. "Sorry for boring you."

"You're not. I think it's sweet that you help out."

"Don't have a choice," he said, grinning. "Not if I want any peace. How's your mam?" he added hesitantly.

I looked away. "Listen, Base, I'm not going to pretend that we don't know she's fucked up, but I'm not going to get into it either. Not any of it, okay?" I glanced at him, anxious in case he pushed me further.

"No worries," he said. "But if you ever want to, I'm here, okay?"

I could see he even meant it. But that wasn't going to happen. A movement in my eye line distracted me. "There he is," I said excitedly. "He's getting into his car with Aoife."

"We need to do this carefully," he said. "Have your phone ready, but I'm keeping as far back from his car as possible, or he'll just be on his best behaviour." He cocked his head to the side. "Not a bad result, actually."

"Yeah, but the quicker we catch him doing something dodgy, the quicker we can let somebody else deal with him."

He glanced at me. "He really scares you, doesn't he?"

Ignoring that, I pulled out my phone and kept my other hand on the video camera Base had brought with him, as I attempted to calm the beating of my heart.

"This is kind of exciting," I admitted as Base finally pulled out of the car park. Sully's car was at least four vehicles ahead, and I feared losing him, but we couldn't let him see us either. At least, not yet.

"It is a bit," Base agreed. "Let's just hope we get something out of this."

"I'd rather hope there's nothing to get," I said softly. "I'm scared of what we might see."

He glanced at me. "You're different lately."

I shrugged. "So are you. I think this might be us actually getting along."

He laughed out loud. "Wow, never thought I'd see the day we got along." He made a face. "Maybe not never, but lately."

I wrapped my arms around myself as he got way too close to the thing neither of us wanted to discuss.

We followed Sully to Aoife's home. She got out of the car and went inside, but he didn't follow her in. He drove off, and we followed him for an hour.

"Does he know we're behind him or something?" I asked, getting the feeling we were being dragged on a wild goose chase.

"Maybe. but if he does, then he might behave." He made a face. "Unless he's a vampire. Then he's just going to be pissed."

"Great," I whispered.

Sully eventually pulled into a wealthier area we had already passed, making it clear he had been circling, and slowed down. Base pulled in at the top of the road.

"It's a cul-de-sac," he explained. "He's either stopping here or turning around."

His car didn't come back out, so Base drove on a little. Sully's car was parked in the driveway of a mansion, pretty much.

"This is where he lives?" I blurted in amazement.

"If you tell me he's suddenly a lot more attractive, I'm going to boot you out of the car," Base warned.

I spluttered with laughter. "As if."

"I'm going to park down the road a bit, and we can wait and see if he goes anywhere else."

"How long do we give it?"

He shrugged. "At least until it gets dark. I mean, unless you have to be anywhere. Oh, wait. Are you hungry or anything?"

"Nah, but I'll probably need another energy drink if you want me to stay awake."

"What are you, a toddler? Fine, until you fall asleep then. There will be other days. I mean, we could do this every day if you wanted."

"I'll have to work on Friday," I reminded him. "Kinda need the money."

I watched his neck turn red. "Sorry," he said. "I should have done this by myself."

His phone rang, and as he answered, the redness on his neck spread up to his face and ears. "Yeah, okay," he said. "I will. I just said yes, didn't I?"

When he hung up, he glanced at me apologetically. "I've to get some baby wipes and kid's paracetamol on my way home. Baby wipes for the stickiness that follows Frankie around everywhere because he hates washing his hands. Medicine because he gets these earaches sometimes, and it's so bad, we can't run out of the pink stuff."

I laughed. "Maybe we should give up for the day?"

"What if we go get the wipes and medicine and drop them at my place, get some food for me, some energy drinks for you, and then come back and see if he's still here."

I pretended to think about it. "Fine." And after a minute. "I kinda had fun."

"You need to get out more," he teased.

"Can't argue with that."

"Hell, so do I. I can't even stalk a vampire without having to go to the supermarket for babywipes."

We glanced at each other and burst into laughter, a release from our earlier nerves. If I was honest, I was glad we weren't following Sully anymore. The idea of him confronting us unnerved me.

We drove to a supermarket where we wasted at least ten minutes trying to find the baby section.

"Shouldn't you be used to this already?" I asked.

"I am. I just get confused by all of the aisles."

"You're actually sweating."

"People keep looking at us all judgementally."

"Wow," I said wryly. "You'd think you'd be used to that, too."

"Get lost. I just hate the way everyone thinks they have a right to push their opinions on me."

"What on earth are you talking about?"

He paused then shrugged. "Never mind. I'll take these wipes, but I might have to go to a chemist for the medicine. I can't see it anywhere. I should probably pick up the boys some sweets while I'm at it."

"I'm sure your mother will thank you for the sugar rush."

"Please. The medicine is 99% sugar anyway. I'm starting to think Frankie fakes the earaches because he's addicted to the stuff. Besides, I'll be the one throwing them back to bed in the middle of the night, so don't worry."

It didn't sound like a joke.

"You really do help out then?"

He frowned. "Well, nobody else is going to help her. I help with the kids during the week, work at the weekends in my uncle's garage whenever I can, and I babysit on a Sunday night so she can have a life."

"Sorry, but when do _you_ have a life?"

He exhaled loudly. "God, you're annoying sometimes, you know that, O'Mara?"

"That's been well established. Probably why we don't hang out so much," I tried to say it laughingly, but it came out deadly serious.

He stopped walking to look at me. "I'm glad we are now."

I gazed up at him, wavering on the edge of something. His soft brown eyes captured me, but in a safe way. And that was the danger. "We should just ask someone about the medicine," I blurted. He agreed, and we eventually discovered we had to get it over the counter.

We paid and headed back to the car in silence.

"You can wait in the car if you don't want to come in," he said, opening the door for me.

That flustered me. "Oh. If you want."

"I literally just put it on you, Dev." He laughed, shaking his head as he got into the car. He waited until I got in before speaking. "Fine. Come in with me, but don't say I didn't give you the chance to opt out when Frankie Sticky Fingers pulls your hair."

"Not my hair," I said, mock horrified.

"That's if you're lucky," he said. "You don't seem very lucky to me."

"Why do I get the feeling you want me to stay in the car? That makes me curious. Very curious, _Brian_."

He groaned. "Remind me why I don't kick you out of the car right now?" he asked as he pulled out of the shopping centre. He drove carefully, kind of slow, and I hoped we didn't get into any high-speed car chases. That amused me.

"What are you looking so happy about?"

I shrugged. "I forgot you were beside me for a second."

He guffawed, making me jump about a foot in the air. "That would do it," he said.

We exchanged some more banter as we drove to his house, and I forgot about how much I was supposed to hate him. I could put that aside for a while. For the sole purpose of taking down Sully, obviously.

Brian's mother appeared harried and stressed as she opened the door to greet us. She barely looked my way, but I could see bags under her eyes, and lines of tension wrinkling her skin. "I need you to babysit. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but I have to go."

"What now?" Base asked, unable to contain his frustration, apparently also forgetting about me.

She glanced over her shoulder then lowered her voice into a whisper. "Frankie's dad. He needs me. I'll be a couple of hours tops."

"Mam, I had plans tonight."

"I'm sure your date won't mind if you rearrange it. Or she could help you, right?" She looked at me for the first time, a strange kind of desperation in her eyes, and I found myself nodding my agreement.

"Great," Base mumbled. "Fine. Go. But this is the last time. I mean it."

"Of course, hon," she said, brightening. "I won't be long. Don't forget now, just a spoonful of medicine if his ears bother him tonight." She pulled on her jacket and literally ran out the door, grabbing the car keys out of Base's hands without even saying goodbye.

He dumped the bag on the floor with a sigh. "I can call you a taxi home," he said without looking at me. "Sorry about the other stuff."

"It's fine. Family's kind of important."

"Yeah, but—" He let out a whoosh of sound as a tiny figure barrelled into him, almost knocking him over.

"Basey," it squealed, pulling away, and I saw a little boy, small for his age, with eyes like Base, but a paler complexion and light brown hair like their mother.

"This giant is Frankie," Base said, and he looked extremely proud. "Damon?" he called out. "Come meet someone."

Damon looked like a smaller, calmer version of Base. His gaze was inscrutable, and I shifted from one foot to the other, embarrassed by the attention.

"This is Devlin. I'm going to call her a taxi, so be nice while she's here, okay?"

"Dinner first, Base. I mean, please. Dinner first, pretty, pretty please," Frankie said, and Base groaned, picking him up easily and sitting him on his shoulder.

"You mind if I throw on a pizza before I call?" he asked me. "It might distract him long enough to get you out of here without, I don't know, a lollipop stuck to your hair?"

"It's fine. I'm not in a hurry."

"Come on," he said. "Damon, pick some pizza out of the freezer. Frankie, you come with me to put the oven on. Devlin... try not to fall over any lego."

I followed the three of them into the kitchen, sidestepping a trail of toys along the way. Their house was only slightly larger than my own, and while it looked a lot more hectic, it seemed a lot cleaner, too, despite the toys.

Damon sat next to me at the kitchen table after he picked out a pizza without much thought.

"You go to school with Brian?" he asked, still staring at me.

"Yep." I tried to smile at him, but I was pretty useless with kids. I didn't have a clue what to do with them. Especially ones of Damon's age.

"Do you know Aoife?" he asked, and I glanced at Base, but he didn't seem to notice. He was busy wrestling a three-year-old.

"Yeah. She's at our school, too," I said hesitantly.

"Where is she? We like her, but she doesn't come by anymore. Did something happen to her?"

"Happen... No, she's fine. Just busy with school and stuff."

"Why aren't you?"

"What?"

"Busy with school and stuff," he said solemnly.

I smiled with relief. "I already have a job. School stuff isn't as important to me."

"Why don't you go to college? I'm going to college. But Brian won't because he has to—"

"Okay, that's enough," Base said, his cheeks red. "Enough questions."

"I was only asking," Damon said, pouting.

Base ruffled his hair. "I know. I'm gonna ring for a taxi now. Okay, Dev?"

I nodded, but I didn't really want to go. I wasn't even sure why.

We hung out in the kitchen after Base called for a taxi, all four of us, with Damon still keeping an eye on me.

"I don't think your brother likes me much," I whispered to Base when Frankie grew bored of trying to climb up his back.

He glanced at Damon and shook his head. "He hasn't decided yet."

"I'm not really good with boys. How do I make him like me?"

Base tried to hide his smile, but I knew he was laughing at me.

"Oh, shut up," I said. "I was only—"

"I know," he said. "I'm just surprised you would even make an effort."

I frowned at him before realising that was exactly what I usually wanted people to think of me. So what had changed?

"Eevee's more pretty than you," Frankie announced while Base checked on the pizza. He widened his arms into an outward stretch. "This many more."

"That's _rude_ , Frankie," Damon said. "They're just different." He turned to me, making a disgusted face. "He thinks Aoife's his girlfriend."

"Ew," I whispered. "Girl germs."

Damon gave me his first smile, and I felt as though I had won at something.

Base made his brothers sit at the table with a slice of pizza each, and a beep outside alerted us to the taxi. The boys didn't seem to notice my goodbye, and Base walked me out to the car.

He dug into his pocket and tried to hand me some money for the taxi, but I held up my hand.

"Don't be stupid. I have it."

"Sorry again," he said. "About having to cancel the plan."

"Doesn't matter. I, um, I liked your brothers."

He grinned. "Not bad, are they?" He rubbed the back of his head, and I didn't quite know what to say. Luckily, the taxi driver beeped again.

"Well, see you," I said and got into the taxi. As the car drove away from Base, I felt a little pang.

At home, Mam had makeup on and her hair blow-dried straight, perfume pervading the entire house. "I'm off out," she said. "Don't stay up too late."

"Where are you going?"

"Oh, love. I'm just going out to meet some friends."

Translation: A date.

Base rang me not long after she left.

"Just making sure you got home okay," he said sheepishly.

I aimed for a scathing laugh, but it came out too shaky. "I'm actually capable of taking a taxi home without getting myself into trouble."

"You okay? You sound odd."

"It's nothing. My mother just went out on a date, and it's—"

"Gross? Squickworthy? Tell me about it. I have a three-year-old brother."

We spoke for a while, about nothing in particular, and when he hung up, I felt that strange pang again.

Mam didn't come home that night, but I sat up waiting anyway, my duvet wrapped around me, and all of the lights switched on. I didn't know what I was so scared of, not exactly, but the sense that I wasn't entirely alone kept me awake even when darkness receded and dawn began to break across the sky.

# Chapter 12

School was a nightmare. Mam still hadn't come home, and I waited as long as possible in case she returned. But she never showed, and she didn't answer any of my calls, so I headed out late, still exhausted from the lack of sleep from the night before.

I got to school halfway through the first class, and as I hurried through the hallway, I saw Sully and Aoife standing outside the room as if waiting for me. He appeared to be purposely parading a dead-eyed Aoife in front of me, and I had to wonder why.

"What's your deal with me?" I asked, and he seemed startled by the question. "What's your obsession? Are you trying to show me what I missed out on because, wow, looking at her, I'm thinking lucky break."

He gave a wide grin, and I had to blink a couple of times because I was certain his teeth elongated in front of my eyes. Base and his vampires... Now I was seeing things.

"I know what you are," I blurted on a whim, and he flinched visibly. He quickly recovered, his mouth contorting into a dangerous expression as his fingers twitched.

"Good. Maybe, when I'm finished with her, I'll give you a try, too," he said. "Maybe I'll even let you watch. I might not be satisfied with just one this time."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means be very careful, Devlin O'Mara. It means however scared and frustrated you feel now will only make the end sweeter. It means that you'll know you could have avoided this, and that it didn't have to be this way for Aoife. It means a smart mouth like yours never wins in the end. You know, don't you? You know how this will end. The only question is when, and I like to take my time. I'm looking forward to enjoying your despair."

He took off his glasses, and I saw his eyes clearly. Too clearly. Too close to me. Dark eyes, tinged with red around the pupils. Terrifying eyes that promised nightmares and horror. I realised I was shivering, and when he spoke again, his voice sounded thicker, as though his mouth was full.

"It means that if I feel like finishing you off, nobody could save you. Nobody can save Aoife either, but perhaps you can protect your own mother if you stay out of my way."

"What do you want with us?" I whispered.

"I want your pain. You're all such beautifully broken creatures, Devlin O'Mara. Even your nightmares are delicious."

He pushed Aoife forward, and she shuffled out of the hallway, but he moved in on me, his fingers around my throat before I could blink twice. The chill, the pain. I couldn't breathe, couldn't move, and darkness surrounded my line of sight as I tried to choke in a breath.

"You know what I am?" he hissed. "You also know what _you_ are, don't you? And that's why you mouth off. Because you're nothing. You're a nobody. You're a disgustingly pathetic little girl with nothing going for her. Even your mother never loved you enough to protect you. Did you know that's what she sees in her nightmares? How she wasn't woman enough to look after her own child? You have to take care of her, and for what? What thanks do you get? I could end your pain, Devlin O'Mara. All of that sweet suffering that never goes away. I could take it. Bring you peace."

I stared into his eyes, hypnotised by his words. He was right. I had nothing. I _was_ nothing. I didn't have anyone I trusted. I kept my life a secret from the people I called friends. My mother had more interest in finding a boyfriend than she had in spending time with me. Even Base was only wasting his time with me to get Aoife back. Deco had cheated on me. Shauna did everything she could to put me down. Maisy put up with me until someone better came along. Only Sully understood. Only Sully knew the truth. Only Sully could end the pain.

"Yes," I whispered. "Take it."

"Beg me," he hissed back, and his excitement shimmered off him in visible waves. I could feel it sink into my skin, along with the urge to scrub it away, but it all slipped away as I lost myself. His nose found my throat, inhaling deeply as he nuzzled at my skin. "Beg me," he repeated. "Let me save you from yourself, Devlin O'Mara."

"Save me," I whispered, crumpling against him as I felt his teeth scrape against my skin. He made a giddy sound and licked my throat. I froze, a tiny part of my brain screaming at me to run, to fight, to break free, but his eyes found me again, his nose brushing against mine, and the numbness clouded everything.

His fingernails dug into my skin, but there was no physical pain anymore. No _Sully_ anymore. There were only memories, flooding through my brain over and over again without stopping. I wanted to gasp, to struggle, to breathe, but all I saw was my past, the aching, every fear I had ever known. I felt it all, suffered as if it were really happening again. Fear for my mother, fear of her ex, fear that this would be my entire life. That this was the sum of my existence. The memory train ran over me. Again and again and again.

Something stung my neck, but it was nothing because the waves from the past grew harsher, and I couldn't ride past the anguish.

As abruptly as it began, the memories stopped flashing before me, and I sank to the ground, trembling all over as Sully was ripped from me.

I choked in gasping breaths as I tried to see what was happening, but my eyes blurred from the tears, and all I heard was Base's voice. It broke through the murmurs in my head, broke right through Sully's hold on me, but I still faced my past alone. I still struggled to catch my breath as I drowned in my own fear.

"What are you doing to her?" Base shouted, and I realised he was angry, angrier than I had ever seen. He reached out to me, but I pulled away until my back was against the lockers again. I was worthless. Sully was right. I was...

Base lifted me to my feet, ignoring my protests, and the touch of his skin against mine warmed up the chill left from Sully.

The spell had broken completely, and I gripped onto Base's shirt, unable to hold myself up because I shook so much. Sully laughed aloud, shoving his sunglasses back on as he licked a drop of blood from the corner of his mouth. My hand found the nick on my neck, and I whimpered again, unable to help myself.

"Yes," Sully said to me. "I'll put you out of your misery soon enough, little broken thing. But I'll enjoy Aoife while you wait for me." He was gone quicker than should have been possible. Base made to run after him, but I was still clinging to him, and he stayed with me.

"Are you okay?" Base asked, but he was still glowering at the path Sully had taken. He seemed to remember me then, and he held my chin to force me to look into his eyes. "Dev, what did he do to you? Talk to me. Are you all right?"

