This is a complete work of fiction, everything. The people may resemble people you may know, but it is not them, get over it. It may get confusing at times, but you will have to stick with me. So keep up with who is talking. I also tweaked the Boys to make them fit, not saying they were not fine as hell the way they were, just that I needed them to be somewhat less psychotic. I own nothing... I make no money off this fic. Onto the story-
Chapter 1: Where is New York?
Tatyana POV
One day my friends and I decided to meet up and hang out in a nearby park. We tend to do this regularly, so to catch up on each other's lives, stay in contact, all that stuff friends do.
It all started out when I called my friends over a warm autumn weekend. We had graduated from high school already and were missing the good old days, when we did not have to worry about much of anything. Maybe a paper due for Mr. Werner's class, or if we thought we would be doing anything in gym class to actually earn those credits. It was Angel, Guadalupe, Shannon, Zulai and I. I told them that we should hang out for that day; I wanted to feel like I had my family of friends again, we may never get the chance to do so together again. Nevertheless, enough of that, let's go to that day.
The unknown stone bench that surrounds the statue of a time forgotten is cold, even though the air surrounding me is warm, despite the golden leaves falling around me. 'I shouldn't have come so early. I told them all 12pm.' I pull out my cell phone from my new 'bad wolf' messenger bag and press a button to make the screen light up. 'Only 11:25... Well at least no one called to cancel, yet.' In my mind, I still could not believe that I had actual friends. Even after those 4 high school years and 2 years in separate colleges, I was still surprised that I had people who knew the real me and didn't forget about me, who were still my friends.
As I was contemplating, my ringtone went off, letting me know who was calling me. It was the opening song to Gundam Seed, I pressed the talk button. "Hey, Lupe, are you here yet?" The voice on the other end of the phone was soft and child-like. "Where exactly are you?" she asked. I felt the smile begin on my lips, even after all the time she spent with me and the rest of the gang she still sounded like a child. "I'm at the end, near the statue, where we always meet up. Duh." She scoffed "Don't 'duh' me. On 161 St?" "Yep. I can hear you." I ended the call and stood from my cold seat and walked around the white stone merwomen and looked down the stairs to see Guadalupe smiling up at me. "After all this time and you still don't know our meeting place?" I rolled my eyes at her. "It's not my fault; it's yours for making me come here in the first place." I looked off towards the train station and see the Zulai crossing the street. I hug Lupe and laugh. "Here comes Z now, look." We both smile and laugh as Zulai wildly waves and pretty much hops out of her shoes at the sight of us. As Z made her way up the stairs I sent a blast text to the remaining members of our group; Angel, and Shannon. They all replied within a few minutes of each other, telling me they were only a few minutes away. I relayed the message to Z and Lupe. We sat down on the cold stone benches again, laughing and talking about where we was going on in our colleges and what we planned on doing over the upcoming winter break.
Shannon walked up from behind us and scared us with a shout. Angel was coming from the opposite direction, where the bus stop was. They were the last to arrive and we all hugged and talked about schools and plans again. "Hey guys," I started "This may be the last time we get to hang out like this. What should we do?" Angel looked at me, "What do you mean?" I gave a heartbeat and answered "I mean that after this, we won't be together anymore. We will drift apart and soon we will stop being friends." My voice sounded stronger than I felt. I know they felt it too because Lupe smiled and said "No matter what happens, we will be friends, even if we may be separated by a sea or a city. We are friends. Good ones at that. We will be fine." I smiled and looked around at my friends, my strong friends.
"Okay, this still isn't telling us what we are going to do today..." Angel cut in. "We have to pick something to do. Or are we just going to sit and become statues?" "Well, let's think about it first." Zulai offered. As it sounded like a good plan we sat down next to each other on the cold stone bench and thought long and hard...
An old man hobbled past us and dropped a leather bound object near us. At first we only stared at it, and looked at the old man as he hobbled, then back at the thing. Lupe nudged me with her elbow. "Give it to him." I tried to give her a look that said 'you're not serious are you?' but it seemed she never learned how to read those looks very well. I sighed softly and scooped the thing up and jogged up to the old man. "Sir? Sir, you dropped this." I held out the thing and he patted his pocket, I saw the realization in his eyes as he saw his property in my hand. "Thank you, young lady. I don't know what I would have done if I had lost this. I went on an adventure you know, when I was a youngster, not older than yourself." I couldn't place his accent, which struck me as odd; normally I was pretty good at dialects. But I paid no mind to it. "Girl, you and your friends should go on one as well." I tilted my head and looked back at my friends who were watching us. "Go on what, Sir?" he chuckled lightly "Why, an adventure of course. Here, take this," He handed me the leather bound object and patted my hand. His were ice cold. "May this bring adventures untold to you and your friends." He turned around and waddled off on his merry way again. Muttering to myself about how strange (or stranger) people got when they were old and went back to sit with my friends.
