Haunted by Vampires

Disclaimer: I don't own The Lost Boys.

Author's Note: First off religion isn't going to play a big part in the story, but I just want to say please don't be offended as this story does not in any way reflect my own beliefs or mean to insult anyone else's. Also, this story is not a romance as the girl in question is only eight years old, the Lost Boys are not good people (or people at all) but their relationship with Lily is nothing like that. Thank you for reading this I had to get it out first before someone possibly brought it up.

I know I shouldn't put up another story but after writing two chapters for The Frog Sister I just wasn't feeling it for any of my other stories at the time and I already had this idea in mind, so I just started writing it and here it is.

*EDIT 10/06/18* Chapter beta'd by the great exaigon, thanks for all your help!

Chapter 1: Grandma Star

"Are we there yet?" A bouncing little brunette girl asked with excitement in her voice from the back seat of her dad's car.

"The answer hasn't changed since the last time you asked me five minutes ago, sweetie," her dad answered. "I know you're excited about spending the summer with your grandmother but remember patience is-"

"An important skill to develop, I know. But I'm eight. Patience is practically a non-requirement and can wait a few more years," she quoted as her father sighed.

"That's your mother talking."

The girl shook her head. "No Dad. Mom's not here, I was talking," she said smartly.

"You know what I mea-" Not letting him continue she once again asked, "Are we there yet?"

"Lillian," he practically shouted in frustration.

"It's Lily!" She stopped bouncing and shouted back. After all, shouting is all she's heard lately so she may as well do it too.

He glared into the rearview mirror. "Don't yell at me young lady. I can always turn this car right back around and leave you with your uncle Sam this summer instead."

Dark eyes grew wide at the threat and she quickly shook her head. "No! I'm sorry!" Looking down she mumbled, "But it is..."

Apologizing wasn't something the little girl liked but it was so much better than going to Uncle Sam's house. He collected nasty dead bugs and hung them around his house... he was weird!

A few minutes later the little girl known as Lily was still pouting and playing with her handheld when her dad spoke, "Look Lilypad. It's the Santa Carla sign."

"So... we're here now?" She asked, and he sighed again.

"Almost."

At that she unbuckled her seatbelt and moved to her knees to get a closer look out of the window. Her dad hollered at her to put it back on.

"Ohh lookit," she pointed, "someone wrote on the sign. They're not supposed to do that are they?" She tilted her head curiously while looking out the back window as they passed it.

"No, they're not. Just like you are not supposed to unbuckle while the car is moving! Now get your seatbelt back on this instant!" His tone was irritated and, knowing better than to keep pushing him, she listened.

"Oh, okay," she exaggeratedly flopped back down and did as she was told while mumbling to herself, "I'll just have to take it off again in a second so why bother?"

Her father pretended not to hear her while glancing at the rear-view mirror to make sure she was actually doing as he said. Once she was back in the uncomfortable seat belt she grabbed her recently discarded handheld from beside her.

"Wouldn't you rather look outside than play that thing?"

Frowning without letting her eyes leave the screen, she answered, "Not if I can't get a good look. There's no point."

He sighed once again, "Never should've bought you that thing."

Ignoring him, she pets the puppy on the screen with her finger. It's the closest she can get to actually petting them most days since her daddy was allergic. Though truthfully, she just thought it was an excuse he told her so that she couldn't have one. What he was really allergic to was fun, she thought to herself.

Feeding the dog on screen she had a thought occur to her.

"Does grandma have a dog?"

"No, she doesn't," is the instant reply.

"Why not?" The girl tosses the fake dog a bone. "Same reason we don't."

Lily doubted her grandmother was allergic to fun like him but didn't say so. "But you said you never lived in grandpa's house where grandma lives now. So why not?"

"Because." She hated that answer. It was a non-answer and probably the reason him and mom fought so much.

"Because why?" She asked despite knowing she was annoying him. Mostly she didn't care because he was annoying her too.

His voice wasn't very happy sounding as he answered, "Because your grandmother has better things to do than look after some mangy mutt."