"Yes," I said and burst into tears.

"You're shaking," he said, rubbing my arms.

"No shit," I said, feeling a bubble of hysteria rise up within. "I need to sit down."

He sank to the floor and pulled me on his lap, whispering words I couldn't hear as he rubbed my back comfortingly.

"He's a... he's a _monster_ , Base," I whispered after a few minutes of staring at the floor.

"I know. I was looking out the window and saw you cut through the car park. When you didn't come to class I thought I'd check. Just in case. I saw... I dunno what I saw. Your eyes... like _Aoife_. For a minute there, I thought I'd lost you, too." His grip tightened, and in that second, I never wanted him to let me go.

"I couldn't look away." I shuddered again. "He knows about me. Somehow he knows, and I remembered... I remembered _everything_."

"What happened exactly?"

"I don't know." I touched my neck again, but the nick was tiny, and it had stopped bleeding practically straight away. It had all been so confusing. "He cut me, and he kept saying things, and when I looked at him... I believed them. Every word. I kept seeing things. Things like... I... I think I asked him to _hurt_ me, Base. What the fuck was that? What the fuck is wrong with _me_?"

"It's okay," he said. "It's okay."

"It's not. He said he'd hurt her. Aoife. And my mother. He said he'd hurt _her_ if I didn't stay out of his way. He said we were all tragic. Broken. That our nightmares are delicious. What does that even mean?"

"I don't know. But we're not going to find out. We're going to figure out what he is and what he can do, and then we're going to deal with it."

"Nobody will believe us," I said. "Nobody."

"We don't need them to. As long as we know the truth."

"We don't know anything! Didn't you see him? He licked my blood, Base. My _blood_. He threatened us. And his eyes. So... so _wrong_."

"You know what I think."

"Don't say it!" I cried, and I made to pull away, but he held me closer.

"Why are you mad?" he asked curiously.

"I'm scared just saying it will make it real. It's so impossible," I whispered. I wiped away my tears. "But nothing about him is normal. I don't know what else there is to think. But if it's true..."

"You don't have to help, you know. If you're afraid."

I turned my head slightly to gaze at Base. "I'm too afraid not to help."

His hand ran up my spine until he was caressing the back of my neck. He glanced at my mouth, and I held my breath. "Dev, I—"

"Am I interrupting something?" an amused Maisy asked. Had the bell gone already? How long had I been in Sully's grasp?

And on Base's lap.

Realising what it looked like, I jumped to my feet. Maisy couldn't think that. If she did, everyone would know, and Deco would give Base a hard time for it. I couldn't handle that as well.

"No," I protested, too loudly, too emphatically.

Base got to his feet, a fleeting look of hurt on his face. "Don't worry. She was just freaked because Sully threatened her again."

"Oh, my God. Again? What's his deal? Are you okay?" And on and on it went, multiplied by anyone else who showed up, until Base slipped away without being noticed by anyone but me. I tried to tell him with my eyes, to tell him thank you and that I didn't mean everything I did, but he looked away and left.

I didn't catch him alone again until one class before lunch. He sat by himself, avoiding my eyes. I took a seat next to him anyway, ignoring Maisy's surprise.

"Let me explain earlier," I said.

"You don't have to explain anything to me," he whispered back, opening his book.

"You get the wrong idea the whole time."

"I didn't get the wrong idea. I know perfectly well there's nothing between us. You made that clear years ago, remember?"

He looked at me then, his dark hair falling across one eye. I resisted the urge to brush it away. That would make everything worse.

"Look, I get that you hate me. I don't know what... All I know is that we have to stick together to get one over on Sully, but if Deco thinks you and me have something going on, he won't stop tormenting you. Trust me on this, please. He's mad at me, and he'll take it out on you if he thinks he can."

"You reckon I'll sit here and take it from him?" he asked.

I groaned, and the teacher glared in my direction. I pretended to read my open book. "Can we please not start comparing testosterone? It's not about that. It's the fact we can't sneak around after Sully if someone's following you with the intent of making your life hell. I know Deco. He can't accept being wrong, and I mean, ever, so if he can take it out on you, he will. Because he won't do it to me, and that means it's all building up inside him. But _we_ have plans. He'll get in the way of those plans. Do you understand now?"

"I understand," he said coldly. "So go sit somewhere else."

I flinched at his words, feeling a panicky sense of hurt. I swallowed hard. "But I... Fine. If that's what you want," I said, and made to move.

"Forget it," he said sharply, holding on to my bag and pulling me back into the seat. "I don't even care. But Ms. Healy keeps looking our way, so try not to get me into any more trouble, all right?"

For the rest of the class, I felt completely alone. I was still shaken over Sully, Base was mad at me for reasons I didn't even understand, and I felt as though all of it might be my fault after all. There was something about me that drew Sully in. And pissed him off just as much. He had noticed my mother and Aoife because I had led him right to them. He had called me broken. Useless. Pointless. And I had believed him. That chilled me more than anything else. Even more than the memories.

The bell for lunch soon rang, and I hesitated by the desk as Base spent an inordinate amount of time rearranging the books in his bag.

"Are we still on for later then?" I asked in an embarrassingly pitiful tone of voice as soon as the room had emptied.

"Don't," he said, throwing his bag down.

"Don't what?"

He gazed at me. "Don't sound so _hurt_."

"You can't hurt me," I managed to squeak out. "Nobody can."

I turned on my heel and fled to the lunchroom, breathing deeply to gain some semblance of control over my emotions. I kept wearing my heart on my sleeve, and I couldn't even tell myself why exactly. I had always covered up what I really felt, and now I wasn't able to anymore. It was as if Sully had taken a sledgehammer and smashed a hole in the dam I had created to protect myself. Now all sorts of feelings were leaking into my life, betraying me.

At my usual lunch table, I was soon surrounded by "friends," or rather, nosy people who wanted an update on the Sully situation. As predicted, the entire world knew we had another confrontation that morning, and the questions were becoming rather insistent. Even Shauna and Deco had joined us, Deco pulling two large tables together to make room for us all.

"So you were alone with him," Shauna said after hearing the story. "I mean, it's just your word that he actually did anything."

Our friends fell into silence at the implication.

"What are you trying to say?" I asked harshly.

"Only that it's your word against his, and you haven't exactly been yourself lately. I mean, not that anyone would blame you. Deco ditched you, most of your friends left you, and you're left with..." She glanced at Maisy in disgust. "Not a lot, really."

"Leave it out, Shauna," Deco said, and Maisy puffed out her chest, ready to launch into a tirade of her own. I opened and closed my mouth, unsure of how to react.

"I was there," Base said, and I wondered when he had arrived. "So it's _our_ word against his."

"Oh," Shauna said, grinning madly. "Are you together now? Isn't that a turn of events?"

"We're not together," Base said as he took a seat. "You know that better than anyone, right, Shauna? I just walked in on him holding her up against the wall, threatening her. He was trying to scare her while nobody else was around."

Maisy pushed her chair closer to his. "So, you, like, saved her? That's so sweet."

I rolled my eyes, but the damage was done. Everyone's attention was on Base now. Everyone except Shauna. She noticed when I mouthed, "thank you," to Base. She noticed when I slipped away.

I couldn't help looking over my shoulder as I headed to my locker, but Sully and Aoife were nowhere to be seen. I hadn't seen them since that morning, but the things he had made me feel still lingered.

I ended up standing next to my locker, my eyes closed, leaning the back of my head against the cool metal. I had a headache, I was exhausted, and the day wasn't nearly over. I touched my neck, trying to push the memories away, but I could feel Sully's hand on my throat, could feel the pull of his gaze, the numbness that had overcome me as he told me how to think.

"Hey," Base said, and his aftershave wafted over me. I opened my eyes slowly, feeling a tingle throughout my body at the close proximity.

"Hey," I mimicked, unsure of myself. Base's arm was next to my head, and he leaned closer to me than he had ever been. He lifted my collar, his fingers grazing the sensitive part of my throat.

"There's a bruise," he explained. "You don't want to worry your mam."

I swallowed hard, unable to look him in the eye. He might have noticed because he backed off to give me space.

"We're still on for later, if you're available," he said softly. "And, oh, my _God_ , your friends are annoying."

I giggled, fighting the urge to flutter my eyelashes, or something equally girly and pathetic.

"Seriously," he said, giving me his easy grin. "How have you not been driven mad yet?"

"Who says I haven't?"

"I think you have a little bit to go before you're completely insane. I don't have the car, so you up for walking to my house to get it?"

"Yeah, but can you drop me home for a couple of minutes. I have to make sure... Well, um..."

"You have to take care of your Mam," he said simply. "There's no shame in that, Dev."

"I'm not ashamed," I argued. "It's just private."

He closed in an inch, and my heart raced again. When had I turned into such a twit?

"We're more alike than I thought," he began, but then Deco was in front of me, and Base was moving away, leaving me feeling ridiculously bereft.

"Can we talk?" Deco asked.

"We're talking," I said, trying not to sound as irritated as I felt by the interruption.

"I don't like the idea of this Sully dude threatening you. Want me to deal with him?"

"No," I said, too quickly, but I knew how Deco dealt with situations. He wanted to protect the people in his life, and sometimes he was too hot-headed. But in this case, I feared for _him_ , not Sully. "I don't want any trouble. For either of us."

"You're scared of him? Jesus, Dev, what did he do to you?"

"He's just a creep," I said as brusquely as I could manage. "No big deal. It sounded more than it was. You know what people are like, always with the drama."

"It didn't sound like nothing to me though," he persisted.

"I can handle it, and if I ever feel like I can't, I'll come to you for help, okay?" I said in a softer tone, knowing it would work best on him.

"Cool," he said, smiling again. "I'm holding you to that."

I held up my hand. "Swears." I fidgeted then, unsure of where to take the conversation. "Well, I should get to English."

"I'll walk you," he said immediately.

"I need the ladies," I countered. "See you later," I added before he could offer something else.

I managed to avoid him for most of the day, and when the final bell rang, I cornered Base and made him wait at least ten minutes before leaving. We watched Deco out of a classroom window as he loitered in the car park, looking around.

"See?" I told Base. "He's waiting for me. He keeps trying to talk to me." I gave an exaggerated shudder.

"You went out with him. Like, recently." Base sounded a little sickened. "Didn't you care about him at all?"

That stunned me. How did he keep finding ways to make me feel inadequate?

"It's not that. I mean, I liked him well enough."

He frowned. "You used him."

"I didn't _use_ him. He cheated on me, so he didn't exactly love me either, Base," I snapped.

"He knew you didn't care, or maybe he hoped it would provoke a reaction for a change," he said slowly, staring out of the window. "That's pretty awful. I'm starting to feel grateful that you turned me down that time."

I shoved him as hard as possible, and in his surprise, he stumbled against a desk.

"What the hell, Dev?"

"You don't get to mock me," I shouted as he stared at me in amazement. "You tried to make a fool out of _me_! It's partly your fault that I made sure I went out with someone I wouldn't fall for, so don't you dare turn it around on me as if I'm a horrible person."

I fled to the bathroom before a tear could fall. I had always thought I was doing the best thing with Deco. He wasn't bothered; I wasn't bothered. We could never hurt each other. But what if I had been wrong? Deco seemed keen to talk to me. Maybe he had cared, after all. Maybe the whole thing with the blonde really had been a way to get my attention. I wanted to throw up.

And, too late, I realised I had told Base the truth of the matter. I had allowed him to see something that I had buried deep inside, and now he could use it to hurt me. He was drawing ever closer to seeing the real me and how absolutely screwed up my entire life had become.

Deco was gone by the time I left the bathroom and went outside. I hurried home, unwilling to see or talk to anyone.

Mam was back when I reached the house, but _he_ was there, the last scumbag she had allowed into her life. The sad part was that Richard was probably one of the better ones. At least he had never used his fists. Never tried anything else.

"This is ridiculous," I spat when I saw them wrapped in an embrace on the sofa. "Aren't you married?"

"You don't understand, Dev. It's over between them. Everything's changed," Mam said brightly, needing to believe the lie.

"You're so fucking _stupid_ ," I snapped, unable to stop myself. Heat flooded my cheeks, and the scumbag actually stood up and let it rip at me.

"Don't speak to your mother like that in front of me," he shouted. "You've never learned any respect, you little upstart. You've always come between us, causing problems."

"Oh, get lost, Richard," I shouted back. "Run home to your wife, you sick little—"

The doorbell rang, cutting through my words, and the three of us stood there, glaring at each other. "Fine, _I'll_ get it," I said after the bell rang again, my chest still heaving with anger and unsaid words.

It was Base, and I stood there, frozen with embarrassment at what he had probably heard.

"Everything okay?" he asked, peering past me at the lanky fool standing in my living room.

"Everything's super," I said in a mockingly breezy tone of voice.

"Why don't you take a walk with your friend?" Mam said. "Maybe some time away from here will help you see things a little clearer."

"Maybe the boyfriend will thaw out that heart of ice you have there," Richard said, pretty much choking with laughter at his own joke.

I closed my eyes for two seconds, biting down the retort that wedged itself stubbornly in my throat, and took one long, deep breath.

"He had better be gone by the time I get back," I warned in a low voice, stepping outside and closing the door behind me. "I'm going for a walk. See you at school," I added when Base looked at me questioningly.

"Don't be an idiot," he said. "Get in the car, and cool down."

I let him lead me to the passenger seat because I didn't know what else to do. I fumed with years of resentment. How dare she? How dare _he_? How was I supposed to compete with the biggest lying scumbag the earth had ever seen? And now, with everything else going on. My fingers shook as adrenalin spurted through my body. I was losing control.

"Anywhere in particular?" Base asked me quietly, probably realising I might explode at any second.

"Sully," I said, choked up again. "I want to get Sully."

# Chapter 13

"Wanna talk about anything?" Base asked hesitantly after a few minutes of silence.

"No, thanks," I said, turning up the volume of the car radio. The song was annoying, but it was better than talking.

He switched to a CD, and a familiar song assaulted my ears. It felt angry, and that was exactly what I needed.

"Didn't take you for a Metallica fan," I said a few minutes later.

"You get a lot of things wrong," he said, and then he laughed. "But please, don't kill me. Safety first."

I glanced at him. "Do you always have to be a smartarse?"

"Trust me when I say that you can't handle anything else," he said softly. "So. You seem tense. What was going on back there?"

"Remember I told you how I liked privacy," I warned.

"Hey, you caught a glimpse of my family life," he said, grinning. "Fair's fair."

"Fine," I said, realising I _wanted_ to talk about it. "That idiot is my mother's ex. The most recent one anyway. He's married, and every time the guilt gets too much, he ditches my mam. She gets all depressed and goes through this big ritual of crap that you've witnessed a little of. Then she gets better. I mean, eventually she gets better."

I clenched my fingers into fists. "Or she would if it wasn't for him. _He_ keeps popping back up as soon as she starts getting her act together. He leads her down this path, and it takes her ages to find her way back once he ditches her. But he shows up just to drive her away again, and she falls for it every time."

He grunted. "Sounds familiar. Frankie's dad isn't exactly the right person to be a parent, you know? But he calls, and my mam goes running to make sure he's okay. But maybe it's hard having kids. Maybe he makes her happy."

"Does my mother look happy to you?"

"About as happy as you," he said, deftly avoiding my half-hearted slap.

"Do you know what the sick part is? He's one of the better ones. _That_ is the best she can do. How sad is that?"

"Seriously?" He raised his eyebrows. "What were the other ones like?"

I cleared my throat, staring out of the window. "When we moved here, there was one who was actually nice. Normal. I thought he might be the one to change everything. Get Mam back to her old self. Before... before she became this way. But he couldn't hack her anymore, so he left. Of course, I give him a hard time at every opportunity."

I tried to smile at Base, but it must not have looked believable because he had pity in his eyes. "The rest aren't worth talking about. She's entertained a long line of extreme losers, starting with the one who got her pregnant with me when she was still in school." I didn't want to talk anymore.

Base turned off the radio. "I need to talk to you about what you said at school earlier. About... about you and me. I didn't mean to—"

"Let's not," I said, feeling myself blush again. "I don't want to talk about anything like that."

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Sully," I said, gritting my teeth. "He wasn't at school today. At least, not after... earlier. Aoife, too. What do you think they're doing?"

"Just mitching, hopefully," he said, but his eyes were worried.

"You really think..."

He glanced at me, his mouth tight. "I really think," he said. "You should have seen your face this morning, Dev. That wasn't... He can't get away with stuff like that, and stuff like that isn't normal."

"Maybe I was seeing things," I said, thinking hard. "Like, some kind of mass hysteria deal, except with just us. If nobody else is seeing something that you are, then the problem is with you, right? I might just be losing my mind. It would be easier for people to believe."

"If we keep following him around, then we're going to see, one way or another," he said. "And I think we need to figure this out sooner. This has gotten bad too quick. Aoife's just... I need to get her away from him. One way or another."

"We can't kidnap her, and her dad won't help. Hell, we're the only people who seem to have noticed that anything's going on," I said. "I think we'll have to do something about him to stop this. I just don't know what that will be."

Base pulled up at the top of Sully's road. "The car's outside his house," he said. "How can he afford a place like that anyway?"

"Maybe he's just some obnoxious rich kid," I offered.

"Then why's he coming all the way to our school? It's a massive kip. And look at those kids in the poncy uniforms. There's a school around the corner; I checked. He should be going there."

"Maybe we could take a look at his house," I said slowly. "When he's not at home. If he has a parent there, then we know he's just an ordinary creep."

"He's not ordinary," Base practically shouted. "Why do you keep trying to convince yourself otherwise?"

"Because it's less scary," I said simply. "I don't believe in anything, Base. It's too much for me. So until we have evidence that says otherwise, he's just your average scummer, okay?"

"Fine," he said, surprising me. "We'll have proof soon enough. I'm going to park around the corner, so make sure you keep an eye out for his car."

"Shouldn't be hard to miss," I said. "Even in spot the Beemer neighbourhood. God, people are so pretentious."

"You're not happy unless you're hating someone, are you?" Base teased.