"What happened, why did he give it back?" Shannon asked as soon as I sat down. "He said to have an adventure, with you guys..." Eight eyebrows furrowed and rose. "An adventure? As in hiking a trail?" "For some reason when he said adventure, the first thing that came to mind was like an actual adventure... you know a real quest or something." I looked at the thing in my hands and saw that it was bound in a leather cord and the whole thing fit in my palm. "I wonder what it is..." I said to no one in particular as I unwrapped it and found it was a gold colored coin. "Wow... do you think it's real?" Asked Shannon, reaching her hand out to touch it. "It feels like real metal." I looked at her. "But is it real gold?" she shrugged. "Don't know what real gold feels like, it's not like we can just walk into the U.S. Mint and ask if its real gold, they'd think we took it or something." We all nodded.
I covered it back up and put it in my messenger bag, in an inside pocket. Well, whatever it is I'll find out. It's no big, if it's worth something, I'll let everyone know and we can decide what to do from there. Sounds good?" I looked at all of my friends as they one by one nodded. "Alright, that's settled. Now How about we go to the movies? I hear one of them is showing The Lost Boys..."
Three hours later when we were coming out of our perspective restrooms, we were arguing about the movie we had just seen and its actors. "No way Twilight could ever live up to the Boys. I mean did you see how hot Dwayne was? He doesn't sparkle and he's still hotter than any Cullen." I smiled and thought of beautiful and mysterious the character was. "But that David guy was pretty nuts, he got burned and he was laughing." Shannon said shaking her head. Sucking his teeth, Angel cut in, "Okay listen, up, they bit through guys skulls. That's not attractive. But the Frog brothers were cool." "I don't know how you got me to watch that movie, Ta. I don't think I'll sleep easy tonight." Zulai said smiling at me, but I could tell she enjoyed the movie too. "But I love you. And I know you'll forgive me. Because you love me too. Admit it..." I teased, poking her in the side and then hugging her to mine. We all laughed. "I'm not quite ready to go home, and it's almost dark now. Want to sit in the park for a while?" I asked everyone.
We had ended up in a Manhattan theater, the one on 34th street. So we walked the few blocks to Central Park and got some hot chocolate at one of the vendors. We sat in a surprisingly empty area. We didn't really see or hear anyone; we were surrounded by trees and underbrush, the area was dark and secluded. The warm day had carried over into a warm night. "Mmm...This is a good way to end a nice weekend." Shannon hummed as she sipped her coco. "It is a nice way to end a great weekend." Zulai said, beating me in correcting our friend. "Great, so now you're becoming like Tatyana. Just what we need, two people correcting grammar and speech." Angel rolled his eyes and said, blowing onto his steaming drink. "It's not like we didn't see it coming." Lupe commented "Besides, I've been thinking. It would be kind of cool if we could jump into that vampire movie, right? I mean, that would be an adventure, if there was ever one." I smiled at the stance she made. With her arm outstretched like she was holding a sword or something. "So what would we be, the lost people?" I laughed, not putting her idea down. "I do wish we could go into The Lost Boys, save the boys. That would be an adventure worth having. Don't you guys think so? Sleeping all day, Partying all night, never getting old." I drink my coco and burnt my lip. Feeling only a slight tingle at the burned area, I licked it and continued sipping my drink slower.
Suddenly we hear something that sounds like a motorbike coming towards our small table in the middle of the empty park. "Someone's breaking laws... I thought you couldn't ride dirt bikes in public parks." said Angel, frowning slightly. We stand up, grabbing our bags and packs and begin walking away from the sounds. "Wait a minute... Wasn't the drink vendor somewhere around here..?" Lupe asks aloud. We all start looking around us, not really recognizing the area we were in. "Is it me, or-" "Does this place seem different?" I cut Zulai off. "Big time." The sounds we had been afraid of before started to seem a lot more comforting. "Maybe we just weren't paying attention while we were walking. It happens, sometimes. Let's just go over there and we'll find our way back." Shannon laughed nervously. We all began walking towards the sounds of civilization and upon breaking from a dense bush; we looked up, slack-jawed. In front of us stood a large roller-coaster, with bright lights and what seemed to be a carnival going on around and underneath it. "Uh guys... where did New York go...?" Zulai said and dropped her cup.
~Page Break~
"David, something feels weird." Dwayne said, looking to their leader. Paul and Marko stopped their playing and looked towards David and Dwayne. "What does it feel like?" David said in a bored tone, eyes sharp. "Like magic." The dark-haired vampire said in a whisper, looking towards the carnival park near the boardwalk. "It's coming from that way." "Let's not make it wait then." Marko said with a playful smile. The motorcycle engines turned over from their short slumber and roared for their riders. The boys rode down the sands and across the boardwalk, following Dwayne, to the source of whatever he was feeling.
As they approached the end of the parking lot, they shut off and parked their bikes. "What's up man? There's nothing here." Paul said in an annoyed voice at his strange brother. Dwayne had been acting stranger than normal lately. He and Marko had caught the quiet vampire staring out over the sea more than a few times since the beginning of the month. When they asked him what he was doing, all they got was "Waiting" from their brother. He'd gotten worse as they approached this weekend. "Yeah, man. What's supposed to be here?" Marko chimed in. "Just wait..." was what they got in return.