Glancing up at his tense form she quietly mumbled, "Wouldn't be mangy if you loved it..."

In her mind she couldn't help but question if he even still loved her. After all, the reason she's so excited to go to a grandmother that she's only met a handful of times was because, lately all he does is yell at her to go to her room, so he can yell at her mom. Though Mommy yelled back … he usually started yelling first.

Her thoughts were interrupted as he started to speak again, "Besides you don't need a dog to play with. You'll have your grandmother."

Yeah, but she's old and probably sleeps a lot, she thought. Instead of saying that she countered with another question.

"Does she have a cat?"

"Lillian," he said in exasperation.

She muttered under her breath, "It's Lily..."

It's really not that hard to remember, she knew, but more and more often he calls her by her full name. A few minutes later they pull into the drive. Before the car is completely stopped her seatbelt is off and the car's back door is open.

"Lillian," he calls but she ignored him and jumped out of the slightly moving car yelling, "It's Lily!"

Before running for the front porch where her grandma is waiting.

"Grandma!" She ran up and hugged her around the waist. "Do you remember me?" Lily asked while looking into her grandmother's laughing face.

"Of course, I remember my favorite granddaughter."

"I'm your only granddaughter," she laughed as well.

"Well then how could I possibly forget," the older woman stated happily.

"Lillian," shouted her father as he stormed up the steps. Said girl squeaked and hid behind her grandmother's skirt before he reached them. His face was doing that color changing thing again. She knew she was in for it now.

"You, little lady, are grounded! What did I tell you about waiting until the car completely stopped before jumping out of it?"

Not saying anything, she hugged her grandma's skirt tighter while peeking out to look at his angry face.

"Oh, come now Chris it was hardly moving. She's fine."

He started doing the breathing exercises that his young daughter recalled the doctor telling him to start doing recently because something about blood and sugar... Adults are strange was the only thing that the girl could come up with from that.

Before he finished her grandma spoke, "Why don't you head on inside. I made some cookies. They're in the kitchen. I'll call you out before he leaves so you can say goodbye."

Before the words completely left her mouth the girl was taking off.

"Mom you'll ruin her appetite if you feed her junk food and she hardly needs the sugar. She's already got too much energy."

Hiding just inside the door the young Emerson girl pressed her ear to the door to listen.

"Chris, I know you're stressed right now but try not to take it out on Lily. This must be hard on her too," his mother said consolingly.

She can practically hear his pacing.

"Lately she's just been acting out and back talking me. I'm sure it's her mother's influence! I know it sounds paranoid, but I think she's trying to turn her against me."

Lily almost opened the door to yell at him for saying that but knew better than to give away the fact that she'd been listening. So instead, she bit her tongue.

"You aren't paranoid just… under a lot of pressure. I thought the counseling was helping the two of you?" The question was asked in a kind tone.

"It's complicated…"

No, it's really not. He's just not trying anymore. Neither of them were but he gave up trying to understand her mom first from the young girl's point of view.

"But you are taking the counselors advice right… I mean that's why I'm watching Lily so that you and Beth can work things out this summer?"

She thought he just wanted her gone but if it's to spend time with mom maybe things will be okay…

"I don't think there's anything to work out… I'm pretty sure this marriage is over." The girl's brown eyes grew misty as she quickly moved away from the door not wanting to hear anymore. She knew it! He's not trying to make things better. He's the worst!

Wiping at her eyes with her arm she moved through the hallway and into the living room completely forgetting about the promised cookies in the kitchen. The walls were made out of wood. Looking around she got the feeling of being in a cabin instead of a house, like the one she grew up in. The walls had a few family pictures scattered around but mostly they were empty except for the large noticeable cross taking up half of one of the walls.

The television was small and so was the couch in front of it. Actually, it only had two seats, so it was a loveseat, not a couch she realized. Then to the far right there was an old music thing against the wall. She wasn't sure what it was called having never seen one outside of old movies. It also seemed to be broken upon closer inspection. She walked up to it and ran her fingers over the damaged parts curiously.