"I don't hate everyone. I quite like Maisy, for example."

"Name five people you don't hate. Apart from your mam," he said.

"Shut up." I sat furiously thinking for a few minutes before pointing at him with an "ah-ha!"

"What?" he said, startled.

"Maisy, your little brothers, and Tom and Mark at my work. Five people I don't hate. So there."

He burst out laughing as he parked the car again. "Can't believe you've been sitting there thinking about it for so long. Does that mean I'm still hated?"

I glanced at him, trying not to smile, and he shook his head. "What do I have to do?" he muttered.

We both fell silent as we stared out of the window, waiting for Sully to move. I kept glancing at Base, unable to help myself. I had basically turned into my once fourteen-year-old self again, and it bugged the crap out of me.

"We can't sit here all day," I said. "And what if Aoife's with him?"

"You ring Aoife's house and check," he suggested.

I typed the number he gave me into my mobile and made the call. Aoife's dad sounded sleepy when he answered the phone.

"Is Aoife there?" I asked. "She missed school today, so I wondered if she would want to know the homework we were assigned."

"She won't need it," he said. "She's ill in bed."

"Is she okay? I mean, can I get her anything?"

"No. She just needs rest. A lot of rest."

He sounded odd, and he hung up without saying goodbye.

"He said she's there, but she's resting up because she's sick. Think that's the truth?"

Base shrugged. "Maybe. If Sully makes a move, we'll watch and see if she's in the car with him. Then we'll check his house in case she's there."

"And if she is?"

He cleared his throat. "Then I'm taking her with me."

I stared at him and realised how determined he was. "She's lucky she has you to take care of her," I said at last.

"She's my friend," he said, looking confused. "That's what friends do."

His expression remained resolute, and I wished things were different. I had to turn back to staring out of the window before I said something I regretted.

"He's on the move," I whispered, slinking down in my seat as I watched the car turn out on to the main road in the wing mirror. "He's coming this way. What if he sees us?"

"Crap," Base whispered. "Please, don't freak out, Dev." He leaned over me, grabbing me as if he were about to kiss me, but he just waited, hovering over me with his fingers wrapped in my hair. He was so close I could stick out my tongue and lick him. His eyes locked onto mine, and I felt his palm against the small of my back, pulling me closer to him. I realised I was grabbing my seat, so I slipped my hands around Base's shoulders as an obnoxiously loud car engine roared by us.

"How is this helping?" I whispered, afraid to look away, afraid to look too closely at his eyes when his scent was messing with my head at such close proximity.

"I panicked," he admitted. "But I doubt he would recognise my car, so maybe he didn't get a good enough glimpse of us."

"I thought the windows were tinted, so he... he can't see in, right?"

"Oh, yeah," he said breathily. "I forgot."

He glanced at my lips, and a million butterflies in my stomach threatened to escape.

"I think... I think he's gone."

"Yeah." He hesitated for a couple of heart-stopping seconds, but then he pulled away, letting me go, playful Base back once more. "That was close," he said, grinning. "Wanna check out his house?"

"We gonna break in?" I asked, rubbing my arms. It seemed as though every inch of my skin was covered in goose bumps.

He watched me carefully and cleared his throat. "Need a jacket?"

I shook my head dumbly, still trying to make sense of how I was feeling around Base. Nothing had happened, and yet I felt as though it had. Deco had never made me feel even a fraction of the same sensations.

"So, breaking in?" I repeated, just to focus myself on something other than the lingering memory of the heat from Base's hands.

"Nah, we'll just knock and see if anyone answers. After that, well, I'll play it by ear."

"I have a terrible feeling you're just going to keep getting me into trouble."

He grinned. "Never. Come on. Let's run down and knock. See what happens next. Like you said, we can't sit around waiting."

We hurried to Sully's house, and I prayed he hadn't just driven to the corner shop or somewhere ridiculously close. His curtains were closed at the front, but Base rang the doorbell a number of times. Not a sound came from the house.

"I'm jumping over the back gate," Base said, running around to the side of the house.

I followed him like a puppy, cursing him. Sully's home managed to look as creepy as him, all gothic and imposing, the windows like closed eyes, hiding all of his secrets.

"It's not a big deal," Base said. "Keep watch, okay?"

Swearing, I moved back to the front gate and watched down the road, hoping Base would come to his senses sooner rather than later. What were we even trying to do?

Ten minutes later, and I was getting edgy. Base still hadn't returned, so I headed back to the gate and called him. "Hurry up," I said, pushing open the wooden gate he had unlocked after he climbed over it. Just in case, he had said. I inched my way into the back garden, dread crawling all over me.

The garden was dead, the grass withered and brown. Not even a weed. Devoid of life. Somehow, it seemed fitting that nothing would grow in Sully's garden.

"Base," I called out softly, hearing no answer. For a second, I panicked, thinking Sully had somehow gotten past me and taken Base, but I breathed deeply in an effort to calm down my frantic imagination. He hadn't come back. He didn't have Base. Everything would be okay.

But Base wasn't in the garden, and as I peered around looking for him, I noticed a window swinging wide open. Oh, no. You idiot, I felt like screaming. And then I heard a familiar rumble. Sully's car. I mentally thanked the fact he had an unbearably loud engine, and I hoped it would drown out me calling Base's name through the window.

"He's back," I shouted as loud as I dared. "Get out now, Brian!"

I heard the sound of something falling, and within seconds, Base was climbing out of the window, his face snow white.

"We have to get out of here," he hissed at me as he jumped to the ground.

"He's back," I said, my breath catching in my panic.

"I know." He took my hand in his. "We're going to wait until he's inside, then we're going to run out the front and straight to the car. Understand?"

Silent with fear, I nodded, and he squeezed my hand. For some reason, that just made me feel even more afraid. What had he seen to make him look so freaked out?

"Was Aoife there?" I dared to whisper.

He shook his head, but his face was locked into a grim expression, and the fear threatened to overwhelm me. We moved closer to the wooden gate, listening to Sully locking his car and making his way into his house.

"Wait here," Base said. "And when I wave, run."

I tried to pull him back, but he was gone, back down to the end of the house before I could stop him. He waited there, and even at that distance, I could see how pale he was, but then he was waving, and I turned on my heel to run. I heard glass smashing as I opened the gate and ran through it, but I didn't hear Base's footsteps running behind me. Glancing around, I hesitated to make sure he was following, but then he was through the gate, almost dislocating my shoulder as he pulled my arm, urging me forward.

"Out of here," he cried, and we both ran, my heart racing in my chest. I ran so fast, I felt sure my lungs would explode.

I could have sworn I heard footsteps behind us, but I kept pushing, nearly keeping up with Base's long stride. He was in the car first, locking the doors automatically as soon as I jumped in, and he started the car abruptly.

I glanced behind me, saw nothing, and took a deep breath of relief, but even though Base accelerated the car, it didn't move. The wheels were turning, squealing against tarmac, but the car wasn't moving forward. In fact, it began to slowly move backward.

"Oh, fuck!" Base cried out. "It's him. He's holding the car."

I didn't dare look in the mirror; I just closed my eyes shut as Base abruptly reversed, the car jumping as though he had bumped into something. He accelerated, somehow pulling free of whatever had been holding us there. I refused to let myself think it had been Sully. The car felt as though it lifted off the ground as it vaulted forward, and my stomach was practically thrown into my mouth at the force of it.

I finally worked up the courage to look behind me, and I immediately caught Sully's gaze. He was standing on the road, completely unharmed, his hands clenched into fists and a look of pure anger and hate on his face. I touched my throat absentmindedly, not realising tears were streaming down my cheeks until Base patted my arm as he whispered comforting things.

"He's gone," he said. "He didn't follow. Too many people around, probably."

I gulped hard. "Sorry," I whispered. "I'm sorry. I just... Did you _see_ that?"

"It's okay," he said soothingly.

"What... what did you see at his house?"

He didn't speak for a few minutes. "The place was empty. Like, very little furniture, no food in the fridge. And there was one room..." He shook his head as he remembered. "There were chains and what looked like blood on the floor and walls. It looked like a freaking torture chamber or something. I couldn't move when I saw it. I kept seeing Aoife lying there. I mean... Fuck, Dev. What the hell is he doing in that house? I took a picture. If you want to see. But you might not..."

"He knows," I said in a stronger voice. "He knows it was us."

"I'm calling the police," he said firmly. "If they go to his house, they'll see. They'll know what to do."

"What if they don't?"

"Don't say that," he replied in a harsh voice. He pulled out his phone and got on to the nearest Garda station. After a couple of minutes of waiting, he tried to explain, but he stopped mid-sentence, listened, and hung up. He pressed the phone against his forehead and doubled over.

"What's going on?"

He slammed the steering wheel. "Fuck! It was like they were waiting for me to call, Dev."

"What are you talking about? How could..."

He glanced at me, and suddenly, I knew exactly how. I swallowed hard. "What did they say?"

"Basically warned me about harassing people. Told me they had my information, and if I kept bothering him, then we're all in trouble. The voice reminded me of Aoife, of her dad. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I know. So we're screwed then."

"He won't get us," he said. "We'll stick together, and he won't get us."

"You can't go home," I blurted in a panic. We had no help. There was nobody but us. "Your brothers... He'll hurt them. Don't go home, Base. He'll follow you. Please, don't go home."

He pulled up as soon as he could, loosening his seatbelt and pulling me into a hug.

"You're shaking again," he whispered, and I felt his lips against my cheek. I longed to turn my cheek and meet his lips with mine. I wanted everything to go away.

He rubbed my back. "It's going to be okay, Dev. I promise."

"Don't go home," I said again.

"I won't," he said, and I clung to him for reassurance, desperate to feel safe again. I knew I wouldn't, though. Safe didn't exist anymore.

# Chapter 14

After Base showed me the picture he had taken of a dank, bloody room in Sully's house, we decided to make an attempt to sleep in his car that night, parked in an underground car park. We agreed to take turns sleeping because neither of us felt particularly safe.

"I don't think I'll ever sleep again," I admitted as I took the first shift.

"Me either," he said, trying to get comfortable in the backseat.

"I'm sorry I keep turning into a blubbering mess the whole time. I don't know what's wrong with me."

"A supernatural creature with superhuman strength wants to kill you. I think I can cut you some slack."

I laughed in spite of myself. "I can always count on you to—"

"'Bout time you realised. We going to school tomorrow?"

I glanced at him in the mirror, unsure of his mood. "I don't know. I don't know what to do."

"I'll have to go home eventually," he said.

"Well, we'll have to do something before that."

"We still going to follow him?" he asked after a moment of fidgeting.

"Yes," I said, steeling myself. I needed to get back to being me. I needed to be the strong one. "We're going to follow him until we figure out what to do about him. Nobody's going to believe us. He's proved that. If he can hypnotise people then he can make anyone do anything."

I took a deep breath. "So we're going to have to be the ones who stop him. I won't ever feel comfortable again until that happens. And I'm sorry, but I don't think he's going to leave you alone now either. I still think the whole Aoife thing has as much to do with you as it does with me. He basically warned me I would have to keep looking over my shoulder, never knowing when he was going to attack. Well, screw that. Let's get him first."

"This is so messed up." He sounded wide awake.

"We should go to my house," I said, surprising myself. "We'll go to sleep tonight, and we'll go to school tomorrow, and we'll act like everything's okay. He keeps saying things to me, about feelings and memories. He said something like my pain now will make it better for him later, and whenever he looks at me, I suddenly start remembering stuff I don't want to think about."

"So, what, he's feeding on emotion now?"

"I've no idea. I just want to stop feeling like I'm his for the taking. I want to show him that I won't back down. That he can't make me feel anything I don't want to. I want to put on a brave face, and I'd feel better if Mam wasn't alone."

"I dunno if that'll work," he said. "Maybe if we surround ourselves with crosses and garlic."

"I'm not ready for that train of thought, Base."

He sniggered. "You called me Brian earlier."

"I thought you were going to die. It seemed appropriate."

But we both ended up laughing until we had tears running out of our eyes. Our solution to the fear of being killed by what was likely a vampire. I couldn't believe I was even thinking that word.

"At least you aren't boring," I said when I stopped choking with laughter.

"Ditto," he said, climbing into the front seat. "And I don't think he's exactly worried about us. If it's okay with you, I'm gonna drive past his road again, to see if his car is there. We might feel a bit more comfortable if we have some idea where he is."

I shrugged. "If he wants to kill us, he'll probably get it done no matter what we do, but yeah, it might be a good idea."

I held my breath as he drove past the road on which Sully lived, but the car was there, and one of the rooms upstairs in Sully's home was lit up.

"Do you think he can feed on pain?" I asked. "He told me even my nightmares were delicious. Was that just bullshit or what?"

Base glanced at me warily. "I have no idea. Do you have a lot of nightmares?"

I rubbed my eyes, too tired to keep him at a distance. "Yeah. You could say that."

"What are they about?"

I blew out a shaky breath. "One of those extreme losers I was telling you about."

"Sully chose you for a reason, didn't he?" Base's voice sounded tight. He pulled over and turned to me. "Talk to me Devlin. Maybe I can help. You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

"There's nothing much to talk about. Mam has bad taste in men. Sometimes they're just users. Other times, it's worse. She's so desperate sometimes, you know?"

"Your mother's bad taste in men aside, why has Sully zoned in on you?"

"I suppose... I suppose it might be because of one of the men. I remember him when Sully's around. He treated Mam like crap, but she thought she loved him, thought I needed a father figure. 'Cept this father figure liked to mess with preteen girls. I knew he was creepy. The way he looked at me felt wrong, but I didn't know why. I couldn't tell anyone in a way that made it sound anything other than jealousy or childishness."

"So what happened?"

"He pestered me for a long time. Stupid things, like giving him a kiss or sitting on his knee. Whispering lewd jokes in my ear. Stuff that didn't look strange, but they felt it, at least to me. He was subtle enough that everyone thought he was great with kids. That and the fact he was always buying me things for no reason. People thought he was actually good for us. I couldn't get comfortable around him though, and I thought he was bribing me with gifts to impress Mam. But I took them, so I always felt like I had to try to like him."

I cleared my throat, wanting to shut up already, but Base was such a good listener that I found myself continuing in spite of myself. "It got worse, and he pretty much tormented me for a while. Not just... He would try to scare me, mostly. Make sure I knew who was boss. So one night, he got really drunk, like, out of his face on spirits, and he was cocky enough to try to get alone with me when Mam was in the house."

It was the first time I had really told anyone about it, but I rattled off the facts as if they were nothing to me.

"She walked in before... just before anything really happened, but he wouldn't get out. He had this crazy look in his eye, and he kept shouting things, bizarre stuff. She tried to protect me, but he beat the crap out of both of us until one of the neighbours called the police. Mam ended up in hospital, and he got sent to prison. We moved here when he got out. Ran away, I suppose. I think I started school here about two years after all of it happened. I stopped thinking about him, but yeah, sometimes I have nightmares. Of course, I know I was lucky. Nothing important actually happened to me. It was Mam who was really hurt."

"Nothing important? Are you serious?"

"He didn't get the chance to rape me, I mean. And I wasn't the one who ended up in hospital. So no, nothing important." I looked away, unable to watch his eyes.

"All of it is important. _All_ of it," he insisted in a harsh voice, and I glanced at him in surprise.

"You don't have to downplay everything, Dev. You don't have to deal with everything yourself."

"How do you know what I've dealt with alone?" I tried to sound snappy, but my voice sounded pathetic, even to me.

"Oh, come on. Are you seriously trying to tell me you've informed all of your friends?"

"Why on earth would I tell _them_?"

"Why would you tell _me_ and not _them_?"

His stare was a challenge I wasn't prepared to take. "This is why you're vulnerable," he said. "Because you've buried it, and now he's digging it up. Somehow, he's able to do that, and he's using it against you."

He surprised me by pulling me into a hug. "I'm sorry that happened to you," he said against my hair, and I clung to his shoulders for a few minutes. When I pulled away, my eyes were wet, but neither of us passed comment. When we drove off, the air between us felt clearer, and a weight I didn't know I carried eased up slightly.

"Think your mother will mind if I sleep there?" Base asked as we pulled up on a side street near my house. He had figured it would look like we weren't in my house if we didn't park right outside. But we both walked quickly to my front door, our arms brushing together as we kept as little space between us as possible.

"She won't notice," I said confidently. "She doesn't notice much, in fairness. Besides, I'm eighteen, and I'm the one who manages to pay the rent. She can go and jump if she thinks she can tell me what to do after bringing Richard back here."

He cocked his head to the side with a knowing look in his eyes, and I shrugged. "But we're locking my bedroom door, _and_ the windows, just in case."

He grabbed my hands. "Wait a minute. Are you sure that you'll be okay with me staying here like this with you?"

"Don't start treating me like I'm made of glass, Gilligan. I'm still the same bitch as before, and don't you forget it."

He didn't let me go for a few seconds, and I grew uncomfortable under his gaze.

"You'll let me know if you change your mind though, right?"

I wrenched my hands from his. "If it makes you feel any better."

I ended up locking every door and window I could manage. Mam had likely gone to bed, but I was afraid to check because I had noticed Richard's boots by the sofa downstairs.

When the anal triple-checking of every lock process was over, I felt slightly more secure. I gathered some food and drinks and locked Base and me in my bedroom, making sure my windows were closed shut, and that the curtains didn't let a bit of the night in.

"Never thought I'd be locking you in here," I joked to lighten the sudden tension, but Base seemed uncomfortable.

"Think we should take shifts?" he asked.

"Nah. If he comes in, it'll be by force, and no amount of shift keeping will stop him. But we can give as good as we get, right? If he attacks, we'll be ready. I mean, we know how strong he is. Hold on a second."

I ran to my wardrobe and found an old hurley stick from my camogie days hidden under a pile of shoes. I handed it to Base. "It's kind of small, but a good swing to the head might distract him while we run. And I have this." I crawled under my bed and pulled out my best friend, an aluminium bat. It wasn't that I was paranoid, but I would never sleep at night if I wasn't prepared for an intruder.

