Daniel paced outside the huge framed window of the little cafe, watching his consort about to work his magic on the only person left sitting in the room. His skin was deathly white, a color that he would remedy soon, but the fledgling had to learn first. He continued to watch as Darren got closer to her, bringing down her defenses. But then again, who can resist the lead singer of Savage Garden? Obviously, she couldn't, but Darren continued to bide his time. Dan was growing tired of this game.

"Take her Darren...There are thousands waiting for you..."

Darren flinched. He had heard the message, not with his ears, but his mind.

He made it quick, slashing her throat and drinking as he pleased, teasing Daniel. Darren knew he was hungry, but it served him right for letting him drink first.

Daniel was already down the street by the time he emerged, hunting for himself and leaving Darren to his own means. His color had returned to a soft glow rather than piercing white as Dan's. His eyes were steel gray with a hint of blue, as clear and glassy as new marbles, but few noticed any difference in him from the week before. He had been given a gift that he had only read about in his favorite books, but had never believed to be true. Now he was really there, so called living it, every moment.

Only two nights before, he had been a mortal, onstage among immortals. He didn't know it then, but he was the only one in the band who was still alive.

However, after the show, that changed drastically. He was the last to be changed, they thought that he was too innocent to be changed, to be given the Dark Gift.... But Ben had been strong headed about it....

Ben had stalled for time in the dressing room after the show, trying to get his thoughts out to the rest of the band...

"Come on...he's going to see it soon I think...Best to do it now and get it over with..."

Karl pulled off his white shirt, showing his stone white chest.

"Yeah, I think it's time. How could he now know?"

Lee sat in the corner, his eyes closed.

"You know...He's not like us...But then again, Dan isn't either..."

All three looked over at the hallway that led to Daniel's room. Ben stood, and began to walk to the door.

"Well, might as well put the idea past him...I guess it would be better anyway if they were the same type...."

He smiled and went to see Dan. He was sitting at his keyboard playing when Ben walked in. He glanced up at him, but continued to play.

"What do you want Covener?"

"I thought I asked you not to call me that..."

"Behave or you'll see the sun tomorrow morning...."

Ben stopped and glared at him.

"Ok fine...The guys are getting edgy about Darren not being one of us...Don't you think it's time?"

He sighed, thinking something over in his mind.

"I will ask him tonight. If he accepts, he will be one with me by this time tomorrow. If not, he can continue to live his mortal life."

Ben, now satisfied, took his leave and went back to the others.

"So, what did he say?"

"Being the gentleman that he is...He's going to ask tonight, he'll be with us by sunset...."

**

Darren sat in his room, resting after the long show...

"I'm not doing that again...I feel like I'm getting too old for this..."

"You're not too old..."

He jumped at the voice. It was Daniel, but he hadn't heard him come in.

"Oh, it's just you. You scarred me to death..."

"I can't help that...All I can do is offer you something to calm your nerves..."

"What are you talking about?"

"All of those books you read...All the characters you love...Louis, Lestat...They're all real, just like I am real..."

Darren got a blank look on his face, not understanding anything that Dan was saying...

"What do you mean real, like you?"

"I mean, we are vampires, Dark Children, or so Ben, Lee and Karl are. I'm a little different...."

Darren began to laugh.

"I can't believe this...You aren't possibly telling the truth...those are only books..."

"Oh you are a fool Darren...Let me change you...Let me give you the gift that all the rest of the group has...Let us all be one together..."

Darren didn't have anytime to think before Daniel had him pinned to the ground, biting into his throat. Ben, meanwhile, stood at the door watching. He spoke silently to himself.

"So it begins, two now that are of the Dark, but can walk in the light..."

**

Outside the dressing room door, a figure dressed all in black listened intently to what was going on inside. He heard the door beginning to open, and he stood aside as Karl came out. He looked at the figure and gave a little yelp before he had a hand over his mouth.

"Be quiet or I will take your little vampire soul back to Memnoch where it belongs..."

He let Karl go.

"God Dagmantis, you scarred the blood out of me, Don't do that!"

"I had to get in here somehow, and don't call me that...Just call me Wolf, it's my cover...."

"Dan just got Darren..."

"So I heard...When do I get to meet them?"

"Tomorrow, I promise, just give him time..."

"Fine, I'll be at the hotel tomorrow night. Do not disappoint me Karl...You know I'm always watching...."

And in a blink of an eye, he was gone, no where to be seen.... Karl leaned up against the wall, breathing hard.