A rustling in the bushes in front of them gained their full attention as first a tall thin boy came through the bushes with a black backpack on, followed by a dark skinned girl carrying her own bag, then another girl with glasses a shoulder bag and straight black hair, then they helped yet another girl through the bushes, she too had a bag. The girl that came through the bushes hopped as her foot got caught in one of the shrubs many arms. The last person that came through the bush, held herself with an air of slight annoyance, which was explained as she began pulling leaves and twigs from her hair.
"Guys, I think those trees attacked us. I feel like a frickin fairy with all these damn leaves in my hair. And I lost my glasses, back there, I think." The girl with glasses on her face laughed. "No, I got them right here, they dropped when that last branch hit your face." She handed over thin framed glasses to the other girl. "Thanks Lupe. I'd be blind if I didn't have you." she said and accepted her glasses with a smile. "As they finished pulling the foliage out of their hairs, the boy spoke up. "Okay, we're here, I guess. Wherever here is... Now what, Tatyana?" The girl who was currently brushing out her hair, pulled out a scrunchie from her own bag and put her hair into a high ponytail. "Well, I say we find out where we are first. Where there are people, there is police. We find out where we are and how we got here."
"You're in Santa Carla!" David shouted to the group of teens. They looked over to him and his boys with wary eyes. "What did you say?" The dark skinned girl obviously confused. David and the others got off their bikes and walked to the teens. "Santa Carla, California. That's where you are. Where did you come from in those bushes?" The smaller girl with glasses and straight black hair replied "New York, actually. Next thing we know, we're here." "We can't be here, guys..." The taller girl with glasses said, Tatyana, if what he heard earlier was correct. "Why not?" The shorter girl with still slightly crazy hair said to Tatyana, taking the brush and pulling her own hair back. "Because Z, Santa Carla doesn't exist. It's a made up city from a movie. One we just finished watching."
David smirked and held out his hand to the smaller girl with black hair. Well I assure you this is not a movie. Feel for yourself." His smirk turned into a grin as her thin hand slid into his. Her skin cold to the touch, not that he minded much. On her index finger sat a small ring. "My name's David. That's Dwayne, Marko and Paul." He pointed to the men standing behind him. The girl in front of him looked up at him from between her swaying hair and tilted her head to the side, as if considering telling him her name. She was wearing a gray knit sweater, a pale purple V-neck shirt and gray cargo pants with gray converse to match her outfit, her shoulder bag was gray as well. "Great, now we're inside a movie. Somehow this doesn't surprise me." The boy said, shaking his head. "Well since we are in this we might as well introduce ourselves, it would be rude not to." Tatyana said. She was dressed in a long sleeved sweater with tiny skulls on it, a pair of dark jeans that were form-fitting, a black shirt under the sweater and a pair of black converse, finishing off with a black shoulder bag that said 'Bad Wolf' on it Holding up her hand in greeting. "Hi, I'm Tatyana." She tugged the boy and girl closest to her forward. The boy wore a black sweater, his light blue jeans looked too fitted to be comfortable and black and white sneakers and had a black backpack. "This is Angel" She tugged the boy "And this is Zulai." The girl had finished putting her hair in a ponytail and raised her hand like Tatyana did. She was wearing a dark jacket with a white tank top that made her chest give you just enough to want more, a pair of dark jeans and converse low tops, her shoulder bag was an olive green. The dark skinned girl stepped forward next to the girl still standing in front of David. She wore a red sweater with embroidered cherries on it, her bag the same color and same cherries, a low sweeping red shirt with a pink undershirt, a pair of black jeans even tighter than the boys' and a pair of black converse. "My name's Shannon." David looked back to the small girl in front of him. "And you are?" "Guadalupe." A slight blush graced her pale face. 'At least she's got some blood in her.' He thought to himself. He bent slightly to place his lips on her hand in a gesture long forgotten by today's gentlemen. Not that he was so gentle anymore.
"Okay, this is weird." Said Zulai, crossing her arms under her chest. Marko's eyes drifted to her generous bust line. "Why's this weird?" He asked, struggling to tear his eyes from her chest until Tatyana caught his stare and placed her own arm over the girl's chest. "Maybe you staring at her chest makes this weird." Tatyana rolled her eyes and moved her arm. "I don't think we should say anything until we know what's going on. But it would be fun..." Tatyana said, looking at her friends. To the boys, she said "We know what you are. And we know who your maker is. We also know that you guys live in a cave that used to be a hotel, until an earthquake rocked it underground." Dwayne's eyes narrowed. "And just how do you know so much about us?" "We already said that. Where we come from, you guys aren't real. You're actors who play vampires. And we just finished watching The Lost Boys. A movie about you guys, and..." Dwayne stepped closer to Tatyana. "And?" She looked at him, "And how you die."
The boys laughed and looked around at the straight-faced teens. "You can't be for real." Paul looked at the straight faced girl and lost his smile. "You're not joking are you?" He looked at David, Then at Shannon. "What are we, then?" Shannon rubbed the back of her neck. "Vampires..." She looked a little embarrassed to be saying it out loud, which was confirmed as Guadalupe covered her face with her free hand. "I can't believe this... It's so weird..." Zulai elbowed Tatyana. "Told ya." The girl rolled her eyes "Okay, fine. I can buy that we're in a different space in time, but how the hell did we get here? Did someone put a spell on our drinks?" Marko looked at the girl. "Magic? Like for real?" Angel pointed at Tatyana. "If it was magic, then I blame this one."