"What's that about?" Base asked as I swung the bat around playfully.

"Tom, he's a doorman at the pub I work in, gave it to me when I started there." He had given it to me when I admitted having nightmares of someone coming into my room at night. He probably thought I was being overly dramatic, but his gift had given me sleep.

"I need something better than this," Base mused. "Something sharper. I did get something though. Don't laugh."

I watched with interest as he rummaged in his schoolbag. "Holy water. And this." He came over to me, his hand fisted around something, and when his arms reached behind my neck to sweep up my hair, I shivered.

"Hold it up?" he asked, and I did. He clasped a tiny silver necklace around my neck, a discreet cross hanging from it. "I meant to give it to you before, but, I dunno, I thought you might think it was lame or something."

"Base, I—"

"Maybe they don't work," he said. "But it's worth a try."

"I was just going to say that I don't think it's lame."

We stood there, facing each other in silence. I was touched beyond belief, but I tried not to let him see it. I had let him see far too much of my heart already that day.

I touched the cross, and when it drew his eyes to my bare skin, I knew I had to change the mood before I let anything slip. "What, no garlic?"

"Couldn't stand the stench," he said, grinning.

"So we're kind of prepared for an attack," I said, turning away from him. "We'll be as okay as we can be, given the circumstances."

"I'm all kinds of terrified," he admitted.

"We should probably leave the lights off," I said. "Just so it looks like nobody's in this room."

"I hope to God we're overreacting," he said as I pressed the switch, dampening the room with darkness, only the glow from a streetlight saving us from pitch blackness.

I got us both a drink from my beside locker and followed him as he walked across the room. "Me, too."

I handed him his drink, his fingers brushing against mine, and I shivered against him. We sat on the floor, leaning against the end of the bed. We were both probably too freaked out to even look at the bed.

"So," I said to break the silence. "How come you aren't going to college? And stop rolling your eyes."

"You can't see me doing it," he said, laughing softly. "It would just be awkward for everyone. Money-wise, taking care of the boys, it's easier if I get a job. What about you?"

"Same, pretty much. She can't take care of herself right now, and I'll have a full-time job waiting for me in the pub if I want it. It'll be easier if I can keep an eye on her."

"Yeah." He bumped his shoulder against mine. "Maybe you're not such a massive bitch after all."

"I am too. I kind of think it would be fun though. College, I mean. To give it a go. I don't know."

"Yeah," he agreed. "But I think half of your crowd only want to go because they imagine all of this great sex they'll be having."

I giggled. "That does come up in conversation quite a lot, funnily enough. At least with the boys. I reckon it's overrated though."

"Then he's not doing it right." His laughter died quickly. "Maybe this was a bad idea."

"Why?"

"I don't want to freak you out, and after what you told me..."

"I feel safer with you than anyone else right now."

He exhaled loudly. "You kill me sometimes, Devlin."

"What?"

He choked out a laugh. "Never mind."

I tried to understand him, but he was impossible to read. "If he's what we think he is, then there's nowhere safe, is there?"

Base settled against the bed with a loud sigh. "Probably not, and as he knows what we know, he's likely to drag it out as long as possible, just to screw with us. I literally thought we were going to die when he held on to the car. It was like something out of a film."

"I couldn't look," I admitted. "Not until he let go. And he was mad as hell, Base. He really wants to hurt us. We could run, though," I said.

"To where?"

"I dunno. Anywhere. That's the point. We could run, and he wouldn't follow us because why waste his time looking for us?" I didn't say what I was really thinking, that I knew Sully would never leave us alone again.

He relaxed. "I've always wanted to move somewhere nice and hot."

"How about somewhere snowy?"

"Anything works when you're on the run."

I pushed against him. "How far could we run, do you think?"

"You mean before our money runs out? Maybe five miles."

I laughed. I couldn't help it. I sensed him looking at me.

"You'd never run," he said.

"Neither would you."

"There is that."

We sat shoulder to shoulder for a while in silence.

"We should sleep," I said. "It's pretty late."

"Yeah."

Neither of us moved.

"I don't know how to do this so that it isn't unbelievably awkward, but we should sleep on the bed," I said, not pausing to take a breath.

"Awkward," he whispered. "I can sleep on the floor."

"What's the point? I'm tired, and I don't want to feel guilty about you sleeping on the floor. Come on." I stood, pulling him up after me and ignoring the reasons why I was being so insistent. "It doesn't have to be a big deal. It's just sleeping."

"Anyone else ever slept on this bed?" he asked as we lay down. It was a single bed, so we were practically pressed up against each other no matter what way we settled.

"Um, no."

"Like I said. Awkward."

" _I'm_ going to sleep on the floor if you keep trying to make this worse than it is."

He wrapped his arm around me, holding my back to his chest. "Hush, pillow."

I held my breath until his breathing grew easy, and then I allowed myself to relax.

"Finally," he muttered against my hair. "I thought you might pass out if you held your breath for much longer."

I burst out laughing, covering my mouth with my hands to silence myself.

"Now can we finally get some rest?" he asked sleepily. And a couple of seconds later, "You smell nice." He promptly fell fast asleep, leaving me grinning in the dark like a lunatic. I snuggled closer to him to feel more secure. I had always feared that another person in the room with me would terrify me, but I had been honest when I told Base I felt safe with him, and I soon drifted into a dreamless sleep.

I awoke with a start some time later, my eyes seeing nothing but darkness. I felt Base's bulk next to me, his arm draped heavily over my waist, but I wasn't sure what had woken me until I heard it again.

Knocking on my window. Knocking on my _second-floor_ window. My heart flew up into my mouth, and I thought I might scream when Sully called my name softly. It echoed all around me as if he were right over my shoulder.

"Devlin O'Mara," he sang. "I'm coming for you, Devlin O'Mara."

Turning awkwardly, I clamped my hand over Base's mouth as I shook him awake. He sat right up, but he didn't make a sound. His eyes widened as he heard the knocking against the window, and I dropped my hand. I shook my head frantically, and he pulled me closer to him.

Again and again, Sully rapped on the window and called my name, but we stayed quiet, hoping he would leave. It seemed like years, and I wondered if Sully was ever going to go away, if I would ever be free of him. I didn't realise I was crying silently until Base wiped the tears away.

He pressed his finger against my lips and lay down, pulling me after him until my head rested on his chest. As Sully's words haunted me, Base's heartbeat calmed me down, and he stroked my hair until I stopped shaking. Squeezing my eyes shut, I gripped Base's shirt, thinking of anything but Sully. The knocking seemed never-ending, and although Base was warm, I shivered constantly.

"Devlin O'Mara. I'm coming for you, Devlin O'Mara."

I fell asleep with those words marking me for death in my head, but when dawn came, the words disappeared. I stretched, trying not to wake Base, but I knew I wasn't getting any more sleep. I woke up at the time I always woke up, whether I liked it or not.

I refused to open the curtains for fear of seeing Sully doing something crazy like flying outside my window, but I decided I was going to act as though it were a normal day.

Aside from the fact I had just spent the entire night with Brian Gilligan who now knew almost everything about me.

Aside from the fact vampires existed and wanted me dead.

I found some clean clothes and stepped noiselessly around the room as Base slept, looking so innocent that I felt terrible for dragging him into the middle of my problems. He slept resting his head on his arm, looking completely relaxed. His hair pretty much stood on end, and I wished I could have stayed asleep in his arms a while longer. A little flutter in the pit of my stomach startled me, so I took a quick, _cold_ shower and began breakfast. I carried plates of food into the bedroom and set them down, deciding to nudge Base awake.

He grabbed my arm as I touched him, and his eyes opened slowly. "Dev," he mumbled, and he smiled. I couldn't help smiling back, but then his expression cleared, and he seemed to remember where he was. "Oh, shit," he whispered.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Made you breakfast. Want coffee, tea, or juice with it?"

"Uh, coffee, I think."

"Be right back. You can shower afterward, if you want." I felt seriously embarrassed as I walked away. It was all so morning after. I heard snoring coming from my mother's room, and it wasn't coming from her. I tried to ignore the feelings of anger and hurt rising steadily.

Base was on the phone when I returned with the coffee, and I heard the tail end of his conversation. Apparently, he wasn't in the good books for staying out all night.

"I'll be back later. Get the boys ready for school, okay? I just said I'd bring them, Jesus!"

I handed him the coffee when he hung up.

"Sorry about that," he said. "I usually get the boys up. Frankie's playschool opens early, and Mam goes to work in a different direction, so she can't take him. That's why I get into school so early, and I'm rambling, so I'll stop."

"It's fine. So... that was pretty freaky last night." And I wasn't only referring to Sully.

He nodded, his jaw tensing. "At least he didn't come in. Maybe he needs to be invited."

"He's already been here," I said. "Not that I believe in that sort of thing."

"Of course," he murmured, but he couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

"You can have a shower now, if you like. I have a stockpile of toothbrushes in the cabinet."

He cocked his head in question.

I shrugged. "Mam has a habit of knocking them into the toilet."

"We're definitely going to school then?"

I nodded grimly. "I don't want him to think he's scared us off, especially after last night. And he left us alone in public before, so maybe he likes his privacy. I mean, it would be a lot harder for him to get around the way he does if people knew things like him existed, right? So maybe we're safe with witnesses. I mean, he only ever starts with me when I'm alone."

"Or when I'm around."

"Oh, yeah. Why is that?"

He shrugged, but his cheeks turned pink. "I think I'll shower now."

I busied myself as far away from the bathroom as possible, desperately trying to get my brain to switch off from any thought that involved a naked Base. What the hell was wrong with me? We were being stalked by a vampire, and all I could think about was how good it had felt to snuggle against Base's chest all night, how good it had felt to finally tell Base why Sully might have chosen me.

After Base showered, we left to get the car, and drove to Base's home. His brothers were on the doorstep, fresh faced and waiting patiently, while his harassed looking mother ranted down a phone.

"Wait here," Base said before getting out. As he approached his family, Frankie ran straight into his arms, and Damon grinned at him. His mother shoved the phone back in her pocket and appeared to rant at Base instead, but then her shoulders sagged, and she hugged him. She followed him to the car and approached the passenger window. I wound it down, gulping.

"We didn't get introduced last time," she said. "I'm Jackie."

"I'm Devlin," I all but whispered.

She nodded, and I half-expected her to give me a lecture, too, but she gave me a tight smile and said goodbye to her boys. She walked off as Base strapped Frankie into his seat. By the time Base got in the car, his face looked strained, and I wondered what his mother had said to him, but I was too afraid to ask.

I glanced back at his brothers instead.

"Morning, Frankie. Hey, Damon. Still staring?"

Frankie pretty much ignored me, instead choosing to sing at the top of his lungs along with the radio. Damon smiled.

"I'm remembering you," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't remember Aoife enough. I might forget her face. I'm remembering you so when you go away, I won't forget."

My stomach turned, and I exchanged a worried glance with Base. Sully wasn't just messing with me. It had filtered outward, dragging others down, too.

"You're going to see Aoife again, Damon," I said. And I was determined to keep that promise, now more than ever.

We dropped Frankie off at playschool first, Base carrying him in while Damon and I waited in the car.

"Are you taking Brian away?" Damon asked as soon as his brothers were out of hearing distance.

"What? No, of course not."

"My mam says that he might go away because he's getting older, and he didn't come home last night."

"I don't think he's going away. And he didn't go home because I needed help. Friends help each other, right?"

He nodded, still solemn. "I'm glad he helped you, Devlin."

My stomach hurt. Base kept away to protect his family, but who knew what would happen? Who knew what plans Sully already had to punish us further? But why Base? Why not just me?

When we arrived at Damon's school, he waited to give me a hug. I was touched beyond belief, much to Base's amusement.

"Getting a bit sentimental in your old age, eh, Dev?" he teased as we drove to our own school.

"Never. Who will collect them?"

"My uncle, probably. Frankie will either stay with him or my nan until Mam finishes work. Then she'll take Frankie with her to collect Damon."

I was relieved to hear Damon wouldn't be walking alone, but I didn't say the words aloud. Base had enough to worry about.

"Damon's worried about you," I couldn't help saying. "Your mam reckons you're going to move out or something."

He sucked in a breath. "Can anyone in this family keep their mouth shut? I'm not... We've been arguing a bit lately, that's all. She's such a drama queen sometimes."

"Sorry."

"I'm not mad. Just frustrated." He laughed. "Can't believe I'm getting aggravated by that when we feared for our lives a couple of hours ago."

"A couple of hours ago? I've never been this scared. Ever," I admitted as we pulled into the school.

He reached over and squeezed my hand. I found myself wrapping my own fingers around his. "Me either. But we got through last night. We can get through anything now."

"I can think of plenty of things that—"

"Shut up, Dev," he said, smiling. "Let's face the day, eh?"

The school was empty, and Sully's car wasn't in the car park, but I still shivered with anticipation as Base and I opened our lockers, mostly in silence. An unspoken agreement had us sitting on the floor until people started arriving. Nobody batted an eyelid to see us together. But there were missing faces.

No Sully. No Aoife.

I didn't know whether to be relieved or agitated that the tension had just been prolonged.

Later that day, I walked to class alone, paying little attention to what was going on around me.

That is, until a cold hand grabbed the back of my neck and forced me face-first against the wall.

"Next time you visit my house, you won't be walking away. But don't worry. As long as you're alive, nobody else needs to get hurt. Too bad you won't be alive for long," Sully whispered, and then he was gone. I hadn't actually seen him at all, and the fleeting moment made me wonder if it had actually happened.

The next time I saw Base was in the lunchroom. I had begun to convince myself that Sully hadn't been around when I saw how shaken Base appeared. His face had paled, his hands shook, and he jumped when I sat next to him. "Did you see him?"

He shook his head. "I saw Aoife. She told me... Dev, she said she'd kill my brothers if I bothered Sully again."

"What the hell? Are you okay?" I reached for his arm without thinking.

He shuddered visibly and jerked away from my touch. "Did you see him? What did he say to you?"

"Basically told me to keep away from his house. Said nobody else needs to get hurt as long as I'm around, but that I won't be for long. I'm so sorry he's resorted to threatening you now. I should never have talked to you about him."

"Give it a rest," he snapped. "I'm in this as much as you."

I recoiled away from him. "I didn't mean—"

"I know." He exhaled loudly. "I'm just on edge."

"You don't have to do any of this," I said. "I can do it all by myself."

"As if," he said. "Let's just have some lunch and try to forget about him for a while."

Base spent the rest of lunch putting on a show and making my friends laugh, even Deco, and I couldn't help noting the contrast between then and the night before. We had basically cuddled up the entire night, mostly out of fear, but still. He didn't make any jokes about it, didn't even bring it up, but part of me desperately wanted him to. I wasn't sure if what I was feeling was real, or merely fear-induced, but I couldn't deny how much better I felt around Base.

I thought that up until about five seconds after Shauna began to flirt with him, and he didn't exactly seem uninterested.

Something fired up in my gut, an awful, persistent, annoying surge of jealousy. I was so mad at myself for feeling that way. It wasn't any of my business what Base did. So why was I so put out? Why now, at the most inconvenient time, had my feelings finally made it out of the hole I had buried them in?

I ended up slipping outside for some air, and hopefully to find where my sanity had disappeared to, but Deco followed me.

"Wait up," he called, trying to wrap his arm around me. I shrugged him off, unwilling to accept what was tearing my insides apart.

"I just wanted some air," I mumbled.

He followed me, but he kept a distance between us. I stopped, bent over, and took a deep breath.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yup."

"So can we talk then? About you and me?"

"There's nothing to talk about, Deco."

"There's plenty to talk about, Devlin. The way things ended was bullshit. Too much unfinished business. I mean, we're good together. We look good. Everyone says so. You can't still be mad about that night, can you?"

"I'm not mad," I said softly. "And that's kind of the problem. I wasn't jealous. Not even a little. I didn't realise it until, well, just now, actually, but I was angry at you for embarrassing me, rather than feeling bad that you liked someone else. If we were meant to be together, then surely I would have felt jealous, right?"

"You're not that kind of girl," he said easily. "You would never get jealous. You're too proud for that." He said it as if he knew me well, but after seeing Base and Shauna flirting, I knew it wasn't true. I wasn't that big of a person. In fact, I was feeling a little pathetic.

"Trust me," I said. "I know what feeling jealous is like. I might be too proud to admit it to... anyone else, but I definitely know what it's like."

"So it's someone else," he said bitterly. "That's what this is about."

"It wouldn't make a difference," I said. "That's the point. You know the truth, Declan. You know there isn't a spark there. There's someone out there better suited for you."

"You've always thought you were too good for me."

"No. I never thought that. I'm so sorry if I ever made you think that, but I'm not good enough for anyone," I said, meaning it.

"I'll never understand you."

I laughed. "Probably not."

"I don't get it," he said, and I thought he would never leave me alone. "I give up, Dev. You're too high maintenance these days. Plenty more fish in the sea and all that jazz."

"Good luck," I whispered as he left. I really did hope he would find someone better suited to a relationship than I was. I screwed up everything I touched.

"I probably won't ever understand you either," Base said, making me jump.

"Don't sneak up on me," I chided.

"Did you really mean all of that?"

"Do you always listen in on people's conversations?"

He shrugged. "Listen and learn. So, did you? Mean it?"

I nodded, watching the clouds move as if they might be interesting.

"You're an idiot," he said.

"It's always a possibility. Wait, why? For not giving it another go with Deco?"

"No, for thinking you aren't good enough for anyone. That's a stupid way to think."

"I need to go."

"Wait," he said, holding my arm to stop me. "What are you afraid of now?"

I stared at him. "Sully. That's all."

"Sully isn't here right now."

"So let me enjoy it, Brian," I snapped, feeling actual pain for no reason I could understand. What was wrong with me? It was as if Sully had infected me with sadness and self-pity, and I was sick of it.

Base shrugged. "That dude was smart to walk away." But he stayed by my side, and for some reason, that made me feel worse.