Moving away from the vintage music maker, Lily wandered further into the living room. It was big, open, and felt kinda empty despite the few pieces of furniture. Mostly, though, it felt boring. After a few minutes she decided to go look upstairs. Once there she found the bathroom, also boring with no style whatsoever, but that was old people for you. Next there was a couple of bedrooms. They didn't look like they'd been used for a while. There wasn't much in them either, just some old posters and a lot of dust. One even had a bunch of dead stuffed animals in the closet, so she decided to use the other bedroom's bed to lie down on. It seemed newer or at least less dusty than the other one anyways. Plus, no dead things in the closet.

Facing the wall, her excitement and energy from earlier having all but dried up, Lily found herself drifting off to sleep. At one point she heard her grandmother's voice calling her from downstairs to come say goodbye to her dad but the little brunette just moved the pillow to block out the noise, not wanting to go see him.

The next time she came to was a short while later when the door opened and her grandma shook her shoulder. Getting no response, she left her whispered words of how tiring the ride must have been barely reaching her ears as she drifted off once again.

All the while not noticing that she wasn't alone.

When she opened her eyes next, the room was much darker than it had been the last time she was awake. She looked around the darkened room in confusion for a moment before remembering where she was.

"I'm at grandma's house…"

Running a hand through her long messy bedhead to try and tame the tangled curls, she quickly gave up when her stomach let out a growl that could be mistaken for a monster or a bear, both of which where things she was scared of. It made her come to the quick realization that she missed lunch. After a bathroom break, the girl headed downstairs just in time to smell something delicious coming from the kitchen.

"There you are, I was just about to come wake you up for dinner."

Her smile was contagious and caused Lily to grin as well and ask happily, "You made spaghetti?"

"Your father said it was your favorite."

At her words, the girl's smile dropped.

"Something wrong?" The elder woman asked seeing her granddaughter's expression.

"No…"

She didn't buy it, though. "Oh, you probably miss your dad."

Not really, she thinks but headed to the table in silence.

"Well, don't be sad. He did come say goodbye, but you were sleeping so soundly that he didn't want to wake you." She put a plate in front of Lily and started to serve them both as she continued, "He said he'd call regularly. Speaking of, he brought your things upstairs to the room you were sleeping in. Oh, and your cell phone should be with it." Sitting down she frowned and swatted lightly at the girl's hand. "Not yet. We have to say grace first."

"Right…"

Dad had said that Grandma was religious, and she vaguely recalled them saying grace when her Grams came to visit but she couldn't recall any words in particular. At home they never really ate together or at the same times and her mom called religion 'a crazy acid induced dream someone had before they even had acid'. Whatever that meant.

"Why don't you say grace tonight?"

Her face must have looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Umm…"

Her grandmother sighed, "Your father does say grace when you sit down to eat, does he not?"

"…When he's home…" It was only a half lie. He used to when he was home but that was a long time ago. She hardly remembered that time and lately anything that her parents don't agree on just doesn't get said until she's in her room. It's like they think closing a door means that she can't hear them.

"Alright. I'll say it tonight and then it'll be your turn tomorrow. How's that sound?"

She nodded her head in agreement, glad to be spared for the night, and prepared to listen so that she could copy the words for tomorrow. Just as her grandma opened her mouth to start saying grace, lights started flashing through the kitchen windows and the sound of engines and laughter started. Her grandmother grabbed at the cross around her neck and jumped up from the table before closing the blinds forcefully and yelling something about them not being welcome here. She did a thing she'd seen in movies where a person used their fingers to touch their forehead and shoulders. It was supposed to be a cross thing, right?

A way to scare off demons. But those were only in movies. Movies she wasn't supposed to have watched. But she had caught a few on late night TV when her parents' voices kept her from falling asleep and she wanted something to do.

She didn't get it, though. People rode bikes all the time in the city where she lives, though maybe not as close to her house or at night as far as she knew. Still, it wasn't scary enough to pray over, was it? It's not like it was a bear or a monster, 'cause Mama told her those weren't real and her mom knew everything. Not wanting to eat her food cold, the girl snuck in a few bites while her grandmother stood at the window sill saying a few prayers under her breath and clutching her cross.

