A/N: just some rambling thoughts about David and Star. I very much like her character and want to know more about her, her relationship with David and The Pack. The image of David stalking and hunting prey through a fun house has been in my head for a little while now. I'll probably revisit this theme in the future, I do like the idea of David and Star together.


She was peering into the darkness with a nervous yet confident gaze, her pulse was thudding healthily and while goosebumps had erupted over her bare arms, she was neither cowering nor retreating.

"He's dead, isn't he?" she queried, her voice a curious blend of fear, certainty and an undeniable hint of curiosity, "...what are you?"

Not who.

What.

David smiled softly.

She jerked, inhaling sharply as a jet of air whooshed loudly and suddenly into the chamber. It moved her hair and the flowing, sparkling material of her skirt.

It had moved his jacket, too, not that she could see it.

She glanced behind her, eyes scanning the synthetic silk streamers lining the padded walls and floor, watching them as they flapped and danced in the artificial wind. The lights began to strobe sharply and she finally flinched, turning forward once more.

A horrible and ominous laugh boomed through the room; the chuckle of a clown followed by a loud mechanical jingle.

The music became increasingly louder, the wind stronger and then, as the clown chuckled once again, everything became still.

There was a click, some static and then silence once more.

Like a track ride, everything in the Fun House was rigged to a timer.

She took a breath, eyes flickering through the darkness.

He knew she would jump when the effects boomed to life again in few minutes or so.

She seemed to know it too, the thudding of her heart acting like the second hand of a clock, tick-tick-tocking away.

A silent count down that only they were aware of.

"I know you're there" she said, breathlessly this time as she shook her head, her pulse quickening, "y-you've been here all night. With me.." she hesitated for the first time, finally showing the fear that was creeping over her, "..watching me..waiting for...for..."

For his chance to strike?

He smiled once more.

She was smart, he liked that.

She knew she was being hunted, stalked. She had been on edge all night, casting looks over her shoulder, frowning through crowds, biting her lip.

Not that her companions had noticed.

They had been totally ignorant, completely blind to the danger they had been in.

They hadn't even had the chance to scream when he did make his move.

One by one he had eliminated them and each time she would ask after them only to be dismissed by the remaining few.

Even when there was only one left, he hadn't sensed the danger.

"They're hooking up!", "probably getting a drink", "we said we'd meet at Dean's later"

Excuse after excuse, dismissal and disregard.

She'd allowed herself to be placated, swallowed her protestations and nodded along.

The boy was The Last Man Standing and he hadn't even known it.

But she had.

Oh yes, she had known.

She had known that the Fun House was going to mark the end of their night, the end of their spring break and the end of their lives.

She'd known, he could see it on her face, in her body, the way she stepped into the clown's open mouth, her hands trailing over the padded, blood red lips that marked the doorway.

She had known yet she had followed him in.

When he ran ahead, pathetic, childlike excitement washing over him, she'd known that she wouldn't be catching up to him...yet she had stayed.

No fleeing, no running, no desperate attempts to find the emergency exits.

She hadn't called for the boy, either, tried to save him or plead with him to go to a more populated place.

Somewhere safe.

Did she know that there would never be a place he wouldn't find her?

Safe.

It was laughable...but then, she seemed to know that, too.

She knew what was happening and she had accepted it.

She had accepted him.

"Show yourself" she said, her voice breaking for just a moment. She hesitated, as if she found the words she'd spoken to be foreign and formal and instead asked, "who are you?"

Her voice wasn't weak but there was a tremble in it, doubt beginning to make itself known.

He took a step forward, emerging from the darkness.

Immediately, she took a step back, one barefoot on the padded silk floor and one on the synthetic grass that led up to the wind tunnel.

As his boots crunched over the faded green plastic, not that she could even make out the color in the dim light, he met her wide eyes.

"You-you're..." she was lost for words, her beautiful doe eyes, lined softly and lidded with heavy, thick lashes, running over the length of his body.

He allowed it, the cold smile signaling that he was well aware of her scrutiny.

"Not the bogey man you were expecting?"

Her eyes snapped to his at his cool drawl and again his smile widened.

"...I know you, don't I?"

He moved once, just a questioning incline of his head.

She hadn't seen him before, he'd kept himself confined to the shadows but he had been watching her, protecting her. When he had first found her sleeping fitfully on the beach, he'd almost killed her.

He had wanted her, such pristine, perfect kills were rare in Santa Carla.

She was rare.

She was alone, vulnerable and painfully beautiful. While Santa Carla seemed to excel in providing him with a constant source of the alone and vulnerable, there was a quality about her, an aurora of elegance.

She would have been a delectable feed but, as he stared at her from the shadows, he'd made no move.

Something had stopped him from taking her, something that he'd not felt before.

Something he'd never allowed himself to feel.

It wasn't love. He didn't believe in love; love was for weak mortals.

It wasn't compassion, either.

There was a pull, something primal and deep inside him.

Something about her just called to him, tempted him.

That's all it was. A primal need.