# Chapter 15

After school, we followed Sully again. This time with a determined single-minded focus. We were going to get him before he got us, before he messed with anyone else we knew. We were going to watch out for weaknesses, to see what he got up to, and we were going to deal with him, one way or another.

I prayed we could do it. At least before we killed each other.

Base and I were very different in some ways, too alike in others. It made for a feisty kind of friendship at the best of times. Throw in some fear and pent-up lust on my part, and things unbalanced themselves very easily. But I hadn't figured for how awkward I would feel around Base, even after the closeness of sleeping next to each other, but especially after the things I had told him about myself. It was as though it had never happened, as though we had had a dozen different conversations that never happened. It made me mad. He made it feel as though the more I grew closer to him, the more he pulled away.

"Do you like Shauna?" I blurted as we drove behind Sully's moving car, unable to stop myself.

"What?" He sounded genuinely stunned.

"Shauna. Do. You. Like. Her?"

"I hate her. Why?"

"You don't act like you hate her," I accused, but I was relieved to focus on something other than Sully. Following him around scared me so much that I pretty much had to think of something else. Even acting petty and childish was better than stressing over Sully.

"What on earth are you..." Brian glanced at me, a smile threatening his lips. "Unbelievable! Don't tell me you're jealous, Devlin."

I made a weird sound through my nose as I choked on my own contempt at his audacity. "As if. As if I would _ever_ be jealous of you or her. Don't make me laugh."

"This is getting too bizarre for words," he muttered. "Look, Sully's slowing down, so I'm just going to pull in here. I'm pretty sure he knows we're following him."

"Why?"

"Because he just looked right at us. And we're seriously bad at this. I think he wants us to see this."

"Why would he want us to see whatever he gets up to?"

"Maybe because it's so bad," he said after a minute. "Maybe he wants us to be scared, and scarred, for life."

"Why do you always have to say such creepy shit?"

"Somebody has to make the guesses around here. You ready?"

Sully had gone into a pub, so we decided to wait around until he came back out.

"What if he does something in the pub?" I began.

"We can't go in. Not when he's there. Besides, he won't do anything with so many witnesses. If he could, he would have murdered the entire school already. He has to have some limitations," he said, pretty sensibly. "We'll wait and see what happens. It's all we can do. This was probably never the greatest idea, you know?"

"But we've no others, so we still run with it? Fine, but I feel like he's going to just pick us off as we sit in the car."

"He won't. It's too busy."

And it _was_ busy. A high profile football match pretty much guaranteed lots of folks in pubs and clubs that night.

"Besides, with your trusty bat, nobody in their right mind would go near us."

I had to laugh at that. I had taken the bat with us, much to Base's amusement, but I felt safer armed with something more than holy water. Although I had splashed some on my wrists that morning when Base wasn't looking.

"I could never like her," Base said out of the blue. "No matter what. I could never like Shauna, of all people."

"Should I ask for the story behind that somewhat emphatic statement?" I teased.

"You could ask, but I wouldn't tell," he said with a grin, before nodding, the colour draining from his face. "There he is with some woman."

A small brunette stumbled after Sully as he pulled her into the alleyway next to the pub.

"Jesus, Dev. She looks a bit like you."

"What? No way."

"I swear, she does. He's trying to freak us out. Stay in the car. I'll go," he said, grabbing the camera.

"And me. I'm not sitting here alone waiting for you to get killed."

We both crept down the road in a hurry, me with my phone in one hand, my bat in the other, trying to look somewhat normal. "Please be having sex," I whispered over and over.

"I have to worry about you," Base said, giving a nervous laugh. We quietened by the alley, peering around to see...

Sully kissing the face off the brunette.

Base lowered the camera with some relief. But I had my phone in my hand, filming, and I knew I couldn't stop, just in case. She whimpered, and I didn't think they were kissing any more.

Her arms thrashed about in the air, but Sully's only gripped harder, then he looked at us and gave us a bloody grin, and I almost dropped my phone. But I couldn't look away, and I couldn't call for help, and Base brought me back to earth by half-carrying me down the road after him.

"We need to get out of here," he said urgently.

"But the girl."

"We don't know how to help her," he said. "You saw. You have to believe what he is now."

I shoved my phone in my pocket. "We have to see if she's okay."

He hesitated for only a second before nodding. We ran back down to the alleyway, but Sully was gone, and the girl was crawling on the ground, still bleeding. She looked older all of a sudden, less like me.

Base ran to her and helped her to her feet, but I saw something out of the corner of my eye. A movement in the shadows. Sully sprang from one wall of the alleyway to the other, his fangs on full show. I forgot about my phone and broke into a run as he pounced on Base, knocking the young woman to the ground. Base immediately turned to strike Sully, but he barely made an impact because Sully was already jumping back up the wall. So he didn't fly. He just jumped. High.

He attacked Base again, both of them grappling. I lifted the bat and swung as hard as I could, connecting with the back of Sully's head with a loud crack. Surprised, Sully let go of Base and stumbled to the side, but he shook himself off and leapt away. I wondered why until I heard voices from the end of the alleyway shouting. Sully's victim's friends had come to find her.

It took a bit of explaining as to why I was carrying a bat, but the woman, although a little confused, said she'd been attacked and that we'd helped her. Base and I slipped away while her friends fussed over her.

We got into the car, and Base sped off, ignoring me as I watched the video on my phone, over and over. Grainy images, but the bloody teeth were as clear as day.

"What is he?" I whispered.

"You know what he is," Base said impatiently. "He's a vampire."

I wound down the window to counteract the sudden urge I had to vomit.

"Don't do that," Base said, making me wind it back up.

"Why?"

"We don't know what he can do," he explained. "He could be super fast as well as super strong, super anything. We have to be careful. He wanted us to see what he does. He wanted us to be afraid. Oh, God, poor Aoife."

"I'm sure she's fine," I said. "He told me stuff that didn't make sense at the time. Like, how he only takes one. I assume he means he only kills one before moving away. To avoid suspicion, maybe. Either way, he's revealed himself. Maybe he'll move on. Maybe he'll leave us alone now."

"You don't believe that," Base said with certainty. "There's no way you believe that."

"I don't know what else to think!" I yelled.

"He's so strong, Dev. He could have killed me. Easily. You pretty much saved me back there."

"He knew people were coming, I think. So let's add super hearing to the list."

"So much for holy water." He shook his head. "I'm going to get some food, then we're going to figure out what to do next, okay? You need the sugar from a fizzy drink or something."

His driving grew erratic, and I began to think it was him who needed the sugar.

"I can't believe this," I said a while later as we chewed our food in the parking lot of a drive-through. "I can't believe this is actually happening. How do you kill a vampire? I mean walking in the sun is supposed to be a biggie, but he has no problems with it."

"Stake through the heart? But never look them in the eye. We already know that one. Holy water might only work in large doses. That leaves beheading. Fire. Maybe silver," Base rattled off in rapid succession with a strange focus in his eyes.

"Um, what, Rain Man?"

He shrugged himself out of the weird trance he was in. "I've been reading," he admitted. "Lots of ways to hurt them. If we try them all, surely something will be right."

"Well, no matter what he can do, he needs his brain, at least," I said. "I wonder if he's actually dead. I wonder how old he is. I wonder—"

"Please stop wondering," Base said, holding up his hands. He took a long sip of his drink. "So it sounds like he feeds on girls. He's fed on probably Aoife, your mam, and you, too. Even if it was only a little. But maybe he needs to kill to survive. Or maybe he just likes it. Either way, he can't have dead bodies piling up, or somebody would notice pretty quickly. So we're probably running out of time."

"But we'd see on the news if girls everywhere were being sucked dry, surely."

"There are over a million people in Dublin. Maybe he hides the bodies, but even if he doesn't, we don't hear about everyone who dies. Nobody does, not even with the Internet. I've googled his name, and it doesn't look like he exists, so he probably uses fake names everywhere. We just need to kill him before he decides to stop playing games with us."

"We could sneak into his house and..." I motioned slicing my throat.

"Unless he gets us first."

"I'd rather go after him than keep being afraid to look behind me in case he's there."

"I have this big list of things that might hurt him. If we just stockpile, we should be okay."

"Unless everything we know is wrong," I reminded him.

"Unless everything we know is wrong," he echoed softly. "Maybe we just set his house on fire some night."

"Which wouldn't work if he didn't sleep, or had a great sense of smell, or was, like, psychic or something."

"He can't be psychic, or he would never have come here in the first place," Base said, grinning.

"Yeah. We're kind of a pain in the arse," I agreed.

His phone beeped. A text from his mother who wanted her car back.

"Want me to drop you off first?"

"No!" I shook my head.

"What?"

"I don't want to be alone. Dude, don't you remember what we saw tonight?"

"I don't think I can get away with another night away from home."

"Sorry," I said, biting my lip. "Of course. I forgot."

"Screw it," he said after a minute. "I don't want Sully following me home. She'll get over it eventually."

He ended up pretending he was staying in a friend's house because he needed a break from his family. I heard his mother cry over the phone, and I felt awful, but I had a feeling he wasn't lying. Besides, it was safer for his family if he didn't go there. My mother had already been bitten by Sully. There wasn't much I could do about that, but Sully had never been to Base's house. Hopefully the invitation thing stood for something.

The sad fact was neither of us could save our families from Sully. If he wanted to kill us all, he probably could. But I didn't think he would, partly due to the whole attention factor. He would be remembered if so many people died. If one girl disappeared, people might think she had run off with that boy who lived in town for a while. But people would look for the creepy weirdo outsider if entire families were wiped out. At least, that's what I told myself.

I waited in a café while he dropped off the car and picked up some clothes and his laptop. I sat there alone, an untouched cup of coffee in front of me, and tried to control a knee that wouldn't stop jumping, until he came to get me.

"I warned them not to answer the door to anyone who looks even remotely like Sully. Just in case," he said as he sank into the chair opposite me.

"Good." I reached across the table to touch his jaw. "Brian, your face."

He took my hand away from his face, but he didn't let go. Using his other hand, he touched his jaw gingerly. "Yeah, I had to explain the bruising away. Didn't go down well."

Wincing, I stared at the bruises in concern. "Are you okay?"

"Worrying about me now?" He shook his head and let go of my hand. "Sad part is that he didn't even hit me very hard, Dev."

My mouth formed into an O.

"Yeah," he said. "My reaction exactly. Should we head on then? Get this over and done with?"

I nodded, so we walked to my house, and I regretted every step of the journey. I felt as though a million eyes watched us as we walked together, but Base kept talking and distracting me from it. I took a deep breath when I got to my front door, but my mother wasn't home, and she had left a note saying she was staying with Richard at a hotel. I wanted to vomit. Reverting to type already. She had no sense at all, yet this one time, it would probably work in her favour.

We watched the news to see if there was anything about the girl Sully had bitten outside the club, but there was nothing.

"Maybe it's too early," I said as he looked online for any stories about it.

"It's probably not big enough of a story. She didn't even understand what happened to her. People still don't know what's out there. That's the problem. It keeps him safe."

I locked up the house as he searched for information on vampires on his laptop.

When I came back into the room, I watched as a muscle in his jaw tensed and wished I could wipe away the bruise there.

I cleared my throat. "Should we lock ourselves in my room again? Easier to defend than the entire house, you know?"

He shrugged, still staring at the screen. "I can sleep on the sofa if it makes you more comfortable."

"There's a vampire running around who wants to drink my blood. I'll never feel comfortable again."

He laughed. "Fine. You can lock me in your room, you little sex pest."

My cheeks heated up, which only made him laugh all the more, and we prepared to spend the night in my room. Again. In the bathroom, I changed into a rather prim looking pair of pyjamas, and ignored Base's amused glances when I returned to the bedroom.

"I'm never going to jump your bones unless you beg me first, so you don't have to put on the granniest pair of pyjamas you can get your hands on."

"They're comfortable." I pouted as I locked my bedroom door. "And it's not like you're the Style King of the Universe."

"I'm comfortable in my own skin, I'll have you know." He lay on the bed, his arms under his head, looking more relaxed than I felt. I couldn't believe how at ease he looked in my bed when it wasn't so long ago that we were constantly at each other's throats. "I think we should hunt him down and kill him tomorrow."

I tripped over a shoe and practically fell onto the bed. Pushing myself back onto my feet, I gaped at Base. "Are you serious? I mean, we're not ready."

"Ready for what? To kill a vampire? Don't think there's a class for that, Devlin. We should do it tonight." But he didn't move.

"I'm scared," I whispered.

"So am I," he admitted. "But I can't let him kill Aoife."

He had consoled himself with ringing her house frequently to make sure she was still alive. Sometimes she answered the phone, sometimes she didn't, but it gave him a bit of peace each time she did, knowing she was okay.

"Why hasn't he done it yet?" I asked, thinking hard.

"Maybe because we're watching him."

"But why would he be afraid of us? What's he waiting for? He could go there in the middle of the night and take her for all we would know."

"Am I supposed to understand the mind of a vampire?" Then he hesitated. "What if... what if he wants us to see it?"

I swallowed hard, not relishing that thought at all. "He said he could taste our pain. Maybe having an audience makes it taste better or something. Maybe he feeds off their fear, too."

"I wonder how many he's killed. If he's made their families watch. If he's done that hypnosis thing and made them think it never happened. Made them think something worse happened." Base didn't look confident anymore.

"Maybe we should—"

The window shuddered as something hit it hard. I yelped with fright, staring at the shadow behind the curtain from where the streetlight shone at my window.

"Devlin O'Mara," it began again.

"I can't take this," I whispered, and Base grabbed my hand.

"We'll wait it out," he said. "Just like last night. As long as he's here, he's not hurting anyone, right? He's just trying to scare you. Like you said, he feeds on your pain."

But Sully kept throwing himself at the window. What did he want from me? All I knew was that I was terrified, and my dreams would never be easy again.

But then I had to imagine what Aoife was going through. If _she_ knew what was happening to her. If that girl in the alleyway had realised she was being attacked by a vampire. Did she remember? Did she think she was going crazy? I couldn't get the idea out of my mind, and I got up to pull my phone out of the pocket of my jeans and watch the video again.

"I'm going to upload it," I said. "I'm going to make sure people see this. Whether they believe it or not, at least I did something to warn them. If it makes one person think twice, it'll be worth it. I think he's going to kill me, Base. I think it's going to be me, and not Aoife. That's why he comes here. That's why we rarely see her with him. He just wants me to suffer before I die. To make it _special_."

"Upload it," he said. "I'll share it on all of my accounts, too."

Bolstered by the latest idea, we both sat quietly and waited for the online world to pick up on what most people would call a hoax. Still, some people would be warier for it, and people at school would see that Sully was at the very least a creep, if not, a monster.

I pushed my phone away, the sound of Sully's voice sticking to my skin and spreading across my body in a cool chill. He would probably make everyone who watched the video forget. It was all so pointless.

"It can't be real," I mumbled, sitting on the side of the bed and shaking so badly that I couldn't hold still for love nor money. "None of this can be real."

"Hey," Base said, coming over to kneel in front of me. He lifted my chin so I would look at him. "You're holding me together here. I can't let you fall apart now. Save it until it's over. Can you do that for me?"

I nodded, unable to look away. "Everything's going to work out in the end," he said, pulling me closer to him with a sigh. I clung to him, inhaling his scent, and drawing whatever comfort I could from him. At first, it was just a hug, but my hands seemed to move by themselves, from clinging to stroking. They slipped under his shirt, and he drew in a harsh breath. He was so warm, so safe, and the closer I got to him, the easier it was to ignore the sounds outside.

"What are you doing?" he whispered, but he didn't move to stop me.

"I don't know."

He held my face between his hands and stared at me, his dark eyes unrelenting even as a particularly loud bang shook the window frame. He ran his thumbs across my cheeks, a look on his face that made me feel wanted.

"I want to kiss you so bad," he said in a hushed voice, and I relished the sound of those words.

"Is that a warning?" I tried to sound light-hearted, but it came out too seriously, and I reached for him instead. He met my kiss with one of his own, and I ended up kneeling on the floor with him. We swayed together in one desperate kiss, and the sounds faded away.

My head was full of the thumping of my heart, my mouth full of his taste, and there was no room for fear. He kissed me in a way I had only read about in books, as though he couldn't survive without being as close to me as possible. I was even hungrier. I couldn't get through the night without him. Everything had come together; all of the stress, tension, lust, and longing had turned into need. Kissing was no longer overrated.

He pulled away, practically panting, but he was grinning, and it made me feel better about the whole latching on to his face like a horny suckerfish thing.

"I didn't expect that," he said.

"We needed something else to think about."

He gave me a funny look. "That's not exactly a compliment."

"I _like_ you," I whispered, immediately wishing I could take it back. I looked away, mortified, but he made me face him, and I wanted to be _real_ for a change. To show how I really felt. To be free from the constant fear.

So when he got up and slid his arms around me, his mouth on mine again, I let go, more than willing. He lifted me in his arms, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He sat on the bed, still holding me tight, one of his hands drifting up and down my spine, and I cupped his cheeks as I kissed him back just as fiercely, both of us frantic in our urgency to get closer to one another. He stopped unexpectedly, holding me away from him.

"What?" I asked, a little annoyed at the interruption.

"It's gone quiet," he said, glancing around. "Is it over?"

I realised he was right. Nothing but silence. Too silent, in fact. And then it began, an awful scratching at the window. With the curtains closed, it was only scarier as my imagination lifted into full flight. What was he doing out there?

"Can he get in?" I said, holding onto Base for dear life again. Somehow the screeching sound of nail on glass was worse than the banging.

"He could easily smash the window if he really wanted in," Base said sensibly. "He's trying to scare you. Because you stopped feeling scared for a minute there, right?"

I nodded, licking my now swollen bottom lip. I had completely forgotten to be afraid.

"He's trying something new to attract your attention then. That's all." He dropped light kisses on my neck, but the moment was gone. I was afraid all over again.

"I can't stand another night like this," I said. "Us locked away, him outside knowing we're terrified."

