Elisabeth Hill: Thanks! I might not explore the witchcraft part in too much detail for this story. But witchcraft will be becoming part of the series and Sam will be exploring more in future stories.

Mignun: Wow, dude, you reviewed twice! Thanks! That really made my day! I'm glad that the characters are okay so far. I always worry about doing something OOC and ruining the canons. You should definately get posting! There's also a great Lost Boys fanfic archive called Marked by the Boys where people will help you as well and give you loads of encouragement to start posting.

Nightcrawlerlover: Edgar is pretty much gonna stick to being a slightly normal teenager. No witchcraft for him. That's gonna be Sam's thing. ^_^

Luna345: Thanks for the idea. I will say that the story's conclusion has been decided but you have a great concept there to explore yourself. You should write a fic where Edgar turns completely. I think you're on to something there.

Ghostwriter: Thanks.

Hounddog: Thanks! That really means a lot! ^_^

Gorillaz4ever: Thank you. I'm glad you like the story so far.

The living room was divided. Far away towards the window Phoebe and Edgar were both perched on a bean bag chair. Laddie was curled up in the chair next to them. Alan and Sam continued to be wary and safe by sitting in arm chairs opposite. Way opposite. In fact they had grabbed both of them and dragged the chairs towards the French window, making a ridiculous amount of space between them and the half-vampires.

Noticing this large gap Phoebe leaned to Edgar and whispered to him. “Is this really necessary?”

“Unfortunately, yes. We have to be wary of bloodsuckers whether they’re half or full.” He leaned back, crossing his arms. He slumped a little on the bean bag chair with his head ducked. “I just hate the fact that I’m the one everyone has to be wary off.”

What an embarrassment it was. Going from hero to public enemy number one in one night. Treated like every other scum bag vampire out there. At least, in a way, it made him treasure humanity more. Prove his brother and Sam wrong. Become human again. Sure turning might help him with some satisfying revenge - Alan’s big mouth was certainly making him see red more and more – but he refused to go down that path. The better satisfaction was proving them that he was not – and will not become – the monster they suspected he was turning into. He couldn’t. It made his stomach twist and turn at the thought of giving in.

Phoebe huffed. “This sucks. I’m a really trustworthy person. Not to sound arrogant but I really am.”

“It’s like this…” Laddie whispered to them. “You’re vampires. Maybe only half but you can still snap at any time. And it will happen.”

“This can’t happen to me,” Edgar whined. So, according to what Laddie said, for any reason he could snap and act like the monsters he hated? This new, dangerous half of him could – no, will take over? Was that temporary or permanent? Would that one fit of insane rage make him say goodbye to humanity for good?

I don’t think I want to know, he thought and held his hands to his head. Fingers grasped at his hair. “This is so humiliating.” And frightening. This change… it came with such anger. The need to hurt people. He felt it. Deep inside. A little voice whispering into his ear. Kill, kill, kill. Make people pay for angering him.

Alan really needs to shut his mouth. I don’t think he understands just how serious I am when I say I could actually kill him. Stupid little kid needs to grow up. He’s a fifteen year old acting like a six year old sometimes.

Right now his mother’s claims that meditation worked did not seem so stupid anymore. There was a chance he would have to take it up to stay calm. Just to ensure that his fangs stay hidden.

Seriously, how could this happen? Why him? Why pick on him specifically? Those vampires, whoever they were, had no right to. He was Edgar Frog, not some victim they could torment and play games with. Just thinking about this unfairness made Edgar’s fists tighten.

Phoebe went back to curling up, shrinking in her seat. So she was going to have to watch her temper now?

I don’t even have a temper, she thought. Easily irritated and panicky, yes, but I don’t go into scary rants. No vein throbbing or seeing red. I’m too busy having fun and competing to get mad. I don’t even like getting mad.

“Do they look a bit distant to you?” Sam asked Alan. Both boys observed Edgar and Phoebe as they stared into space, lost in their thoughts.

“Are you thinking?” Alan asked them. “Don’t be thinking – it’s making me wary. You could be plotting our deaths.”

“Weirdo…” Laddie muttered, shaking his head at Alan.

Phoebe turned to Edgar, mouth agape and looking bewildered. He just shrugged, idly gesturing to Alan. “Sorry about my brother. He’s an idiot. I don’t think he can help it sometimes.”