He hadn't allowed himself to be tempted before. He had his pack to consider, to lead but she had troubled him.

He found he didn't want to kill her.

He wanted her. In his possession, in his arms.

She was his.

It was simple. It had been simple.

As he'd watched her from the shadows, staring at her as she fretfully woke from her slumber, pulled her shawl tighter around her frame and tried to close her eyes once more, he'd decided then and there that she would be his, that he wouldn't fight the pull.

This one time he would allow himself this selfish want.

"No"

"I do" she insisted, her voice husky.

For a moment her leg twitched and she made to step forwards towards him.

She met his eyes and instead took a step back.

"The beach" she seemed to have come to her senses, "...how long have you been watching me?"

He pursed his lips for a moment, "you tell me"

"I..." she frowned lightly, "...I stopped being scared...I don't remember but that's when...you..."

"No, you didn't" he told her with a shake of his head.

She opened her mouth to protest but closed it, frowning at him in confusion.

Stopped being scared? He wouldn't accept any lies from her.

"Tell me how you felt. How you really felt"

"Like...like I was being protected but...but hunted.." she shook her head, "I knew I was safe from people, I knew that I could..I knew that I would see the morning but I felt..."

Her eyes ran over his body once more, as if she couldn't reconcile her feelings with the man before her.

He was charming, handsome, compelling.

He knew it.

He knew the effect he had on women.

He also knew the danger that he exuded, the allure.

"Tell me"

"...vulnerable"

He smiled.

She had been sleeping on the beach for a few nights when he'd found her.

A runaway, escaping a broken and abusive home.

The classic Santa Carla story.

She was strong, though. She was a fighter even if she didn't know it.

She would be hard to break.

It was clear that she was going through a hard time, that her whole life had been a hard time. There was a fragility in her beauty despite everything, despite the power she didn't know she held.

It was there hidden just beneath the surface. The delicate and timid nature of a victim trying desperately to be anything but.

He could free her.

He could unleash that power, he could give her the release she needed.

She had survived sleeping rough at night and playing pretend in the day, her pathetic 'friends' unaware of her struggles.

She wouldn't have lasted long though.

There were only so many times she could recycle her clothes, take rushed showers at the seaside changing rooms, scribble homework under the blaring lights of the attractions, drink warm and cheap coffee from the library vending machine.

Did she have a plan for what was next? What would she do when school started once again? Go back to her sad little town? Try to graduate, to accept charity? Would anyone offer it to her?

What if she stayed?

In this town, nothing came for free and payment was steep.

"Are you going to hurt me?"

"No"

She blinked at him, her eyes widening a little at his answer.

"I'm going to save you"

She met his eyes fully and he knew that she trusted him.

She trusted his words.

She met his eyes and he could see her entire life story, her future.

She made to move towards him but jumped, gasping as a whoosh of air and the jingle started up once again.

She closed her eyes and grimaced against it and he allowed himself free reign to look at her body, the same way she had done to him. He was too proud to do it openly and with her knowing but he couldn't help the cold glint in his eye as he observed her.

She really was beautiful.

He smiled.

The clown's laugh faded and she opened her eyes, swallowing with a frown.

"Nobody's come through"

"Ride's closed"

He'd killed the attendant quite neatly and this late into the night, nobody would question the attraction being shut.

It was just the two of them.

There would be no interruptions.

"...what are you?"

He chuckled.

"You don't know?" she shook her head and he held out his hand, "come with me"

She looked at his gloved hand and swallowed again.

"I...I don't want to die"

God, her voice was thick, husky.

He wanted to hear her crying his name, hear her cry for him in a haze of lust and desire and that was something he rarely craved.

He thrived in death and destruction but this girl?

He knew his eyes were piercing hers and he knew that she would follow him.

Why should she fear death?

With him, she would never need to fear anything, let alone something as mundane as dying.

"If you come with me, you'll realize you haven't been living"

Her face was a blank mask as she stepped forward but her heart was still beating heavily, betraying the weight of her decision.

He knew she wanted to go with him, she wanted to be saved.

There was no doubt that he would be the one to save her.

"I...I don't know your name"

He grinned, "I'm freedom"

Her eyes widened and her eyebrows knotted.

That's all she had ever wanted; freedom to be herself, freedom to live peacefully without pain or hurt, the freedom to be loved.

He would give it to her. He would give it all to her.

Her movements were slow, hesitant but as she stepped closer to him her scent was intoxicating.

"You don't have to be frightened, not anymore. Not with me"

"What are you?" her eyes roamed his chest, his arm, his extended hand.

"I think you know, Star"

Her eyes jerked to his as he spoke her name and she swallowed, nodding.

Yes, she knew.

She knew what he was.

As she slid her hand into his, he curled his fingers over hers.

Smiling his cold smile, he brushed her cheek gently and silently delighted as she didn't flinch.

As the clicking of the timer made itself known, she met his eyes and nodded.

It was all the permission, all the agreement he needed.

As the air began to flood the chamber, he turned and began to lead her away from her past.

Holding onto his hand, she followed him willingly.