By the time it stopped, and the girl's grandma returned to the table looking far too pale, she was too distracted to notice that half of her granddaughter's food was gone or that her face had the evidence of her crime displayed in the form of the sauce on it. Instead, she quickly and quietly said grace; something about being grateful for bread or something even though they don't have any bread. Garlic bread would've been nice with her spaghetti, though, the young brunette thought.

After a few minutes of silence, she asked, "Grandma?" Getting no reply, she spoke louder, "Grandma Star?"

This caused her to look up from her food startled. "Oh yes what is it?"

Her hands were twirling her food and the little girl noticed that she had barely taken a bite.

"Are you okay…? It was just motorbikes. Don't be scared. They can't hurt you unless you stand in front of a moving one," Lily helpfully supplied.

Grimacing, Star laid her fork down. "I have to ask you something, Lilian."

The little girl barely bit back the automatic response of 'It's Lily.' Instead, she asked, "What?"

"You know better than to let in strangers, don't you?"

Her dark eyes stare straight into an older set of very similar eyes as she responded, "Of course! I am eight. I don't talk to strangers or answer the door for them."

Her grandma smiled slightly. "I'm glad. That means if you hear someone ask you to let them in, you say no." She nodded to appease her grandmother. "Even if you don't see them. If you hear or even feel them, you tell them 'no' or 'go away' and they'll leave you alone because they won't have any power over you."

The young brunette looked confused. "I don't get it… What do you mean not see them and how do you feel someone if you can't see them?"

The older graying woman sighed, "You don't have to get it. Just think of it as 'house rules' and don't let anyone you don't know inside. No matter what, alright?" The girl slowly nodded but then her hand was grabbed and squeezed harshly. "No matter what understand."

No, she didn't but her head nodded faster, and she answered the opposite, "I understand."

"Good. Now let's finish eating and call it a night early. I'm exhausted and I'm sure you could use some more sleep after that long drive."

She wasn't tired but decided not to say so. With that the two ate their cold spaghetti in silence.

Not long after, the two were in the room Lily had spent most of the day sleeping in and the old lady was tucking her in.

"Now then let's pray. Just repeat after me okay?"

Nodding, she folded her hands in the same way as the older woman and closed her eyes too.

"Now I lay me down to sleep," the girl parroted the words. "I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I die before I wake," Her granddaughter went quiet and opened her eyes to look at the older of the two before saying, "But I don't wanna die."

Star sighed and opened her eyes to look back at her. "You are perfectly fine so that shouldn't happen to you anytime soon. Let's continue."

After thinking she had pacified the little brunette she closed her eyes again.

"But…"

The elder woman cuts her off sternly, "Let's continue."

Frowning and looking at her grandmother's closed eyes she laid her hands on her lap and sullenly replied, "Okay…" Still watching her grandma's face, she crossed her fingers in her lap. "If I…die before I wake."

The little girl smiled at getting away with it and uncrossed her fingers in case the other's eyes opened.

"I pray the Lord my soul to take."

Once again, the young girl didn't continue. "What if I want to stay here," she whispered.

Funnily enough, she felt eyes on her, but her grandmother's eyes were still closed.

"You don't want that. Now finish the prayer, please." Her wrinkles were more prominent now that her face was upset, even more so than when they were downstairs. Even though she didn't want to make her angry she didn't want to die or lose her soul either because that was scary and so she told her so.

"But I do, I don't wanna die!" Her voice was shaky as she got more worked up. Lily did not want to think about death.

"Lilian please finish saying the prayer." It was a demand, not a plea. The brunette knew the difference but didn't care. "We will talk about this tomorrow, just say the last line!" The older woman was also getting worked up at her refusal to comply.

"Nope, goodnight." With that she rolled over and pulled the covers over her head. Her grandmother's upset voice is muffled by her hands covering her ears like she does at home sometimes. The covers are pulled off of her face, but her eyes are closed. She heard something about her 'childishness' but then the door shut, and her hands left her ears and she sat up sticking her tongue out at the door.