"We won't," he promised. "This is the last time he gets to do this." He ran his hand through my hair, gazing up at me with that longing again, and I leaned into him, knowing it was a mistake. It was just the situation we were in, the risk of dying soon, I knew that, but I felt so much better around him. I wanted more from him, wanted to savour the good moments for the rest of my life, especially as I was growing convinced that I didn't have long to live. I had pissed off a vampire, and he wanted his own back. But Base... Base had always been the one for me, even when I tried to hate him.

"Brian," I whispered in the dark, holding his gaze.

"Yes," he said, his voice deepening.

"I think I'm going to beg you now."

His breath caught in his throat audibly, and a little gleeful squirm ran through my body. He rested his hand on my knee, drawing it upward slowly. I found his lips again, delighting in his obvious nervousness. Sully wanted me to be petrified, but I had Base, and I didn't have to be afraid. I knew Base could distract me from the horrors of the night. I knew that for one night, Base would help me forget.

I slid lower onto his lap, facing him as I ran my fingers through his hair. Moving his head back to take a good look at me in the dark, he unbuttoned my so not sexy pyjamas so slowly, I thought I might explode. I needed warm skin against mine, and although he hesitated, I pulled his shirt over his head, and I didn't think about my bad memories, didn't think about the vampire outside my window.

Base was beautiful in his own way, and I ran my hands across his chest in a kind of wonder. I hovered one hand over his heart, and he covered it with his own. My own heart thumped wildly at the sensations running throughout my body. Everything had changed. I might explode if it didn't change even more.

He slid my pyjama top off my shoulders, letting it fall away so slowly, my skin tingled. His fingers ran down my bare arms, giving me goose bumps. He grasped my waist with two hands and pulled me closer to him.

"You're so beautiful, Devlin," he said right before he kissed me. His tongue explored my mouth, and my temperature shot up all over again as his hand found my heart, his fingers drifting along my skin, leaving a blazing trail in their wake.

He lifted me again, this time laying me on the bed beneath him. He hesitated as if unsure I was comfortable with that, but I pulled him closer. I needed to make new memories.

His warmth surrounded me completely, and I savoured his weight on me. I made a small sound of pleasure as his hands roamed my body, relishing the new sensations until he froze, and all of the noises outside came back in a rush.

"What's wrong?" I asked in confusion, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

"When you said nobody's slept in this bed, you really meant... You mean, not even Deco?"

"What? Why on earth are you thinking about Deco right now?"

"Shit."

"Brian?" I spoke in a small voice, and he backed away, putting space between us again. "Brian, stop it."

"You really don't want to do this. I'm so sorry," he groaned. "I shouldn't be taking advantage of you when you're scared out of your mind like this. Not after everything that's happened to you."

"What are you talking about? I want... I want _you_."

"Do you?" he demanded. "I mean, you hated me with every bone in your body a week ago. So I'm finding that hard to believe. Do you really want me, or is this a way to distract you so the night will be over?"

I bit my lip. "That too."

He stood, preparing to throw his shirt back on, but I flung myself at him, refusing to let him close up again.

"Stop it," I said. "I'm standing here in my bra and the most ridiculous pyjama bottoms known to mankind, so stop trying to make me feel even more of a fool."

"I don't think you're a fool," he said softly, laying his hands on my waist. I leaned toward him automatically, and he pressed his forehead against mine and squeezed his eyes shut. Just as I began to relax, he pulled away abruptly and ran his hands over his face.

Dread wound its way around my body. "What's the problem?"

"You're embarrassed to be seen with me. You've made it clear that you hate me many, many times. It doesn't exactly do a lot for my confidence, okay?"

A cold chuckle drifted into the room, soon becoming loudly derisive laughter.

"He likes this," I said with trembling lips. "He wants us to turn on each other."

"This has nothing to do with him," he said. "This is me and you, getting back to normal."

"I don't want normal," I protested. "Why do you have to be so stubborn all of the time?"

"Me? Stubborn? So says the one who woke up one day and thought, "Ooh, I'll make a fool of Base to save my pride." Give me a fucking break, Dev!"

I stepped back in shock. "Are you serious? _This_ is what you're thinking about?"

"Every time I see you, I think about it," he hissed, his eyes seeming black in the dark. "Every time."

I covered my body with my arms, full of shame about everything that had happened. "I'm sorry," I mumbled. "I made a mistake, and I'm sorry."

I turned around to put my top back on, but his hot palms against my shoulder blades rooted me to the spot.

"We shouldn't fight," he said in a calmer voice. "But we obviously live in two different worlds. As soon as Sully's gone, you'll regret this, and I really don't want to be anyone's regret."

"Why don't you let me think for myself?" I snapped, whirling around to face him. "You're the only one coming up with reasons why we shouldn't touch each other. So you're the only one with the problem."

"Maybe I am," he said simply. "I'll sleep on the floor."

I wanted to shout at him and say I didn't want him to, but I didn't. I lay in the bed alone that night, crying silently as Sully called in harsh words aimed at my ears. I didn't want to face him alone. I didn't want to face him without Base. But the choice had been taken away from me.

# Chapter 16

I barely slept all night, and I knew I looked like shit the next morning, but I had nobody to impress anyway, so it didn't matter.

"I think we should check in at school until roll call, sneak out, figure out a way to break into Sully's house, and wait for him to come home. We'll deal with him, hopefully using the element of surprise to hurt him before he hurts us, and then we can forget about all of this." Base didn't look in my direction once as he spoke.

"Looks like you have it all figured out," I said, hoping he could feel the bitterness in my voice.

"Someone has to. Hey, not to worry, I'll be out of your hair soon."

I stared at him, unbelievably hurt, and he had the sense to change the subject.

"We should probably get going before your mother comes home."

"Crap." I choked on my tea. "I forgot all about her." How could I forget about my own mother, when everything I did was about her? I was going to kill a vampire to keep her safe, after all.

We hurried to get ready, but she arrived before we left, so I snuck Base out the back way and had to deal with her hangover alone.

"I need to go to school," I said, pretending not to notice her panda eyes.

"Stay home today," she begged. "I don't want to be alone. I need you, Dev. I was so stupid last night; I questioned him about leaving her. He wouldn't even listen to me. He got so mad."

"What did you expect?" I shouted, livid at the way she jumped with fright. "He's a married man, for God's sake! Stop being the idiot who lets him walk all over you for once in your life! It's like you actually want me to think this is okay. You haven't even tried to make our lives better, but you seem to be going out of your way to make both of us miserable. Why can't you be happy as you are, Mam? Or with a man who actually treats you like a human being? What's so bloody well damaged in you that you can't maintain any kind of a relationship, not even a crappy one?"

Her bottom lip shook, and I knew she would sob, but I was beyond caring. "Why would you—"

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself," I spat. "You made your bed, now deal with it yourself. I'm so sick of being the one who picks up the pieces. You have no idea what I'm going through, and you don't even care. All you're bothered about is your addiction to the drama." I shook my head, worn out by the tears in her eyes. "I have to get to school. Try and eat something, okay?"

I wrapped my arms around myself once I let myself out the door. I felt like shit for talking to her like that, but it was too much. Just too much.

"That was harsh," Base said to my right.

I shrugged. "Truth hurts."

"So were you talking about her or you just then? I couldn't tell."

I took a deep breath before walking faster, hoping to lose him while he was being such an idiot.

"Why do you always take your shit out on people?" he persisted.

"I don't," I snapped at last. "But I'll take it out on you if you're not careful."

"Nothing new there," he retorted, and we walked in angry silence for the rest of the journey. The streets were cold and empty, mostly, and I kept a close eye out for Sully's car. Not that he had to be driving it, but it was better than glancing into stranger's gardens to make sure he wasn't hiding there.

The school was empty, but when I got to my locker, I stopped in shock. The door had been ripped off and mangled, actually folded up into a metal knot looking form, and I realised I had driven Sully to show his hand. I crept toward the locker, half-afraid of what I'd see. All of my books were destroyed, actually torn up into little pieces, and covered in red. The inside of the locker looked as though it were bleeding as drips of red slowly fell to the bottom.

"Don't touch it," Base said in a tight voice as I lifted my hand.

"There's a note," I said as if in a trance. I picked it up, careful not to get what was likely blood on my hands. "Oh, my God," I whispered, reading it before handing it to Base.

The note was written in an extravagant old-fashioned looking script on an ancient looking thick page that began to crumble as soon as I touched it.

* * *

_Devlin O'Mara,_

_Nice video, but it makes my stay all the briefer. I'll be leaving tonight. Come to my house and watch me finish off your friend. I want you to know how your life will end. How she squirms and pleads for her life, knowing no one can save her. And bring your new puppy. If he obeys, I may let him choose which one of you to save._

* * *

"No," Base hissed. "He can't..."

The page disintegrated in his hands. He brushed the remaining dust from his fingers in disgust. The pain in his expression was too much to bear. He couldn't lose Aoife. He needed her, and his family needed him. Only my mother needed me, and it was about time she learned to take care of herself. The only reason Sully wanted Base there was to hurt me more.

"I'll go," I said. "I'll ask him to let her go. He might. You never know."

"Haven't you seen your locker?" He pointed at the mangled metal. "He wants to do _that_ to you. I can't wait around. I have to go to him."

"And do what?" I protested. "We still don't know what to do about him! If we all go, we all die. If I go willingly, he might free Aoife. She doesn't even know what's happening to her. It's not... it's not fair. He wanted me first."

"What? You're pissed that he chose someone else?" He sounded so incredulous that I might have laughed, but then his words sank in.

"Are you completely stupid?" I demanded. "I'm not pissed or jealous; I'm feeling guilty that Aoife took my place because of my big mouth. God!"

He closed his eyes for a second. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"Yes, you did! You mean every horrible thing you assume about me. And I can't change that, but I can change this. I'm sorry, Brian."

"For what?"

But I was already swinging the piece of locker at his face. He stumbled at the impact, and I hated that I hurt him, but I pushed him against the lockers, and he collapsed to the ground in a heap. If he came with me, Sully would kill him just to increase my pain. Aoife's pain too. I had realised too late that what I felt for Base had grown rapidly into something I couldn't hide, and even if he didn't feel the same way, it changed everything for me. I had a feeling that Sully knew, and that's why he involved Base in the first place—to hurt me more. I couldn't risk Base coming with me. I couldn't watch him die.

I was able to hail a taxi a couple of streets away from the school. I went to my house first to say sorry to my mother, but she wasn't there. That wasn't like her. She didn't go outside when Richard let her down. Unless she needed a drink, but I found two bottles of wine under her bed.

My stomach turned at the idea she hadn't left. Worrying she had been taken, I decided to bring the bat with me. Just in case I changed my mind.

The taxi was still waiting outside, and I gave the driver new directions. He let me out a bit away from Sully's house, and I used the walk to leave a message on Tom's phone.

"Hey, Tom. It's Devlin. I just wanted to tell you thanks for everything you've done for me. You and Mark, too, if you could let him know. I'm about to be eaten by a vampire, which sounds crazy, but that's what's going to happen. That stalker I was telling you about? Well, just check out the video I posted online last night. He might have my mother now, and my friend, but if I somehow manage to fix this... If he lets them go... Well, what I mean is if you could check on my mother every now and then, I'd be really grateful."

I hung up, and then realised I hadn't told him where to find my body. I left another message giving Sully's details and hoping Tom wouldn't get up earlier than usual. I was the only night-shifter who got up before twelve, so I should have had plenty of time before Tom woke up and realised I wasn't joking. I took a quick check of the video and was stunned by how many views it had. The general perception was of Sully being into some kind of weird kink, but I could see what had gotten him so angry.

I had outed the vampire. Now, people would remember him, one way or another. He had used media to his advantage to weave a spell on teenage girls, and now I was using it to make sure people saw what he was. He would always be that creep from that video online, and it made him lose his magic somewhat. He would have to be way more devious now; he would have to find another method with which to prey.

His mask had been torn off, and whether people realised the truth of the situation or not, he was no longer an enigma. That left a skinny boy, although who knew what age he really was, who wore a leather jacket in hot weather and sunglasses indoors.

My stomach turned when I spotted his car. I ran around to the side of his house, ditching the bag I had carried the bat in. I was about to die, that fact had been inevitable for a while, but I couldn't go down without a fight. Clutching the bat for dear life, I contemplated climbing in the still broken window. But Sully ripped open the back door, and a scream was born and died in my throat. His eyes were wild, no sunglasses and jacket anymore, and his sinewy strength was obvious under his light t-shirt.

"Devlin O'Mara," he said thickly, his mouth full of fangs. "Welcome to my web."

"Let Aoife go, or I'm not coming in," I said in a steadier voice than I expected.

He gave an awful grin then. "I'm in a hurry now. You changed the game, so you have to deal with the consequences."

"I'll scream," I warned, lifting the bat. He moved, so I swung, but I missed, and his hands squeezed my throat before I could let out a sound. He was faster than I expected. I had severely underestimated him, I realised too late. The darkness came frighteningly quick, and there was no relief as my body went limp in his arms. My eyes closed too soon, and I was lost.

I awoke sluggishly, my entire body aching. I turned my head carefully, pain tearing through my throat. I tried to use my hands to check for broken skin, but the jangle of chains and an abrupt stopping of any movement I made assured me that I wasn't going anywhere quickly. My eyes fluttered open, slowly getting used to the darkness of the room. The heavy curtains blocked out any sunlight, so I didn't have a clue how long I had been lying there. I felt something wet dripping down my neck and shoulder, and I knew with certainty that it was my own blood.

It was a small room, and I wondered if it was the one Base had taken a photo of. No furniture, and lying across from me was a blonde in matching chains. Aoife.

"Aoife," I whispered as loud as I dared. "Aoife, wake up."

She moaned a little, stirring slightly, but her eyes didn't open. I couldn't see any obvious wounds on her, but it was hard to tell in the dark. I jerked my hands forward, but there was no give on the chains. Shit, shit, shit, shit, _shit_. I hadn't thought this through. In my panic to keep Base away from Sully, I had given the vampire exactly what he wanted. Would he kill both of us? Go after Base? My mother? Everyone at school?

Or would he kill Aoife and me and run? He said he was going to leave that night. Would he sneak away after he had fed? Stupid Dracula-Twilight wannabe. I got mad. That was better than fear. Way better. My stomach still cramped up, but it helped clear my head, helped me think this through. He wasn't likely to set me free to feed on me. Or was he? Did he like the chase at all? Would he hunt me down? Or would he take my life as I lay chained up against a wall in a grotty room with no furniture and blackout curtains.

The not knowing was worst of all.

"Sully!" I screamed as loud as I could. "You coward!"

He opened the door, letting precious light in, and sauntered into the room as if he had been waiting outside. I wanted to vomit when I saw blood had run down his chin.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I've just been having a snack with my new toy. I've overdone it with Aoife lately. She's been tired a lot." He grinned. "You really did a number on your mother this morning, Devlin O'Mara. The force of her sorrow was so enticing that I just _had_ to take her home with me."

I swallowed hard. "You're lying."

"Am I? What was it you said to her that had her lying on the floor, crying hysterically? It must have been something truly awful. What a way to end your life. To be treated like dirt by your only family, and then find yourself taken for dinner by a vampire." He laughed at himself.

"Mam!" I roared, struggling against the chains. "Mam!"

Hearing her call back was probably the worst moment of my life.

"No," I whispered, my heart dropping like stone. "Mam!" I called out. "I didn't mean it, not any of it! I love you!"

I realised Sully was gone, and a heart-wrenching scream was my only reply. Had he killed her? Had he really killed my mother because of me? He came back in, his t-shirt soaking with blood, and I curled my legs up to my chest, barely able to breathe.

"Now that wasn't fair," he scolded. "Poisoning my food with hope like that. But I've always thought you were toxic."

He gripped my throat, forcing me to look at his face. "There's only ever been one bitch as annoying as you, and I made her slaughter her entire family before I ripped out her heart. You're getting off lightly, all things considered. If I had the time, oh, how I would enjoy tormenting you some more." He let go of my throat and stroked my cheek. "Tell me, Devlin. Did you believe you were finally descending into madness? Were you afraid to tell a soul what you suspected?" He pulled back and pouted. "But you did tell one soul, didn't you? A boy almost as pathetic as yourself."

"Says the vampire who goes to school over and over again so he can talk to girls," I snapped back as vehemently as I could manage.

"It's my hunting ground," he said with a sneer. "I find the most damaged girl, and I don't leave until her mind is mine. Until she's ready for the final stage."

"Oh, and I'm the damaged one this time? Look around. You have me. So why can't you leave everyone else alone?"

"Because you want me to," he said in a harsher tone of voice. "Do you know how much trouble you've been? This is easy for me. _Easy_. Yet you had to complicate every step of the way and truly mar my enjoyment. Do you know how many people I've had to enthral? How tiring it is? It doesn't last indefinitely, you know. It takes energy. Luckily, I've had Aoife and your lovely mother to keep me going."

The doorbell rang, startling both of us, but Sully's face soon smoothed over. "Of course, that would be Base. Here to save the day. But who shall he choose? I'll be honest; I'm hoping he picks Aoife." With a terrifying grin, he left the room, and I immediately started calling Aoife.

"Aoife, wake up. Wake up! We have to get out of here, Aoife!"

She stirred, glancing around with blank eyes. She would be no help at all.

I heard the door open. A house with no furniture was surprisingly echoing. I didn't hear Base's voice though.

I heard Tom's.

I screamed as loud as I could. "Run! Run, Tom! Run!"

The door slammed shut, and I heard a struggle, but I was powerless to help.

"No," I moaned. "Not another one. Please, no."

A bellow made me shiver. He was hurting Tom. He had to be. Tom wouldn't have believed me about the vampire bit, but he probably heard me and tried to run inside. Why did I open my mouth?

I knew the answer. Because Sully would have taken him no matter what. Tom wouldn't have left when faced with the blood on my stalker's shirt.

"Devlin," my mother's voice called out weakly. I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes, savouring the sound. She had to be in the next room.

"Yes," I answered. "I thought you were dead."

"Not yet," she said. "We'll get out of this, Dev. Don't worry. Someone will come. We'll get out of here in one piece."