~Page Break~
Tatyana POV
I huffed. "Oh, so I'm automatically blamed because I'm a witch? Well, sorry to burst your supernatural bubble, but this is way beyond what I can do." I said looking at the vampires from the movie we had finished watching not an hour before. "Lupe, what do you think we should do? Scream? Run and hide? Bless some water?" I said the last one as a joke, but as usual my joke was taken seriously and I found myself held by the throat by Dwayne. "You think you can kill us?" I could see the red and gold in his eyes glow. "It's not like we would, just that we could." I dug my long nails into what I hoped was a pressure point I learned from my extensive knowledge from being a bookworm. My knowledge on vampiric acupuncture wasn't all that good, but he was essentially human so it worked. He released me quickly, nearly throwing me and rubbed the spot on his wrist. "Well that was fun." sarcasm dripping off my words. Rubbing my throat I glanced at my friends. "I doubt we have a first aid kit." My eyes then slid to David, then Marko, Paul and rested on Dwayne. "If I bruise, I'm taking it out on your ass. Don't think I can't push your undead ass into traffic, Just 'cuz your hot doesn't mean you can't die." I frowned slightly, remembering how he died in the movie. "We should get something to eat... we need to figure out just what's going on." I suggested, looking at my friends shocked faces and the boys' amused ones. "We can grab a bite on the boardwalk. Come on." David offered. We followed them back to the boardwalk, them walking their bikes, us following behind them until the sounds of the people and rides and games were ringing our ears.
We sat down at one of the benches and looked at each other. The boys disappeared to god only knows where. Shannon was the first one to speak. "What the fuck? We're in a fuckin' movie? What happened to normal, non-vampiric, New York?" I cradled my head in my hands. "If I knew that, I could accept that this is some weird drug induced hallucination. But since I doubt we drank some hippie concoction, I'd have to go with magic." I cleared my throat to try to make it feel better. Bad idea. I began coughing up a storm. Then large warm hands wrapped around my neck, making the itchy pain in my throat reside. "I'm sorry about that, by the way." Dwayne breathed onto my cheek. "Don't worry, I've had worse." As he and the others sat down with us; David next to Lupe, who was next to Shannon, then Paul and Zulai, Marko then Angel, then Dwayne, next to me. At a round table, like we were at school or something. "So what are you kids fixing' to eat?" asked Paul, putting his arm around Shannon's shoulders. "What's there to eat?" Lupe replies, looking across the table at Paul. David answered her. "What's your poison?"
David leaned closer to the blushing girl. "Not burgers, hell no to burgers. Those damn things are evil..." I randomly spat out. I looked up and felt the amused stares on my face. "Sorry, I guess I'm just not in a burger mood." I sighed dejectedly. Lupe patted my head. "Don't sweat it. We get it..." I raised my eyebrow as Dwayne also patted my head, as Lupe's hand left. "Yeah. Its ok, everyone gets like that sometimes. Any idea what you guys want to eat?" He asked. "How about some Chinese? I mean that does exist here, right?" Before David could answer, I interrupted him. "It's here, but David can mess with your mind. He can make you see worms and maggots." I smiled as he glared at me. "It's weird that you know so much about us." Dwayne's smooth voice entered my ear.
"We don't know everything about you all, just a lot of it..." The alarm on my phone went off, it screamed loud enough to make him jump and growl. "Oh, hold up." I pulled out my cell phone and pressed the end button, killing the screaming alarm. Dwayne grabbed it from me and held it closer to his face. "What the fuck is this?" He was pressing just about every button on it, making it light up. I snatched it back from him. "It's my cell phone. Where we come from, just about everyone and their dog has one of these things. Different types too. It's basically a phone without wires." "No way! How do you work it?" "Satellites." Angel's simple explanation saw the boys with confusion. "Does it matter?" Zulai asked. "Do you have one?" asked Marko. "Of course, we all do." She took hers out of her pocket and handed it to the curly haired vampire. Everyone then took out their respective phones and showed them. "That screaming you heard was a ringtone, my alarm to be exact. There are different kinds, some sounds, and some music. Some just stupid." I unlocked my cell and went to my ringtone section. I played the "Lacie" music box tune from Pandora Hearts. Angel messed with his phone as well. "Hey, you got bars?" he asked me. I exited the music player. "Why would I have- Oh my goddess, I do have bars." I only had three bars, but that was enough to make a call. I dialed the first number I could think about. 911. "Damn...it's not going through to 911... The world has gone to hell." I hit the end button. "Maybe because our cell phones have yet to be invented, they won't work. No satellites for our companies." Shannon offered. I shrugged. "Well, sitting here on an empty stomach won't help us find a way home. Let's eat." Angel said, getting up to go in search of food. "I'll stay here. Just get me something small." I said, "I'll be on the beach." I walked down from the boardwalk's lights and people and went up to the shore, watching the waves as they came in.