How insulting, Edgar thought. He’s acting like I can’t be trusted. Treating me like I’m already a monster.

“Can you tell us what happened last night? Where exactly were you?” Sam asked.

“I was working all night. Sam, you were there!” Edgar scoffed and let his head fall back. “This is tiring.”

“I’m just doing this investigation properly. Now I could walk out that door and not give a shit. I didn’t even go to Watsonville with my family. I stayed here to assist you guys in hunting vampires. You gonna help me or not? And while I’m telling you off… no more moods!”

His lecture didn’t seem to make any impression on Edgar. Without saying a word he shrugged.

“Thank you,” Sam sighed. “Alan… questions?”

“Ed, you started feeling weird when you went for food last night?”

“No, during. I went for food, I was fine. It was when I was off getting my food. I fell and started feeling sick so I came back.”

The left corner of Alan’s mouth twitched. “You fell and felt sick?” He leaned forward with a smirk on his face. “What was wrong? You couldn’t handle the shock of falling? Was it a traumatic experience?”

I’ve had enough of this. “I mean it, Alan. Shut that smart-ass mouth of yours before I do some real damage,” Edgar growled.

Not once did he flinch or gag with disgust when he heard himself growl. He was pleased. Pleased to see his inhuman growling had caused such a reaction in his brother. Seeing Alan clamp his mouth shut and actually notice his brother’s anger made him sit back and lower his head. He couldn’t look at his brother at all. Couldn’t say anything either. He didn’t really want to if Edgar was going to take advantage of his transformation.

Edgar smiled broadly. Guess there was an advantage to this, especially the growling. It made annoying little brothers with a smart-ass attitude fall silent.

But he wished Alan would stop looking as if he didn’t recognise him. His younger brother had stopped looking scared. Now he was staring at Edgar as if he was trying to see if that really was his brother.

Shit, this is how a full transformation can happen, isn’t it? You start to take advantage of the powers you gain, get used to having them, and then want to keep them. Hunger for blood, powers that come with advantages… every single bit of vampirism is too tempting.

He had a feeling this battle between his human side and vampire side was going to be a difficult one.

“Like I said,” Edgar continued, turning away from Alan’s gaze. “I fell and started feeling weird.”

“You can’t become a vampire by falling,” Phoebe said. “Even I know that.”

“But it’s exactly when I started feeling like I was ill. When I was going for food, I accidentally crashed into a gang. I fell and cut my hand. Then… oh yeah, one of the gang members pulled me up. I remember that because he ended up holding the hand I cut and the pressure really hurt.”

He raised his hand, the one he had cut and traced the skin where the wound had been. Obviously it had healed. But going back to that night made him think. At the time he was just angry and embarrassed. Sam and Alan had bugged the hell out of him, he had fallen over, probably looking like a clumsy fool in the process, and then he got a cut that stung quite badly. Remembering the night in hindsight he had noticed how weird the throbbing had actually been when the stranger grabbed his hand. It was like an energy that went straight through his cut and up his arm. It was the precise moment he started to feel ill.

“Do you think it’s possible to be turned through just mixing your blood with vampires? Like if you were to do one of those weird blood pact things with one?”

“I guess it could still be a way of getting vampire blood in your bloodstream,” Alan said. “And a way of turning you without you knowing. You think that’s what happened to you?”

“Might as well put it down as a theory,” Sam said.

“Tricky bastards,” Edgar muttered. They actually found a way to turn me. This isn’t right, no-one can trick me. I let my guard down. I must have done. They couldn’t have changed me if I was being careful.

“Phoebe, what about you?” Sam asked. “What happened last night?”

With a shrug, she recalled her night. “I was playing pool with my friends. They left but I stayed. Another gang wanted the table and they invited me to play with them. After the game I went home. They walked me back.”

“Okay so you did end up with strangers,” Alan said.

“I guess. Yeah. Where they the vampires then?”

“Could have been. Did they get you to drink anything?”

Phoebe pointed a finger at Laddie. “Don’t you repeat this to Tricia or dad,” she warned sternly and looked at Alan again. “I drank Jack Daniels. They gave me some.”

“Are you sure it was Jack Daniels?”