"God, I hate Wolfbainians...I really do.... Oh Ben!!!!!"

**

Ben poked his head out the door when he heard the yelling...

"What is going on and why are you yelling?"

"There was a Wolfbainian here, big one.... Daggy...He's under the name Wolf, but he's snooping around again...He knows about Darren and Daniel...."

"What does he want...?"

"I don't know...I just know that he was about to kill me when I walked out that door...I just don't know..."

Ben shook his head, and went back inside, and prodded Lee awake.

"What's going on? Why was Karl yelling?"

"Dag's back, and he knows what happened tonight.... He wants to meet them tomorrow..."

"You mean that crazy Wolfbainian is back again? Ya know, I thought that pires that could walk in the light was bad, now we've got werewolves that can hear what we think, know what we do, and they can change whenever where ever they want. How are we going to get away this time...?"

"I don't know...But we should just wait it out and see what happens. However, do not let him alone with either Darren or Daniel..."

"Alright, I get ya, I'll keep my eyes open for him, all black right?"

"Yeah, that would be him..."

Ben walked into Dan's room. He sat and stared at Dan who was writing in his notebook.

"It's done...He's weak now, but he'll come around after his first feeding...."

"Dan, there's a Wolfbainian...he knows..."

"WHAT!?"

**

Dan made a mad dash for the street, looking for the supposed Wolfbainian that was turning the band insideout...He found nothing but the rain soaked street and a few lingering cars in the parking lot, but nothing more. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, searching his minds eye for any sign of the recent being...There was none at first, but then he heard a voice...quiet, but it was him...

"Hello Daniel.... I can see you.... I'll be there tomorrow night, but I'll always be close to you...."

It stopped suddenly, and a shiver went up his spine....

"Oh...I don't like this...I really don't like this...."

He turned and walked back into the rooms, passing Darren as he slept on the floor, still gone.... He smiled at his handy work, and continued on, lost in thought...Ben was still in his room, now with his guitar, playing "Carry On Dancing."

"Ben, what are you still doing in here?"

"Nothing...Just wondering if you saw him out there, or if he got away from you again..."

Dan leered at him...

"I let him get away the first time.... I could've got him back..."

"You are so full of Bull.... You know and we all know that you lost him...I even remember the night...Santa Barbara...On the beach, you lost him on the docks...We all saw it..."

"Oh shut up already...I remember what happened without you reminding me ever few minutes..."

"Well, you seem to forget more every time...."

"GET OUT!!!!"

"Fine, I didn't mean nothing by it...Oh, and you may want to go take a shower and COOL OFF!"

Ben slammed the door...

"God I hate coven leaders...."

**

Meanwhile, on the other end of the auditorium, the so-called Wolf was pacing, still trying to hear what was going on. He knew they would have to leave soon to feed, and Darren was out cold...They wouldn't be taking him...He would have his chance, but they were so scared of him...He didn't mean to kill vampires...or Pyraid's as Dan called himself, but it was business, and a debt unpaid to his kind...No, he wouldn't kill the new fledgling, but he wanted to see him the first night, to know what happens to them, to see his body die...But, he'd have to wait for Daniel was sitting outside Darren's door, waiting for such a move.

"Bloody hell, they get smarter every millennia...."

**

Lee tapped on the table nervously, waiting for Ben to make the move to leave. He was hungry once again, and the stagehand from the city hadn't been enough to satisfy. His color was draining from his face, and Karl laughed softly...

"Funny that he should show up now...He didn't when we were made...I mean why is he so interested in Darren?"

Lee lifted his sunglasses and looked off into space.

"Because there's something different about him, that's why. There's something that separates him from his kind too, and that's why he's here...Searching out those who are so far different...Evolved I guess you could call it..."

"You think too deep...."

"No, I think logically...Lestat would be crying if he knew what Daniel really was..."

"And what makes you think that he doesn't know? Maybe he'll show up here...Everyone knows that he was in good with Ben, all because of that band he had...The Vampire Lestat..."

"Yeah, I remember.... We've got to go now...tell Dan we're going, we can't stay here..."

"Why is that?"

"It was the rules of the elders that no more were to be made, even the Pyraids, and Dan just broke that rule...We'll have half of the survivors after us when the word gets out.... We need to leave..."

"Oh no, not again...Dan! Oh DAN!!!!"

Karl went tearing out of the room off to find Dan. If he had just looked the other way, he would've seen Ben with another shadow, just as ominous as the first. He spoke with a subtle voice, but it was strong.