The water wasn't as cold as I had expected, my toes buried in the sand, my converse and socks in my hand, I walked closer to the shore. I hear, more than saw someone coming up behind me, my hand loosened and when a hand touched my arm, mine struck out. Dwayne's large hand caught mine before it made contact with his face. "That could have gotten ugly..." He curled his fingers around my shocked hand. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." He chuckled and pulled me along the beach until we got to a fire pit surrounded by some logs and sat down. "What is it? You're not going to eat me are you?" I leaned away from him and he laughed in amusement. "No, no. We ate earlier. I'm good. But you looked like you were contemplating the reason the universe was made or something." I smirked, sitting straight. "The thought did cross my mind, but I was thinking that maybe the situation we're in now really is somehow my fault. They always do end up being my fault somehow." He wrapped a leather-clad arm around my shoulders. "It can't be all that bad, I mean at least you're not alone. So tell me, what was home to you?"
"I didn't really have a home, I just lived in a place for a long time. My father killed my mother when I was little and my grandmother took my brother and me. She started beating us from that day until Child Services took us away. My brother pretty much defected from civilized life after that. Went wrong from long ago. I started when I turned 13, I started cutting." I pulled up my sleeve and showed him the scars that covered my forearms and watched him run his cool fingers across them. "Did they hurt...?" The fire made his hair shine and his dark eyes glow. You could almost forget he was one of the most dangerous creatures on earth right now.
I pushed my sleeves back down. "At first, yes. So I kept doing it. It made me feel better, knowing where the pain was coming from, that way it didn't hurt on the inside, only outside." That was it. I told him a bunch of things that were wrong with me, and he moved away from me and stared into the fire pit. I got up and looked over to the boardwalk to check for my friends. Upon not seeing them, I took my sneakers up and walked back to the water. This time getting my jeans hem wet, I let the sea water cleanse my feet, half wishing the waves could take me away. I sighed and began walking further into the surf. The water turned cold, and I welcomed it, the cold helped me think. A strong arm enclosed my waist and yanked me back out. "What the fuck!" Dwayne's pissed off voice sounded behind me and then I was back on the sand. "What the hell were you doing? Walking out into riptide at this time of night it could carry you to sea!"
He shook me like a rag-doll before I could gain the sense to speak. "Huh?" I was confused until a breeze came through. I was wet up to my knees. "I didn't go out into the water did I?" His frown turned to confusion. "Yes! You just walked right out. Why? Are you trying to kill yourself because you think it's your fault that you and your friends are here?" "What... no, that's not it." I rubbed my forehead. "Sorry, I tend to do things without knowing. Thank you for helping me, but don't do it again." "Why the hell not?" "Because then I would get used to it, I wouldn't be able to stop myself." I put my hand on his chest, it felt warm now. "Where I come from, one must save one's self before anyone else can." "What if I want to save you?" he whispered.
"Hey, Taty! We got food! Come on back!" Zulai's shout made me look back to the boardwalk to see my friends, all in one piece and the boys, coming down to where Dwayne and I stood. "What happened while we were gone?" Shannon's eyes took in my half wet state. "I wanted to see how the water was, so maybe we could go for a swim in the morning. So what happened while you guys were off?"
~Page Break~
As Zulai, Shannon, Lupe and Angel walked away from Tatyana, leaving her at the table, Lupe did look back. Feeling bad she opened her mouth to say she would wait with Tatyana, David, whose arm was around Guadalupe's shoulders, nodded to Dwayne, who nodded back and turned to head back to her friend. Lupe faced forward and softly said to David "Thank you. She would have sat there and waited for us, all alone. She gets depressed easily, but she doesn't show it." David smirked at the smaller girl. "No big, now let's get you mortals fed."
Paul, who had been strangely quiet for most of the time, was looking at the dark skinned girl walking next to him. 'Shannon, her name is... I wonder if she has a boyfriend...' he thought to himself. "Why don't you ask her Paul?" David's voice entered his mind. Looking at the floor, he replied "When you ask the mousy one if she's single." "Uh... Are you alright?" Shannon asked. "Huh? Oh, no. I'm good. Just wondering ifyouwarsim..." Shannon furrowed her brow. "If I were what?" She moved closer to the dirty blond vampire. "Repeat that, without the mumble." "If you were single..." Paul rubbed the back of his neck as Shannon looked blankly at him. Then she answered "Yeah. Why?" Releasing a relieved breath he didn't need. He said "Just wondering... that's all." "Are you single?" Shannon asked just to make it seem fair in her eyes. "I'm a vampire, I end up eating most of my dates." He smiled. "That is if you would like-" "I don't really think that's a good idea, I'm not a fan of being eaten." "Funny, most girls love that.." Paul let the words slide past her brain before he heard her laugh. "Eww, I didn't mean that. You are such a perv..." She playfully hit his shoulder.