“That’s what they said. I wasn’t going to at first. I mean, I not stupid. I don’t go drinking strange drinks but the girl with them had taken a sip and she was fine. So I drank it too. That’s when I started feeling weird.”

“That’s probably when you turned,” Sam explained.

“So that wasn’t Jack Daniels? It was blood?” When Sam and Alan nodded her lips curled up and she gagged. “Gross!”

She felt Edgar’s hand brush hers. “You okay?” he whispered.

“I’m gonna be scarred for life” she grumbled and shuddered. No wonder Laddie had been acting traumatised. She was filled with an instinct to kill, to take away an innocent person’s life. That cruelty disgusted and shocked the human part of her. Once she returned human – and she was desperate to achieve that – she would not be surprised if she ended up going to therapy. This want to kill was a sickening thing to happen to her. She wasn’t surprised by how many vampires turned now. Wanting to kill so badly yet having a guilty conscience about it must send half-vampires insane.

And Laddie had to go through all that. He’s just a kid and a gang of vampires tried turning him into a killing machine. How could they do that to an eleven year old kid?

“Now we need you to tell us about the strangers,” Alan said. “What did they look like? Names?”

“There was one girl. Grace. Two boys. Logan… and Tony? No. Toby – Tobias. Logan was really creepy looking. Bit of a weirdo too. I think he was from New York – he had a really strong accent.”

Edgar thought back his turning. Logan seemed familiar. “Did Logan the Creepy Guy have red hair, pointy features, and a smile that crept up his face making him look like a lizard?”

“Yeah, that’s him. Eurgh, what a freak.”

“What did Grace and Tobias look like?” Sam asked.

“Grace has brown hair right?” Edgar looked at Phoebe who nodded.

“Right. And Tobias was blonde and quiet. Short too. Shorter than Grace and Logan.”

Sam flipped to a new page in his notepad. His large, untidy scrawl soon started to cover the whole page. “So, just to make sure, these three are the only strangers you hung out with?”

“Yeah. Just them. My friends were with me that night but they’re certainly not vampires. Trust me on that one. I’d seen them all during my break at work. And it was daytime,” Phoebe explained. “So what happens now? We kill the vampires?” She looked at everyone eagerly.

“We need to know where they hang first,” Edgar told her. “And make sure that they really are the vampires.”

“Can I help?” Laddie asked.

“No, you’re not going anywhere near vampires,” Phoebe snapped at him. “Never again.”

“They’re not gonna kidnap me.”

“But they can kill you. No, sorry, but when we go off to find the vampires you’re staying here where it’s safe.”

“I want to help!” Laddie argued.

“Don’t argue with me,” Phoebe growled. “You think I want you involved with monsters after what happened to you?”

“I know what happened to me, I’m never gonna forget that. But I wanna help kill them. I can be a vampire hunter.”

“No. Maybe when you’re older but right now you’re eleven and way too young.”

“You’re going to be able to use that excuse forever,” Laddie whined and started heading towards the stairs. “I’m going to my room,” he sulked and disappeared. Phoebe just shook her head and ignored her brother’s whinging. He was actually complaining that he was not going to end up in a dangerous situation? She knew she was getting involved with something risky but she didn’t have much of a choice. She was needed to help, to find the vampires.

There was also a matter of wanting to beat the living daylights out of those bastard vampires for putting her through this crap.

“What’s the plan for tonight?” Phoebe asked.

“Not sure what they’re motives are but they’ll be looking for me and you. Might come to get us to turn completely and join their gang.”

“Vampires love their initiations don’t they?” Sam muttered to Alan.

“It’s like those Fraternity and Sorority initiations you hear about. Only worse,” Alan whispered back.

“So we’ll pretend to be interested? They might take us back to their hideout,” Phoebe suggested.

Sam was unsure about this plan “Isn’t that a bit dangerous?”

“We need to know,” Edgar told him.

“What if they know you’re faking? Me and Alan should tag behind you so if you need help we’ll be there.”

“Then be sure to take a lot of weapons in defence,” Edgar warned. “Some of these vampires are actually intelligent. They’re tricky bastards.”

“So we’re on for tonight?” Phoebe asked.

Edgar nodded. “Meet me outside my window tonight. Alan and Sam will follow us.”