"Mam, I don't think—"

"I love you, Devlin. No matter what happens, I want you to know how grateful I am to have you. I wish I hadn't wasted so much time, wish I could make you see I wanted to change. It's been so hard. So hard to fix what I've done, what I let happen to you, but I swear to you that when we get out of here, everything is going to change."

"I'm so sorry for what I said to you. I was mad at somebody else, and I took it out on you."

"No," she called back. "You were right, baby. Everything you said was the truth. I just didn't want to hear it. I couldn't face up to any of it, and I can never apologise enough for that. I don't know how I managed to have a child as beautiful as you. I'm so sorry I gave up for so long."

Her voice was steadier than usual, clearer than ever. She might not be falling apart, but I was about to.

"I'm sorry," I tried to say, but a strange thumping sound covered my words. Slowly, I realised Sully was dragging Tom's body up the stairs.

"Quite the reunion," Sully called out from the landing. "What a lot of bodies I'll have to cover up before I leave." Tom moaned like a kitten mewling for its mother, and all hope was lost. I only prayed Base stayed away. I wouldn't have been able to bear that, too.

I stopped hearing Sully, but Tom's movements grew closer, and a heavy scratching sound alerted me to the fact he was trying to crawl away. My heart thumped loudly in my chest as Sully entered the room I was in, humming to himself.

"Chains, chains," he muttered. "Should have brought more."

I glanced at the doorway, seeing Tom's bloody hand reach behind the wall to drag himself in. I smothered my squeal, but Sully took two steps and stamped on Tom's hand, leaving bent, misshapen fingers in his wake.

Without pausing, he reached behind Aoife, untying a line of rope around her waist. I didn't even want to know what that had been used for.

"He won't last long enough for chains," Sully explained as if I had asked a question. He dragged Tom into the room so I could see his bloody appearance. His eyes were wide and searching. Horror spread across his face when he caught sight of me. His face was purple and swollen, one of his eyes slowly closing shut because of the lump swelling his cheek. Tom had tried to help me. And now Tom would die for it.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, reaching for him in vain. "So, so sorry."

Sully deftly wrapped the rope around Tom's wrists, pulling so tight that I flinched.

"Leave them alone," I said. "You've done it. You've broken me. Aren't you happy yet?"

Sully flashed his fangs, his eyes redder than ever. "Not until you're all dead, Devlin O'Mara. Not until you're all dead."

He dragged Tom out of the room after him easily, leaving a trail of blood behind them. It washed the floor, and my sight, and my mind bright red, and I grew cold inside. We were all going to die.

All of us.

# Chapter 17

"Oh, God, no. Stop! Please, stop," my mother cried out.

"Mam!"

I heard Sully grunting, some noises I didn't recognise, but loudest of all were my mother's sobs, and that had me wild with craziness and desperation. I struggled against the chains, but it was pointless. There was no escape.

Sully had won.

A couple of minutes later, he returned, a fanged grin on his face.

"I need you to help with the unexpected company. I believe I saw him at your house once. You've managed to drag yet another one down with you. I'm almost impressed," he said, and then held up a finger. "But first, I'm thirsty. Dragging that oaf around was more tiring than you'd expect. I need a top up."

Gazing at him in horror, I felt a mild modicum of relief as he turned to Aoife rather than me. Guilt overwhelmed that sensation, and I cried out to him to take me instead.

"Oh, I'll get around to that," he said, his scarlet eyes burning into mine. "But I need your hands first. It won't be half as entertaining if you're too weak to stand."

Grimacing at the ideas of what that could mean, I watched helplessly as he roughly yanked Aoife's hair out of the way to expose her neck, his fangs sinking deep into her skin. To my surprise, he let her go and looked up at me, his eyes half-crazed, and his now obvious fangs covered in Aoife's blood.

"See, it isn't just the blood. That was never enough for me. You might be surprised to learn that I never wanted this for myself. The bitch who turned me drew me in with an act, and when she saw what I became, she left me there. Abandoned me to deal with the idea of immortality alone. And while I revelled in the blood for a time, it became tedious after a couple of centuries. I actually contemplated suicide before I discovered what I could do, Devlin. I was so bored that I _wanted_ to die. But then I found a way to make it exciting." He sucked his teeth, his eyes half-closing. "It became satisfying in ways I had never experienced before. I chose the right girl, and I took in her pain."

Aoife cried out a little, and he smiled as if with pride. "See what's happening to her? She's remembering. Every fear, every awful moment in her pathetically short life. She's reliving it all now. And that's what I'm living for. The nightmares, the memories, the pain. Yours will be so much sweeter though. She was too hopeful, too ready to move on. But you, you're still in the past. I saw it in your nightmares. I promised myself I would savour you, Devlin O'Mara."

He sank his teeth into Aoife's neck ferociously, shaking her like a small dog might shake a rat. Her body jerked with pain, and I couldn't look away, couldn't stop watching my own inevitable fate. She gasped a little, and he withdrew, the slurping sound thankfully ending.

"I've always wanted a companion," he said. "But there just isn't room for two of us in a place like this. Too small, too close. Maybe I'll take Aoife along for the ride though. Or maybe I'll turn you and make you feed on your own mother."

I gaped at him. Could he do that?

He checked his blood splattered watch. "Ah, but I don't have the time. Oh, well. Let's speed this up, shall we?"

He leaned over me, his bloody breath on my skin making me want to vomit. He took the chains from the walls so that I could move, but my hands were still linked together. He made me stand, but my knees refused to stop wobbling. I walked as best I could as he pushed me out of the room, taking one last look at Aoife, but he slapped the side of my head to make me face forward.

He pushed me into a room right next door. Mam was chained in the corner, feral in appearance. With caked blood sticking to her hair, she shivered and shook, barely recognising me as I entered the room. When she did, she straightened and held up her chin, and hope blossomed in my heart.

Until I noticed Tom, strung up to the ceiling by the rope tying his hands together. The ceiling was high, but his feet almost touched the floor. Almost, but not quite. His face had turned purple, and his stretched arms had to feel as though they were being wrenched from his body.

"What the hell?" I whispered, seeing a tray with small knives and scalpels, and an axe and a shovel against the wall, too.

"Sometimes I make them remove their own body parts," Sully said, sounding proud of himself. "Or I force them to dig their own graves. It's surprisingly entertaining, but when you've lived this long, you really have to find the little joys wherever you can." He stared at a shovel as if contemplating. "I think I'll find Base after this and make him dig all of your graves. That's if he doesn't turn up himself." He narrowed his eyes at me, and I flinched away, unable to bear looking at him.

"What are you planning on doing to me?"

"Oh, I'm going to make you kill these two. I could do it. I could even compel you to do it. But I think I'd prefer to watch you suffer through knowing exactly what you're doing. I've had some fun with them, but you've cheered up a lot recently, thanks to Base. What an awful creature by the way. Between him and the other dolt, it's apparent you have quite poor taste. Regardless of this, he's made you happier, and I prefer you completely desolate. I think killing your own mother might achieve that. Maybe you'll even enjoy torturing them. You never know what will happen when you discover a taste for something... _darker_."

I swallowed hard a couple of times. Tom tried to say something, but I couldn't understand it. My mother wept in the corner.

"I don't..."

Sully picked up the axe and cut Tom down. "I want you to amputate those legs of his so he can't run away. If you do it nicely, I might even let your mother live."

I retched a little, shaking my head. "I'm so sorry, Tom. I'm so sorry."

Tom made an awful sound, his eyes pleading with me.

"It'll be quick," I promised. I turned to Sully. "You promise you'll let her go?"

He looked absolutely delighted. "I'll unchain her and let her run. I might hunt her down afterward, but it depends on how much I enjoy our fun here, little Devlin O'Mara. Can you lift the axe?"

I had carried my mother to bed on more than one occasion. Even moved barrels in the store room at work. I was stronger than I looked. Then again, so was he. I lifted the axe slowly, feeling the weight of it in my arms. I wished my hands were free.

"I think it's too big for you," Sully said. "Sorry, old man. Guess it won't be quick after all."

I lifted the axe over my head, struggling to keep my balance, my heart racing in my chest. Tom whimpered at me, and my mother kept talking, but the words were just a buzzing in my head, and all through it, Sully kept on whispering to me, telling me how much I was going to enjoy hurting my friend.

With a scream of pain, I threw everything I had into that swing. I angled it, swung my body around and buried the axe into Sully's hip, pushing my own weight along with it. Blood bubbled from the wound, but it wasn't fatal. Not even close. I didn't care. I wanted him to know he couldn't force me to hurt anyone. I didn't care what it meant for me. If we were all going to die, he could do his own dirty work.

His fangs glowed in the dull light, and he pushed back, fighting to get me off the axe so he could take it out. I hung on with the strength of someone drowning and clutching for help. I couldn't let go, even if I wanted to. He threw himself forward, knocking himself on top of me, and the wooden handle of the axe pressed against me so hard, I couldn't breathe.

That wasn't the danger. The danger came from those snapping fangs, so deadly close to my throat. He was so wild with anger that he had forgotten to savour the moment, and my hands were caught on the axe; I couldn't even defend myself. His teeth sank into my skin, and the world changed colours. The nightmares began anew.

But in the midst of the pain, of the never-ending memories, a voice whispered my name, and I clawed my way back to reality, determined not to let them take me down again. It took everything I had, but I gasped a breath in the real world, shrugging free of the fear, breaking away from Sully's possessive control.

Tom, crawling over to us, used his one good hand to reach up and stab a scalpel into Sully's eyeball while he was distracted with me. Blood spurted as Sully reared back to pull it out. I kicked out at the vampire, pushing with all of my strength, and he stumbled back, probably unbalanced by his injuries.

I scrambled to my feet, but too soon, he ripped the axe out of his side and flung it away, only to leap up to the ceiling, blood pouring from his side. He hung there, glancing from one of us to the other as if wondering who he should kill first. I grabbed a knife and flung it across the floor to my mother, hoping to give her some way of defending herself. The chains were too short. It was useless.

Sully leaped at Tom, knocking him out with a blow to the head, and then he zoned in on my mother, ready to make good on his promise to force me to watch her die. I used the chains linking my wrists together and threw my arms around him, trying to tighten them around his neck right before he bit a chunk out of her throat. I dropped to the floor, pulling him on top of me and struggling to hold him there, but it was no use. He snapped the chains with ease and whirled around to face me. I crawled back, but one clawing swipe of his hand had me flailing on the floor.

He crept up to me, swearing to himself, bleeding all over me, and I heard a sound to my right. He was so caught up in his bloodlust that he didn't see Base run into the room, didn't see Base raise his hands, didn't see Base strike my precious bat against the back of Sully's skull until it was too late.

Enraged, the vampire sprang around, barely unsettled by the blow. Base stared at him calmly, the bat secure in his hands. He struck again, but Sully blocked the bat and punched Base. Base fell back, but he scrambled to his feet as I searched for something else to attack Sully with. I grabbed something sharp from the vampire's tray of playthings, but inside, I knew it wouldn't be enough. Nothing would.

I turned back, but Sully had Base by the throat, and Base was choking slowly, his face turning purple. I ploughed the knife into the side of Sully's throat as hard as I could, and he made a slurping sound. He dropped Base like a ragdoll and turned back to me yet again. He jumped around me, and I felt dizzy as I waited for the end to come. He threw himself at me, sending us both crashing into a wall, and I could see all of his control was gone.

I waited for his fangs to pierce my skin, for all of the memories to flood before my eyes as my life faded away, but Sully froze, fangs still poised for attack, his one remaining eye widening in shock. His jaw shook as blood flooded out of his mouth and onto my chest. I hurriedly backed up out of the way as Base pulled his weapon back out, his face still awash with colour. He kicked a withering Sully away from me as the vampire made one last ditch effort to take my life. It was too late. It was over.

For him.

"Screw you," I whispered as Sully disintegrated right in front of me in a congealed mess of blood and who knew what.

"I soaked it with holy water," Base said, shrugging. "I knew something would work eventually."

"Is that a stake?"

"Technically, it's a stick from his neighbour's back garden, but it did the job."

"Oh."

He knelt next to me, catching his breath. "Do me a favour, Dev. Stop offering yourself to vampires. This is gonna take some clean-up crew."

I gazed around the room, only truly seeing the blood-splattered walls for the first time. "How do we explain all of this?"

"Serial killer?" he said in a laughing way, but there were tears in his eyes. I could tell. He glanced around urgently, whilst exhaustion cloaked me.

I crawled over to my mother, slipping in Sully's thick, black blood, and pointed at the door. "Aoife's in the next room. Probably should call an ambulance or something."

Base ran, and Tom was so still that I felt sure he had died. My mother held out her hands, her bloody hands, and I let her try to embrace me. I lay my head on her lap, curled up into a ball, and waited for someone to come and help us.

Base came running back in, but I couldn't raise my head. He picked up the axe, ran back out of the room, and, from what I could hear, hacked the chains holding Aoife to the wall. He carried her back in and cradled her in his lap, sinking to the ground. I crawled over to Tom—for some reason, my legs didn't feel like working properly—and felt for his pulse.

"He's alive," Base assured me.

"Help my mother," I begged, holding Tom's hand.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think," he said, sounding flustered. He laid Aoife on the floor as gently as possible and picked up the bloody axe. I didn't flinch as the axe freed my mother, but she yelped as though it might hit her. She hurried over to me, kneeling on the floor next to me, and I leaned against her for support. How was she staying so strong?

"Tom, wake up," I whispered, shaking him as much as I dared.

After a few terrifying moments, he opened his eyes, unable to focus. "We okay?" he mumbled.

"Everything's okay, Tom," Mam said. "Did you call the ambulance or police?" she asked Base.

"They're sending both," he said, still holding onto Aoife.

"They aren't going to believe us," she said firmly. "So we need to tell them what happened, but leave out the unbelievable parts. He really was a serial killer, or at least intended it that way, and that's how it's going to be told. Do we all understand?"

All of us muttered our agreement, but all I could think about was Aoife. What did she remember?

A siren in the distance alerted us to company, and I waited with bated breath for them to arrive. I shook so bad that they took one look at me, wrapped a blanket around my shoulders, and led me out of the room. Tom and Aoife were both taken in an ambulance straight away. The rest of us were held in the kitchen as our lesser wounds were patched up, away from the bloody rooms.

I couldn't catch Base's eye, couldn't reclaim the old territory, and even though I had witnessed Sully's death, even though I had seen everything, I couldn't relax, couldn't comprehend what had happened. That it was over. That we were safe. I needed someone else to talk through it, and I felt as though I had lost in the end.

We told similar stories as we waited for another ambulance to arrive, and our stuttering and confusion was thankfully put down to shock. Of course we were in shock. A vampire had tried to kill us. I couldn't stop seeing the way he disintegrated into the ground. A lot of him had eventually evaporated, but there was still blood over all of us.

"He pretended to be a vampire, and when we tried to fight him off, he ran," I explained tearfully, but any questions after that were met with blank stares on my behalf. My mother was the only steady one, the only one who showed strength, and I had to wonder about that as well. She spoke for us when we couldn't. The person I had always thought of as weak had turned out to be the strongest of us all.

The three of us were taken to the same hospital as Tom and Aoife. Mam and I had superficial wounds, and the doctors couldn't explain the sheer volume of the blood loss, but apart from a lot of dizziness and some scars, we would be okay. When we heard Aoife and Tom were well enough to see us, I couldn't resist going to see them. I crossed paths with Base in the hallway as he headed to Aoife's room.

He stopped short when he saw me, and a tiny part of me wanted to fall apart just so he would comfort me instead of looking so uncomfortable himself. And I hated that part of myself, so I acted as rock steady as I could.

"You going to Aoife?" I asked.

"Yeah." He looked anywhere but at my face. Screw him, I thought.

"Cool. Tell her I'll see her later then."

I walked in the opposite direction, not quite sure where I was heading, only certain I wanted to be as far away from Base as possible.

"Dev," he called out once. Just once, and I kept walking. I ended up finding Tom instead of Aoife, and even though I was afraid to see him too, afraid to know that he blamed me, I walked straight in to avoid Base.

Tom was badly hurt, but he was tough, and when I stepped into the room, I was the one who cried. "I'm so sorry," I whimpered.

"Hey," he said. "Don't cry on me. It's over. We're all okay."

"You got hurt because of me."

"I don't regret it. I'm just sorry I didn't take you seriously at first."

"Then why did you come?"

He tried to smile, but it looked more like a wince. "Honestly? I thought you were high or something. And when he answered the door, covered in blood, with actual fangs showing, I went for him. But he bit me, and it was as if my entire body was paralysed. I kept seeing things I never wanted to see again, and even though he was hurting me, I couldn't do anything to stop it."

"Oh, Tom."

"You did good, Dev," he said. "Mark will be proud you managed to keep both of us alive." He grinned then, and I fell apart at his bedside. "It's okay," he kept saying. "It's over."

So why did I feel like it was just the beginning? The nurses took me away before I could upset Tom, but I felt so terrible for dragging him into it all. Nothing had happened the way I expected it to, but Sully was dead. It was over.

Mam comforted me when the nurses led me to her, and when we were alone, she kept whispering things to me. How she was going to change. How everything was different now.

"All this over a vampire," I tried to joke, but my breath hitched.

"No. All this is because my daughter gave me a wakeup call. We need to change our ways, Dev. I'm far too dependent on you, and you've enabled me all of the way. We need to make sure that we start as we mean to go on. With you being honest and upfront, and me being the mother I was always supposed to be. I feel like we've grown up together, Devlin. But it's time for things to change."

"I don't know how to change," I whispered, and she squeezed my hand.

"It's going to take a lot of work," she said. "But we can do it together. Our relationship has been so unhealthy, and it's all of my fault for letting the past swallow me up. I'm going to make it up to you. I promise you that much."

For the first time in a long time, I managed to believe her.

I didn't see Base again, but I was allowed to see Aoife alone later on.