Zulai who had also wanted to stay behind with her friend Tatyana, but saw the need behind her friend's eyes to be alone. She had seen that look hundreds of times, given it many times more. Tatyana was most likely blaming herself for what was going on and was probably going to try to figure it out by herself. Even though Angel had made the witch comment as a joke, Zulai knew Taty took it seriously. Sighing she looked at Guadalupe and Shannon, both of whom were in front of her, obviously enjoying their chats with the vampires, she looked at the one walking next to her. 'Marko. Hmm...Not as scary as I thought he would be...' She thought while looking at the curls. 'And look at those curls. Damn I wonder how he keeps it clean.' "So how long have you all been friends?" Marko asked out of the blue. "Since we started high school. About five or six years now, I think. And you guys?" Marko thought about it. "It seems like forever, but I don't remember exactly how long." "It's nice that you guys have stayed together after so much time. It's cool. Being a vampire I mean. The whole never getting old, never getting sick deal. And you don't die easily. Must be really fun." Zulai laughed. "Sometimes it is, other times, it can get tiresome. If we make human friends, they get old or sick and die. All we really have is each other. Me, Paul, Dwayne and David. We're like a family." Zulai nodded, understanding where he was coming from. She felt the same way about her own friends.
Angel, who seemed to be the only one without a companion, didn't find himself jealous of any kind, just a little amazed, though you'd never tell because his face retained its bored look. He had thought about Tatyana's sudden desire to stay behind, but stopped worrying over it when he saw one of the vampires go back to stay with Tatyana. He had just hoped no one would die before they got the chance to find a way home. He looked at the one called David, and remembered from the movie that his powers dealt with the mind. He saw the man place his arm around Lupe's shoulders, but felt nothing more than the protectiveness of a sibling. Looking at Shannon, seeing her laugh made him want to smile along with her. And Seeing Zulai staring at her talking buddy, making him squirm while they were walking made him want to laugh at the unfortunate vampire's predicament. 'I wonder where the girl vamps are...' He thought to himself. Looking around at the various food stands and vendors that lined the boardwalk, he noticed a girl and a small child following them. He couldn't really see their faces, thinking they were maybe some stalkers or groupies, he ignored them. But she was annoying him with her constant watch over the group, so he said something.
"Hey who's that girl following us?" Angel asked aloud. The boys turned around. "That's Star." David said in an annoyed voice. "And the kid's Laddie." Paul offered. Angel narrowed his eyes at the girl as she walked closer to the group. 'She's going to be their death...' He pulled up the movie in his head. Star is the reason the boys die, all because she fell in love and didn't want to be a vampire anymore. Angel figured the actual series of events that led up to the vampires' deaths had yet to happen. "Star, Laddie, meet our new friends. Lupe, Shannon, Zulai and Angel. They're going to be staying with us until they can find a way to get back to their home." David gave Star a condensed version of their story, minus the maybe-magical-interference and invited her and Laddie to join them in getting food, before heading back to the cave. Angel and Lupe both tilted their heads to the side and looked at her for a minute before turning back around and heading to Zulai and Shannon. They spoke quietly among themselves as they stopped at the Asian restaurant. "What should we get for Tatyana and Dwayne?" Shannon asked. Lupe went up to the person taking the orders. "Do you have onigiri?" the woman smiled and nodded. "We'll get them that with some scallop, fish and eel inside." "What's onigiri?" Laddie asked Lupe. "It's a ball made of rice, it can be filled with just about anything. Our friend Tatyana loves them and they aren't too big." She explained to the boy. "Why fill it with eel and junk?" he scrunched his nose cutely. "She likes smoked eel." Lupe turned to the woman again. "Can you please make sure the eel is cooked, as well. Lightly glazed with soy sauce?" The lady nodded and went to the back to get their orders done. The boys ordered a bunch of rice, noodles and some chicken.
They paid for the food and left the store. "Are you like them?" Star asked Angel. He looked at her. "No, we're completely human." She looked taken back that he was so calm, knowing what the boys were. "So then why are you with them?" "Because they seem willing to help us. Tatyana trusts them not to hurt us, so we have to as well. And we're stuck here who knows how long. We have to be alive to find out how to get home..." Angel looked at his friends walking in front of him and Star and Laddie. "I know what you two are as well. You will be the death of them." Laddie looked confused, but did not say anything. David and the others had overheard the conversation Angel had with Star and thought to ask him about what he meant later.
As they got closer to where they left Dwayne and Tatyana, they didn't see them sitting at the table but down on the beach, standing by the waves. Zulai cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted. "Hey, Taty! We got food! Come on back!" but instead of waiting, she went down the stairs and started to her friend, noticing the half wet state of her friend, she guessed Tatyana had walked out into the water. But not saying anything they greeted each other again and then introduced the two new additions to their circle. David waved a hand in front of the two. "This is-" "Star and Laddie, the two half vampires of your group." Tatyana interrupted, tilting her head to the side, she pinned Star with a glare that could have killed. But when she looked at Laddie, you couldn't have pictured a glare had ever been in those dark brown eyes. "So you are Laddie? Nice to meet you. My name is Tatyana, but you can call me Taty or Ta." She touched his head, feeling his soft hair and smiled. "Will you be joining us for dinner?" "Duh! I live with them." Laddie laughed at the older girl, moving her hand off his head. "Oh, sorry, I just thought you would be I don't know...maybe stealing a car or kicking people in the legs or playing games..." She said with a smile. "You look like you're ready for trouble." "Trouble is my middle name." Laddie puffed his chest out like a proud little kid could. "Let's head to the cave." Dwayne smiled, watching the girl play with Laddie, they made their way back to their bikes, and with a lot of situating, and they made it to the cave in one piece.