"Ben, I know that you know the rules..."

"I was following your example.... You know I don't like to follow rules...just as much as you don't..."

"I don't care.... You know that they will have you all for this..."

"Hey, that's a good song...Anyway...I didn't do it! Daniel did, I just suggested it...That's all..."

Lestat shook his head, glancing at the floor...

"Where did I go wrong Ben? Was it before I made you, or when I made you?"

"See!!! There...Even you broke that same rule to make me.... Why didn't they take you?"

"Because they can't.... I'm immortal..."

"So am I...I'm the living dead here...."

"That's not what I meant..."

"Then tell me Lestat...What did you mean?"

"What I meant to say was...They can't kill me...I'm too important to the success of our kind..."

Ben about fell over laughing, Lestat glaring at him...

"The success of our kind? Are you nuts? That's the craziest thing I've ever heard out of you.... You think that it all depends on you to how long we 'live'? Daniel could tell you different I'm sure..."

**

Clouds had covered the already dark night sky as Wolf walked down the silent South District streets. No mortals to be seen, for they were all uptown waiting for Darren to make his appearance.... An appearance that he would never make that night. Rain began to fall, soaking his black silk shirt and slacks. Thunder rumbled in the distance as the liquid ran through his black hair and dribbled off of his silver beard. And it wasn't a cold rain like he had felt in Denver, but rather a warm shower, cleansing him of chilly memories.

He could still remember the days when he was truly young, before his kind had been run from the MotherLand in the North. He had never felt warmth unless he was huddled, sleeping next to his mother, his tail covering his nose and paws. Back then, it was much more conventional to be as the wolves than a human freezing in the wastelands of modern day Russia. Most things never last and the clan was chased southwest into Germany where the wars all began. Wolf fought against the vampires until he was the last standing of a once proud nation. Now he walked the Earth, seeking and killing any remnants of the coven that had thrown him into a torrential hell of time.

A warm voice and hand brought him out of his trance and back to reality. She was the owner of a small outfitting shop, and she asked him in out of the rain. She gave him an oil skin drover coat and hat to repel the rain. Even though he enjoys her kindness, just the sight of her standing there made him hungry. As soon as her back was turned, he attacked with full fury, changing instantly into the wolf as her blood ran down his throat. Lightening flashed as thunder shook the ground. All the lights went out, and all that could be seen was the dark blood running down his silver fangs.

**

Lee paced in the hallway. He had been left there with Ben as Daniel had taken Karl to take Darren somewhere safe before dawn. Ben walked towards him, having finished his conversation with Lestat unnoticed. Suddenly all the lights went out and Lee groaned.

"You know what this means don't you?"

"No, I don't study weather patterns..."

"It means that he took a mortal life...It means that he couldn't change himself from what he has become..."

"What are you talking about?"

"He swore that he would kill only our kind, but he isn't straight Wolfbainian anymore. Armand made sure of that one night in Paris. Dag was there to kill another, and Armand had thought that he was a traveler, one that wouldn't be missed. When he realized, it was too late and he fled. Dag was found comatose on a street and taken to a hospital. He stayed that way for two weeks, gaining strength until he broke out one day."

Ben looked at him in the darkness.

"So, what has this got to do with anything?"

"Ben, he's one of us, he needs the blood to live..."

"You've got to be kidding. He's a Wolfbainian, he kills us, how could he be one of us???"

"That's how he knows. He has the mind link, but I still don't want to die be his hand. He rips out your fangs and watches you burn in the sunlight. And he has kept every fang he has pulled in a glass case with the name of the former owner. Over sixty have fallen to him, and now he has come for us."

Lee stared into the darkness, knowing Ben had left him alone. He knew the truth, he just didn't want to hear it...

**

Dan crossed the floor of the basement studio, Karl paying more attention to the now groaning Darren, who was tossing and turning on the couch. Karl was biting down on his own fingers.

"Dan, what if he doesn't wake up in time? I mean, what if he doesn't snap out of it?"

"He will, he is strong. It just takes a little longer for a Pyraid's body to pass. He's passing through the last of it now...He'll be with us soon."

Karl still looked skeptical, but knew better than press his luck any further. He left shortly later, starving and worried.

He had reached a busy part of the city when he could smell spilled blood in a shop. The electricity suddenly came back on as he reached the front window. He could see he mangled body, bloody paw prints vanishing into the back of the store. He choked on his own breath as he tried to get away. Never had he seen a kill like this...

"I see you don't like what I have to resort to to live now..."