"I'm so confused," she admitted, sounding exactly like herself again. "I remember Sully invited me over, and I can't really remember much after that. They're saying I've blanked out days, but I don't know... Is it true what Base told me, Dev?"

"What did he tell you?"

"That..." She gulped. "That Sully wanted to kill us all."

I nodded. "All because of me," I said. "I'm just... I'm so sorry that this happened to you because of me. I never imagined—"

She reached out to hug me. "How could this be your fault? You can't control what other people do."

"If I had been—"

She interrupted me again, telling me things like it wasn't my fault. Things I wanted to believe. But I couldn't. The hospital kept me in for a few days, but I went home as soon as they let me. I wanted to be miserable at home. I wanted the time and space to feel sorry for myself and get over Base yet again.

# Chapter 18

I didn't return to school despite my injuries healing well enough for me to go back to my life. For an entire month, my mother acted like a mother. She had been hurt more than me, but it was she who took care of me. It was she who was there for me when the nightmares started. It was she who called Mark and told him I needed time away from the bar. It was she who took calls from people who wanted to speak to me. It was she who got me through the interviews with the police who were still searching for Sully, still trying to desperately figure out where all of the strange blood had come from, to figure out what Sully had done to it to make it unidentifiable. It was Mam who explained I hadn't realised what I was seeing when I uploaded that video.

She made it all go away, and eventually, the rest of the world forgot about me.

The way I behaved was a completely different story. I gave up. Gave up trying to be the strong one, trying to be the one who took control of everything. I became what I had always been deep down, a waste of time and space. I spent hours doing nothing, all in a bid to stop my mind from running over what had happened, to stop myself from thinking, _really thinking_ , about what I had gained and lost.

"It's time," Mam said one Sunday while I watched mind-numbing soaps on the television.

"For what?" I mumbled in answer.

"For you to wake back up," she said. "It's time for you to go take a shower and actually brush your hair. For you to wear something other than your pyjamas. For you to go back to school, back to work if you want to."

"But I can't—"

"I know how you feel," she said, taking a seat next to me. "Trust me, I know. But I also know what feeling sorry for yourself does. Every day it's going to get a little bit harder to find that person you used to be. I miss her, Dev. I want her back."

"I don't know who to be anymore. I never liked the way I was before, and now I'm worse than that. I don't know where to go from here. I just..." I shook my head, and she held my hand, squeezing it gently.

"You have to start dealing. Talking about how you're feeling."

"Nobody wants to talk about the truth." I gazed at her, pleading with her to just talk about what really happened, but she shook her head.

"The truth has no place in this world," she said. "We can't let people think you're crazy. We have to protect you from that. But you need to find a way to purge the memories for your system. I need you to get back on your feet before you become exactly like me. I need you to break the cycle, Dev. Besides, I can't stay home with you anymore."

I frowned. "Richard."

She shook her head, her eyes glistening with excitement. "No. A job. I got a job, Dev. It's just a cleaning job, but it's a start."

"Where? How?"

She blushed. "Tom and Mark. I hope you don't mind, but the job is cleaning the pub. They sacked the other cleaner while you were away, something about her taking advantage, and well, it was offered to me. I said yes, but I spoke to Mark about it, and he said you never have to work a shift with me if it makes you feel uncomfortable."

I stared at her. "Working in a pub? Is that really the best idea for you?"

Her face paled again. She ran her tongue along her upper lip, and I worried that I had offended her.

"I know it's an odd place for me, but the job came up, and if we're going to change, then I need to throw myself into it. Yes, it's going to be hard, and I'm going to have bad days whether I work or stay at home, but I'm feeling so strong lately. I feel as if... as if I could face anything after what we went through, and I know it sounds strange, but I can't imagine anything worse coming along. I think we reached bottom, and the only way left is up."

"I just... I'm finding it hard to believe the dramatic turn around, Mam. I can't help it."

She nodded. "I have to earn your trust. I know that. I deserve your scepticism. I really do. But I know myself. This is the fresh start we've always needed. I just wish it hadn't come at such a high price. This is it for me, Devlin. I want to make myself happy without having to rely on anyone else to do it. I hope you can support me because you're my role model. I want to be more like you, the way you've always been."

She looked so earnest that I couldn't help but be buoyed up by her words. "When do you start?"

"Tomorrow," she said softly, the skin around her eyes wrinkling with worry. "Brian and Aoife will be around, so I thought that would help. But if you need me..."

"It's okay," I said. "I'm... I'm really proud of you, Mam."

She held me close. "That means a lot coming from you."

And it meant a lot to me that she was making such a huge effort. It made me embarrassed to be acting the way I had always despised. I wasn't as strong as I liked to think. But I could be. I could find my way back.

So the next morning, I returned to school, making sure I kept my scarred neck covered. It was awkward at first, lots of questions and hysteria, but eventually, people got the message and began to leave me alone. I walked into the lunchroom, saw Base and Aoife surrounded by rabid fans, and walked straight back out. I couldn't handle it. I sat outside on the grass, grateful for a chance to breathe.

I had desperately avoided giving myself a chance to deal with what happened, as well as the major part I played. I had avoided thinking about it all. Not just Sully, but the way I had begun to feel for Base again, and the way my mother didn't need me anymore. But Base had Aoife, my mother refused to acknowledge the fact vampires existed, and I thought Tom might have been inclined to do the same. It was easier that way, but it left me feeling lost.

And every night, I heard knocking at my window. Every night I heard Sully's creepy voice calling my name.

Devlin O'Mara. Devlin O'Mara. I was seriously considering changing my name.

"Dev!"

I groaned inwardly as Deco came running over to me. He fidgeted as he slowed down, looking unsure of himself.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

No.

"Of course," I said.

"Well, cool. I'm sorry about before. I really didn't get how freaky that dude was. I mean, the things I've been hearing..." He scratched his head. "So how are you getting on?"

I made a scornful noise. "Over it already."

His expression brightened. "Cool. Here's the thing. You said we were over, so I figured, move on, you know? I wanted to make sure you were okay with that. I know this probably isn't great timing, but you're back now, so—"

"It's fine," I said, feeling only relief. One less thing to worry about. "I'm happy for you. In fact, I'm delighted you're happy, Deco."

He eyed me carefully. "Really?"

"Of course. Seriously. I mean, it's better this way, right? We were just kids when we got together. What did we know?" I faked a laugh, and he smiled with relief.

"Well, that's good. I've been thinking you were right all along about us. But I still feel bad about what's happened to you. Is there anything I can do for you?"

I shook my head. "I'd just like... to be alone, really."

He took the hint for once in his life, and as he walked away, I was struck by the notion that my going out with him had been one of the cruellest things I had ever done. Trying to protect myself had turned me into a nasty person. And something about me had attracted a psychotic vampire and led to four people I actually cared about being hurt.

Realising I really did care about them had been a revelation. I had still been pretty close to stone cold right up until Sully died. The power of my emotions had hit hard after that. He had known me better than I had known myself. That's why he had involved them all. To hurt me all the more. I hadn't kept people at enough of a distance. And now I didn't want to.

Now it was too late.

Later, Aoife ambushed me. "The hospital days are a little fuzzy," she said, "so I don't even know if I thanked you for what you did back there."

"I didn't do anything," I said dully, but I was amazed by how well she looked, how quickly she had gotten herself back together. And I called _her_ the pushover? "I got everyone into that mess. Brian got us out of it."

She chuckled. "Brian? That so doesn't sound right. Well, I know you're just being modest."

I gripped her arms until she flinched, her eyes widening with a mix of fear and concern. "Aoife, listen to me. If it wasn't for me, none of that would have happened. I caused the problem. I didn't do a thing to stop it."

"That's a lie," Base said behind me, and I dropped Aoife's arms.

"No, it isn't," I said firmly, still holding Aoife's gaze. "But everyone's gotten what they wanted, so I'd really like to be left alone."

I walked away from them, unable to let myself look at him. I didn't want to see what I had lost. What I never actually had to begin with, I tried to remind myself.

Maisy had kept a friendly distance all day, but she insisted on walking me home. "I didn't want to crowd you earlier," she explained. "Everyone's gotten into a bit of a frenzy about the whole thing." She took a deep breath. "But if there's ever anything you want to talk about, I'm here."

"Thanks," I said. "I don't want to, though. At least, not yet."

"I understand," she said. "I suppose you have Base anyway."

"I haven't seen him since then."

She frowned. "Really? I thought you were—"

"No, we were both trying to deal with Sully is all. At least I didn't have to do that on my own." I tried to smile, but she looked unconvinced.

"I just... It gives me chills to think of it."

"Me too." It gave me more than chills. It gave me nightmares.

I expected Mam to be home from work when I got back, so when the house was empty, I started shaking. I couldn't stop until I checked my phone and saw she was replacing someone behind the bar for a couple of hours.

I wondered if it was a trick, if they had somehow come up with the idea so I would have to be alone and face up to my fears. It wouldn't have surprised me really. I had been acting pretty pathetic. I had refused to speak to anyone except Mam, and even then, I mostly gave her monosyllabic answers to her questions.

My cowardice annoyed me so much that I forced myself to pick up the phone and call Mark to demand some hours at work.

"Although, you could have run it by me before you employed my mother," I snapped. "Is she there? Tell her I'm annoyed at her, too."

His laughter rang through the phone, the familiar sound making me smile. "Nice to hear you're back to yourself."

That gave me pause. "That's not me," I said in a quiet voice. "I don't mean to—"

"Dev, I'm joking. Are you okay? I can send her home now if you need her. And you don't have to come back until you're ready. I'll keep the job waiting for you, don't worry."

"Stop being nice to me," I demanded. "I didn't do anything to deserve it."

"Don't be an idiot, Dev. Actually, you know what? Get your arse back into work this week. Or else."

I giggled, and it felt good. "Go away, Mark. I have important calls to make."

"Yeah, yeah. You and Tom are the same. Both slackers. See you soon, Dev. We miss you."

When I hung up, I felt much better than before. Less helpless. I would go back to my job. I would feel like myself. I would do the things I knew how to do, and everything would go back to normal.

Except normal meant no Base. He was never mine, I reminded myself, but now he wasn't around, I kind of missed him. Kind of missed him a whole lot. I danced around my phone for an hour, picking it up, putting it back down, picking it up, dialling a number, cancelling the call.

"For God's sake, stop being so pitiful," I scolded myself, and I rang him.

He didn't answer.

"It's not the end of the world," I reminded myself. And maybe it was for the best. Except it didn't feel right that we got rid of Sully and never hung out again. If not anything else, it had felt as though we were friends. As though I could depend on him. But I didn't need him, a little voice said. Not to be me.

I brushed my hair. I opened the curtains in my bedroom for the first time in too long. I unlocked the windows and doors, and I took a tentative step outside my front door, feeling the wind running through my hair without wondering if someone was out there.

Sully was gone, and it was about time I started acting that way.

I stood outside until the fear was blown away, until I felt sure nothing would come and hurt me. I stood there, knowing that Sully could never touch me, could never touch the people I loved. Not ever again.

"It's weird, isn't it?" a familiar voice said. "Feeling safe."

I blinked a couple of times, turning to look at Base standing by my front gate.

"What are you doing here?"

"You called me, so I came."

"You could have just answered the phone."

"Yeah. I realised that halfway here."

I smiled. It hurt in more ways than one.

He ran his hand through his hair, staring at me in a way that made me ache. "Can I come in?"

"No."

"No?"

I shook my head. "I don't want to hide in there anymore." For a split second, I looked at Base, but I saw him stabbing Sully. I blinked away the memory, thought of other things. Nicer memories of Base. But the nicer memories brought a different kind of pain. I cleared my throat. "You can stand next to me. If you want."

He looked at me as if I were crazy, but he came over anyway.

"Aoife thinks I'm an idiot."

My mouth dropped open. "So you came here?"

He frowned. "Aoife's right. I _am_ an idiot. I meant, she thinks I'm an idiot for not coming to see you sooner."

"Oh. Well. You have stuff to do. And being here can be... He came here a lot. To scare us, I mean."

He glanced at the upstairs windows and nodded. "That he did. But I should have come anyway."

"So why didn't you?" I gazed at him, ready for an answer.

He shrugged. "I'm a coward."

"You kinda killed a vampire. I'm pretty sure that lessens the chances of you being a coward."

"A coward where it counts." He fidgeted at his sleeve. "Always afraid to say the right..."

"It's okay. I'm not so brave myself." I screwed up my nose in an attempt to stop that annoying prickling that forewarned the advance of tears. "I was wrong about Aoife. She hasn't been weak. She's been much stronger than me, without... without having to be a terrible person with it."

"You're not a terrible person. And there's different kinds of strength, Dev."

"I don't think I'm okay."

"I can handle it."

I glanced at him in confusion, and he took a deep breath.

"So, here's the thing. Years ago, this girl showed up at school. She was really cool, I liked her a lot, and for a while, it seemed as if she might like me, too, so I figured maybe I should chance my arm and see if we could make a go of something. But her friend asked me out first, and I turned her down. 'Cept I made the mistake of telling her why."

I froze to the spot, and he closed the space between us. He studied my face for a couple of seconds before clearing his throat and continuing.

"So when I finally asked this girl out, she blew me off severely, embarrassing me for the next few eons in the process, but worse, she looked at me like she hated me, and any time I saw her after that, she gave me a hard time."

I swallowed hard. Really hard.

"So, anyway, this friend, let's call her The Evil Bitch Queen of the Universe, boasted to me that she had ruined any chance I had with that chick, and I was so mad that she thought the worst of me, without even asking me, that I told myself I hated her, too. And I was too proud to explain what happened, too stubborn to even try to find out why she didn't trust me. After all, why would she believe me if I told her the truth?"

"Base, I—"

He held up his hand to stop me. "So anyway, all this crazy stuff happened, and I had this new excuse to spend time with her. Like, actual real time with her for a change. And I realised I had never truly hated her, and that the way she acted wasn't real, that she was still the same cool girl underneath the rock hard exterior. In fact, I liked her more than before, but I was too scared and stubborn to tell her that I cared about her, too stuck in the past to even take a chance."

He let out a deep breath and finally looked my way, moving closer still until there was no space between us. "So, Dev, like I wanted to tell you before you hit me with a broken locker, except I didn't get the chance, what with the vampire killing and all, but I've always been crazy about you, and I really think we had fun together, despite the whole nearly dying bit, so—"

I flung my hands up to my mouth. "Oh! I had forgotten about that! I'm so sorry I hit you with the locker door. That wasn't... that wasn't nice." I kept my hands there to cover my smile.

"That's all? That's all you get from the big speech I just made? Seriously, Dev..."

I flung myself at him, just to touch him again. "I'm really, really sorry."

"Oh. Well, that's okay." He pulled away. "I mean, we can still be friends."

I slapped his chest. "No! I meant, I'm sorry about... everything really. I've been—"

"Tough? Yeah, it's part of the appeal." He gave a lopsided grin, and my heart pretty much melted away. "I was thinking we could start over. Do something normal. Non-stalkery. No almost dying this time. Maybe, well, maybe we should avoid vampires this time. Start out as friends again. You never know, it might be fun. A bit duller than before, probably, but—"

"Sounds good to me. But maybe we could skip a few stages."

"Like what?"

I pulled him closer by his collar. "We'll figure it out as we go." I kissed him, feeling an enormous sense of relief as his scent swarmed around me, comforting me with its familiarity. He pulled me closer, exploring my mouth, and I might as well have turned into a puddle right then for all the sense I had. I wrapped around him even tighter until the sound of someone clearing their throat separated us.

"Brian," my mother said sharply, but the corners of her lips tugged up slightly. "You two going to stand there all day?"

"Not _all_ day," Base said with a grin of his own. He grabbed my hand, entwining my fingers with his, and we walked into my house together, the first step of my brand new life.

# Books by Claire Farrell:

**_Sign up to the newsletter here to receive updates about new releases_**

**Chaos Series:**

One Night with the Fae (Companion Prequel)

Soul (Chaos #1)

Fade (Chaos #2)

Queen (Chaos #3)

Usurper (Chaos #4)

Blight (Chaos #5)

Kings (Chaos #5.5)

Sacrifice (Chaos #6)

Chaos Volume 1 (Books 1-3)

Chaos Volume 2 (Books 4-6)

* * *

**Ava Delaney Series (Completed):**

Thirst (Ava Delaney #1)

Taunt (Ava Delaney #2)

Tempt (Ava Delaney #3)

Taken (Ava Delaney #4)

Taste (Ava Delaney #5)

Traitor (Ava Delaney #6)

Awakening (Ava Delaney Volume I – Books 1-3)

Uprising (Ava Delaney Volume II – Books 4-6)

* * *

**Lost Souls Series:**

Tainted (Ava Delaney: Lost Souls #1)

Tethers (Ava Delaney: Lost Souls #2)

Tithes (Ava Delaney: Lost Souls #3)

Ava Delaney: Lost Souls - Volume 1

* * *

**VBI Series:**

Demon Dog (VBI #1)

Bad Blood (VBI #2)

Secret Self (VBI #3)

* * *

**Cursed Series (Completed):**

Verity (Cursed #1)

Clarity (Cursed #2)

Adversity (Cursed #2.5)

Purity (Cursed #3)

Cursed Omnibus (Entire Cursed Series)

* * *

**Harbinger Series - An Evans Pack Trilogy:**

Sleepwalker (Harbinger #1)

Firestarter (Harbinger #2) Coming Soon

Shapeshifter (Harbinger #3) Coming Soon

* * *

**Stake You Series (Completed):**

Stake You (Stake You #1)

Make You (Stake You #2)

Break You (Stake You #3)

* * *

**Short Story Collections:**

Sixty Seconds

A Little Girl in my Room

* * *

**Other:**

Death is a Gift (A standalone banshee novel)

Zombie Moon Rising (A Peter Brannigan Novella)

Ghost Moon Rising (A Peter Brannigan Novella)

Crucible (A Phoenix Novella)

Bind (An Esther Novella)

Relativity (A Lorcan & Lucia Novella)

Crossroads (A Phoenix Novella)

Magic Thief (An Ari Novella)