~Page Break~
Tatyana POV
I looked around the cave as the boys lit the barrels. "This place is awesome." I said in awe. "Only you would think a dark, vampire filled, earthquake sunken, hotel is awesome." Angel said, rolling his eyes. "Is it my fault that I love all things dark, scary and Goth?" My brow raised in the direction of my male friend. He shook his head. "No comment." He wandered off to one of the deeper ends of the cave. I went and put the bags I was carrying to the only table I saw, Marko had put the bags he carried down as well. "So...what's Zulai like back where you guys come from?" Marko asked after putting the food down. I glanced to the side at him. "Why not ask her yourself?" He opened his mouth I guess to answer, but I raised my hand to stop him. "Don't answer. It was rhetorical, I know how Z is. She isn't exactly the easiest person to understand. Nor is she easy to get to know at first. She tends not to act her age, and she is a bit bipolar. But she grows on you in no time." "How old is she?" His confusion was easy to read. "She's 21, the only one of us legal to drink. I however am the only one who can't drink." I put my messenger bag under the table and went to the bookshelf hidden on the wall behind a curtain. Marko followed me. "What do you mean? Is it 'cuz your underage, that doesn't matter here." As I went through the collection of old books, my back still turned to Marko, I answered. "Because I'd drink myself to death." Taking an ancient tome with me to the couch, I sat down and began brushing up on my old Latin. Marko looked sadly at me. But my smile didn't reassure him. "I meant that I'm allergic to alcohol. Don't worry, as long as I stay away from any type of liquor, nothing bad will happen."
Dwayne sat on the arm of the old couch, raising a thick dust cloud that made me cough. "Nice, what'd ya pick out?" Shrugging, I opened the book to its first page and began reading aloud. "In principio creavit Deus caelum et terram." I rolled my tongue a bit to get used to the words. "Continue, please." Dwayne encouraged. "Terra autem erat inanis et vacua, et tenebrae erant super faciem abyssi. Et spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquas. Dixitque Deus: Fiat lux et facta est lux. Et vidit Deus lucem quod esset bona: et divisit lucem a tenebris." I didn't notice everyone grab their food and watch me trying to read the book I found, so I continued reading to Dwayne. "Vocavitque Deus lucem Diem et tenebras Noctem. Et factum est vespere et mane, dies unus." I finished the first few sentences and closed the book. "What, couldn't read the rest?" Dwayne asked. "No, I can even translate it. That's not the problem." Zulai looked at me. "So read it. You know you want to." She smiled, with Shannon and Lupe and even Angel listening intently. "Oh well, might as well use this talent then. It says" I reopened the book "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." Re-closed it. "There, happy? It's a bible. That's why I stopped reading. Bibles tend to get boring." I shrugged and placed the book between my thigh and Dwayne's leg. "So, what'd you guys get me?" I grabbed one of the bags closest to me, but Marko snatched it back. "Not yours." he pointed to Dwayne. "He got your grub." I looked to my right and saw Dwayne with a paper bag, he handed it to me as Marko gave what was in his bag to its owners. Zulai got her lo mein, Shannon got soup, Angel, got some kind of meat and Lupe was sharing with David, something. Paul passed Laddie and Star some of the take out boxes and they started digging in.
I sniffed the bag when I opened it. "Smells like eel, fish and onigiri." I took out a plastic container and wasn't disappointed. I could feel the saliva building in my mouth as my throat closed up. I was not about to cry...oh hell, I was tearing up. "What's wrong? Did she do something nasty to the food?" Zulai's worried voice rang in the cave. "No. The last time I had onigiri was when we took that trip. You guys remember? I wished we could be like that again, back in high school, seeing each other five, sometimes six days a week." I looked at the perfectly shaped rice and bit into the first one. Smoked eel, a favorite of mine, it tasted lightly of soy sauce, making me moan while I chewed. "Delicious... just perfect." Dwayne grabbed my wrist and brought the rice covered food to his mouth and took a large bite. When he released my hand, I took a second bite, and finished it off. "Not exactly what I'd choose for a meal, but I guess it's okay." he said thoughtfully and got up to put his book back on its shelf. I started on a scallop filled one next, glancing under the table, I saw everyone's bags with mine. "Marko, bottle." Marko jumped up and went to get a gold and jewel encrusted bottle from a little hidey-hole and handed it to David, who then took a swig from it. "Mmm. Still kickin'." He handed it to Marko, who drank and handed it to Paul who also took a large gulp. "Here kiddies, try some." He handed the bottle to Shannon. "Nah...I'm good." I looked up from my food, and stared at David. "Don't offer that stuff to us. If we became vampires, I don't think we'd ever go home. Not to the right one anyways." I closed the box and wiped my hands on my napkin. "What do you mean?" David's interested ice blues were trained on me. "We all know that that bottle has blood in it. Yours and Max's. While I don't think we would mind being a part of your gang, Max isn't a good master. He's crazy." Dwayne came back, but didn't sit next to me, he instead went to David's side. 'Oh boy, me and my mouth again..' I thought. "Before I forget, kids. What is your problem with Star?" At the sound of her name being called, said girl came closer. My friends looked at me and I back at them before I scratched my arm.
