I pushed the door open and collapsed onto the couch. I didn't like the idea of Jasmine being anywhere near David, but Paul would take care of her, he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

Mom walked in and kissed Sam on the top of the head. "Michael, honey, where's Jasmine? Didn't she leave with you two?" she asked, looking around.

I looked to Sam for a little help, but he only shrugged. "Uh.. The Frog boys!" I blurted.

Mom's brows knit together as she leaned on the couch. "What?"

"Yeah! She's helping Edgar and Alan out at their store and- and she said that it'd be a long shift.. yeah, so she told me to tell you that she'd just be staying at their place for the night, and that she'd be back sometime, tomorrow." I said quickly. It sounded like a good enough story.

Sam's eyes widened and he joined in. "Uh-huh, she didn't wanna wake anybody up at 3 in the morning or anything, ya know? They asked her kinda at the last minute, but she said sorry and she'll be back as soon as possible." he piped up. He glanced at me and I gave him a slight nod. Boy, did Jasmine owe us.

Mom nodded. "Oh, ok, well don't stay up too late, ok? I'm going to bed. Night, boys." she smiled.

"Night, Mom!" Sam and I said in unison.

We watched her walk to her room then sighed. Sam plopped down next to me. "What ya think they're doin' down there? How come she just rode off?" he questioned.

I turned the TV on and shrugged. "Who knows, bud.. She'll be ok, though. I bet she'll be back by the time ya wake up."

Sam rolled his eyes. "I'm not scared, Mike. I know everything is alright, it isn't a big deal, I'm just curious." he said. "Hey, 21 Jumpstreet is on, don't change it!"

"You actually like this show? I cringe at how clumsy Hanson is." I shook my head and sighed. I thought the show sucked so far. Of course, it was just starting out, a pretty new show, but it didn't seem like much. But if Sam wanted to watch the sucky cop show, he could. I'd been forcing him to watch The A-Team all week, so, I guess, it was only fair that we watch his show.

Sam made a face. "Heck yeah, I like it! Hanson is cool, but I like Ioki, he's got style." he said, turning his attention to the screen.

"If you can call that style.." I scoffed and rose to my feet. "I'll be in my room. Night, Sammy." Sam leaned to the right and pushed my hand away as I tried to ruffle his hair.

He stretched his legs out on the couch and put his arms behind his head. "Aw, who ya kiddin', Mike? You aren't goin' to sleep anytime soon." He knew about my being a vampire, same as David and his boys. I hadn't planned on him finding out, obviously, but he did. He usually covered for me when anything weird happened around Mom, which I was thankful for. I had enough I was getting yelled at for, I didn't need Mom yelling at me for having an appetite for blood.

"Eh, guess you're right." I chuckled. "Get some sleep, alright, Sammy?"

He shoved some chips into his mouth and waved me away. "Yeah, yeah, after this episode is over."

I crept up the stairs and into my room, hoping not to wake Grandpa or Mom in the process. The floors could be awfully noisy.

Somehow, I made it into my room without making a sound. A miracle, really, since I never could seem to memorize and avoid the creaky spots of the floor.

My fingers danced over the framed picture of Star that I kept on my nightstand. She was one of the few bright lights that I could see in this dark world, and I was glad she was mine. She had previously been with David and lived with he and the other boys, but broke things off. She and her things were now staying with one of her close friends in a pretty friendly neighborhood, which were hard to find in a place like Santa Carla. After she broke things off with him, we got together and had been going strong ever since.

I had heard that all that didn't go down very well with David, though. He had gotten in a few fights on the boardwalk and had been angry for a few months before cooling down a bit. A lot of people went missing during those few months..

"No sense in laying around staring at the ceiling until daylight.." I mumbled to myself. Slowly, I peeked out my door to make sure Grandpa and Mom were in their rooms. I didn't need Mom coming into my room and freaking out when she didn't see me in my bed.

As soon as I was sure I wouldn't have anything to worry about, I quickly slipped out my window and dropped to the ground. I wanted to kill some time until the sun came up.

I pushed my bike until it was far enough away that the noise wouldn't wake anyone. Then, I rode off to have some fun before the night was over.