Seeing a cross lying next to her on the desk beside the bed, she picked it up and tossed it to the floor.

"She's just like daddy…"

Tears started to form in her eyes, but she brought up her arm and wiped her eyes forcefully to keep them from falling. She didn't want to talk about death or think about it because doing so made her picture him... her little brother. He had been so very still and quiet. She didn't want to be that still or quiet. Not ever. It was wrong and scary.

Not dwelling on it any longer she got out of bed and pressed her ear up to the door. She didn't hear anything, so the girl opened the door and peered outside of it. Seeing no one she quietly walked into the hallway and then made her way to the stairs, noting that all the lights downstairs seemed to be off. Just to be sure that the coast was clear she took slow steps as she snuck down the staircase.

Pausing every now and then to listen, she finally made it to the bottom and looked around. It was hard to make out anything in the dark but somehow the young girl made her way to the living room couch with no mishaps.

It took her a minute to find the remote in the dark but when she did she turned on the TV set. It didn't take long to find out the old TV only had a few channels so she mostly just channel surfed. At least it's something to do and take her mind off of things she'd rather not think on. After about her third time going through them something glowing caught her attention out of the corner of her eye but when she turned toward it she didn't see anything other than that big old broken music box.

Her curiosity was peaked though, so she dropped the remote on the couch and walked up to it only for it to suddenly start playing. It made her jump, startled, before the young Emerson girl stared at it with amazed wide eyes. The music was not quiet, but she momentarily forgot about her sleeping grandmother. The song wasn't familiar but sounded nice enough and it had lights on it too, so the little girl was entranced by it. But how was it playing she wondered. Maybe it was the light that she saw before. As if someone heard her thinking that another glow appeared at the corner of her vision.

Turning toward it, she was surprised to still see it there. It looked like the tip of a cigarette and now she can smell it too.

Did grandma smoke? She didn't think so, but who else could it be then?

"Hello, Lily…" A voice whispered.

It sounded almost like the wind. If the wind could speak that is.

"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," she whispered back only just now realizing that the loud music should have drowned out the words she'd just heard. But despite the sound, it was a clear voice if somewhat unusual. A chuckle came from behind her but turning around showed nothing and no one behind her. It sounded like the voice from before but the glow from the cigarette hadn't moved. "We're not strangers. Why, I'd say we're practically family."

The girl whirled back to face the light of the cigarette where the voice was coming from. "We're not family…"

"Your grandpa Michael was practically our brother, so I say that makes us family."

"You knew grandpa?" Lily asked curiously.

"Yes."

"Who… who are you?"

She didn't realize she had walked closer to the glow of the cigarette until it disappeared, and she only had the faint glow of the tv and the music box behind her. The smell of cigarette smoke was suddenly much closer, and she could feel someone's breathe on her ear.

"I'm David."

Another voice, a different one, spoke then, "Nice to meet you, little sister."

It sounded like the wind too.

"Sister?" As soon as the words left her mouth, all the light and sound left the room. Everything cut off and then suddenly the light was turned on and her grandmother was there.

"Lilian what are you doing?" She asked in a warmer voice than she had when they were both up in her room earlier. Lily didn't say anything just looked around for the people she was speaking too but all she saw was the same boring living room, it was exactly the same as it was before aside from the big cross right above her head.

"Grandma did the cross always look like that?" She asked pointing up at it

Her grandmother's gasp came from behind her. The cross was cracked in half and covered in moss and mildew. It looked nothing like its pristine white image from earlier.

The young girl had no idea something could get so dirty so quickly and it wasn't broken before, was it?

"Lilian what did you do!?" Her grandmother asked horrified

Looking away from the cross, Lily's eyes widened as she turned away from the cross to look up into her grandmother's face and she can see it in her eyes. She thought it was Lily's fault. The girl in question did what any other little girl would do and denied it by throwing a mini tantrum upset at being blamed.

"What do you mean, I didn't do anything!"

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review!