Karl turned quickly, just to be staring at the pointed muzzle of the Wolfbainian. He had never seen him like this before, and it startled him. Even now he could see the evidence of his silver beard, as all of the fur trailing his jaw was silver.

"We don't believe in killing that way, and why haven't you changed back yet?"

"Because I can't turn back yet. Stupid side effects..."

"You don't like being one of us do you? Besides that you can track us down so easily..."

"Armand was a fool for not finishing me while he had the chance! He lost half of his coven that year because of his choice, and now he wishes he could take it back. I can hear him almost every night..."

Karl lost all color that he still had, and a smile crossed Wolf's face, his teeth shinning.

"Poor Mr. Lewis...Better run off and feed before you turn into dust. I recommend the Brisbane Cafe, there's always one left in there at this hour."

Like before, he faded away into nothingness, leaving Karl alone in the street again.

**

Dan had only left for a moment to check on something, when he sensed an odd sensation coming from Darren. When he came back in, Darren was no longer on the couch, but perched on top of a tape shelf, his gray eyes darting across the room. Daniel snickered, for once Darren wasn't in control anymore.

"Daniel! What did you do to me, and how did I end up way up here?!"

"I gave you a gift, and you jumped up there. However, I don't know why you would want to be up there...I mean, what if someone walked in?"

Darren flew down, landing inches away from Dan's feet.

"You call this a gift? What in the hell am I Dan?!"

Dan could feel the power surging through his veins as the anger heated him.

"You are a vampire, well, a type of one anyway, and now you are like the rest of us..."

A sudden banging on the door sent Darren flying again, this time behind the couch where he couldn't be seen.

"I don't know who it is, but he says let him in before he lets himself in..."

Dan glanced at the door, and it opened, revealing Lestat standing there in the dim light. Darren made a little whimpering noise, and ducked back down. Lestat smirked.

"You made a weak one Daniel. Shame on you for changing him. A strong mortal rarely makes a strong immortal."

"He just doesn't know what has happened to him yet...He can't control himself yet..."

"So this is what evolution does to us...Clouds our minds and makes us ungodly.... You know the new rules don't you?"

"Yes, and I know what you're getting at, but even you know it had to be done!"

"But why not let him be one of the pure?"

"Because in life we were as brothers, and he still needs that...."

**

Ben had never known the story behind Wolf, why he came across the way that he did, but now he knew, and he felt it the truth. But why didn't Armand finish him off while he had him there in his grasp? Or did the blood tell him? Whatever the case, it was a mistake to let him lice, and Ben was ready to finish the job.

He stayed to the rooftops, his landings barely audible. He started in the busy part of town, but he felt nothing there besides Karl. Thinking back to what Lee had told him, and figured that he wouldn't be there if he had already fed. He didn't like the South District, there was no hiding if he was there.

"I see you Benny..."

He turned a quick circle, but saw nothing.

"Where are you?"

"Why should I tell you? I can read what you want to do."

He closed his eyes, trying to read his mind, make him give up where he was, but all he got was fog.

"Oh naughty naughty little covener, trying to read my mind...You should be punished...."

In a sudden gust of wind, Wolf flew up the side of the building, landing on the rooftop and pushing Ben back off of his feet and to the ground. He sat there for a moment before getting back up, disgruntled and angry.

"You have no reason to be here!"

"I have every reason to be here.... Did you know that Daniel helped kill my kind in Germany? I've got his maker's fangs in a very special crystal that I wear all the time!"

He pulled the crystal out of his shirt, the silver chain catching the dim light. A set of fangs were incased within, and a shiver went through Ben. He could remember Lee saying, "Over sixty have fallen, and now he has come for us...", and now he was staring eye to eye with the legend, the vampire slayer.

"If you kill me, you kill your own kind!"

"Do I care? Being part of your kind has given me more power than you can imagine, and I use that power to kill you and your kind. No, I don't care, not at all..."

"Why me?"

"Not you, Daniel, but he has something I want...The power of evolution is behind him, and he's learned from it...That's more than you choose to acknowledge."

Ben took a step back, towards the edge of the roof.

"I won't let you take him...Or Darren for that matter...I won't let you do it..."

"You can't stand in my way, nothing can. Strange things happen to strange creatures Ben...You should watch out for yourself..."

"No, that's why they are here!"

Ben motioned to the street below, crawling with mortals. Wolf released a force that blew Ben off the roof and to the ground below. When he came to, Wolf was gone again, and he ran as fast as he could to find Karl and get them both out of there...