"Alright. I suppose it would hurt us more not to tell you. Hell, we could possibly save your asses. Some new people are going to come to town, bringing with them a guy, who falls for your girl, Star, here. While Max goes after the guy's mother, you turn him, but he doesn't want it because of Star. She puts it in his head that one of you four is the head vamp and if he can kill you all, they will be free. Making him and a few other kids come and kill you off." I look at each of them as I continue. "First Marko gets run through by a stake, Dwayne dies from an arrow introduces him to a stereo, then Paul, in a bathtub filled with holy water, and then you, David. You get run through. Max dies later by fire and that's the end." I could taste nothing but ash as I told them how they all end up dying because of one of their own. "What are their names?" David's tight voice made me want to give in. "I can't tell you that. I shouldn't have even told you what was to happen. But damnit I felt sorry for you guys." I stood up and took off my glasses, rubbed my eyes with the heel of my palm. "I couldn't help thinking that if Star had been human, she could have gone on her merry way with the boy and you all would have lived. I didn't think it was fair." I put my glasses back on and faced the angry vampire leader. "I'm sorry, but I will not tell you about those people... And you won't get it out of my head. I made sure that we are all protected from mind games." "How?" David rose from the wheelchair. "I may not be an experienced witch, but I can cast a mean psychic protection spell. One that prevents another from entering another's mind against their will." David advanced, but I wasn't about to show him how scared I was. Dwayne caught his arm as it made its way to my face. "David, no." We stared at each other until David snatched his arm back from his second and walked back to his chair. "You won't tell us who means us harm. Why protect them?" Dwayne asks.
Lupe answered for me. "Because that wouldn't be fair either. You would go and kill them for something they have yet to do." Shaking her head Zulai added. "It also wouldn't be right to tell you everything. It would mess things up." "What do you mean?" Marko asked. "It means the space-time continuum would be out of whack. Which it already is." Angel supplied, looking unphased by what was happening. Shannon supplied a layman's explanation. "He means that because we told you, we have no idea how much we changed. Babies that were to be born from victims you would have had if you lived, becoming important people. Lives that weren't meant to be lived, doing just that. There's no telling how big that can of worms is now." Shannon buried her face into her hands. "Well. Damn." Paul sat back. "This can't all be bad, right?" "Yeah. It can." I said, crossing my hands under my chest. "The only way I know how to try and save you all is to kill Max and wipe Star's mind clean. That way, at least most of what should happen will, save for you all dying. That only leaves three things to be brought together..." I muttered, forming a plan as my friends stared at me. "You don't plan on actually killing Max, Do you? That's a suicide mission!" Dwayne spat. "You don't plan on making it do you?"
I looked at the shirt-less vampire. "What? Of course I do. I do know several methods of getting rid of a vampire. And I'll have no trouble getting past Thorn, dog from hell. I just need enough tranqs to take down a bull elephant and I'll go from there. Holy water is always a good thing. I'll have to go in the morning though, He should be at his most vulnerable." I looked at the boys. "When I kill him, you'll feel it. Like an empty spot or even some pain. But it will go away. When the time comes, I will move Star into where she must be. Maybe that's why we're here..." Zulai and Lupe both cracked large yawns. "Is it alright if we stay here?" Lupe asked David. Sighing he got up. "Yeah. You can take our beds, we rarely use them. We have a few rooms in the deeper parts of the cave, ones left from the original hotel." "Really? So then not everything was destroyed. Cool." said Shannon, stretching out her muscles from sitting too long. Paul's eyes zoomed in on the stretch of chocolate skin exposed by her actions. "You can use me, I mean my room. It's this way." He took Shannon by the hand and led her down one of the tunnels. "Mine is over here, and there's a spare room down this end, that you can use, Angel." Marko said pointing Zulai and Angel to the far left. David had gone with Lupe into one of the other tunnels and I was left with Dwayne. Alone. "I'll take the couch. I'll be fine." I said sitting back down. In less than a heartbeat I was pulled back to my feet and being dragged down one of the other tunnels.
~Page Break~
After walking for a few minutes we stopped. "Don't move" He said, letting my hand go. One by one, candles of different colors and sizes were lit. Bringing the room and its contents to light. There was a large bed in the center of the room. On it were dark, soft sheets. The four posts were strong, thick wood, that had slight wear on it. The walls were lined with book cases, telling of its irregular occupant's tastes.
Dwayne watched Tatyana as she moved about his room, her fingers ghosting over his bed, his books. Nothing about the girl was exceptionally sexy, or even that attractive, but something had told him to stop David from touching her. He had been surprised when she had read his bible, in Latin, one of the only things he had left from his human life. And down at the beach, he had become upset when she had told him about pains and problems at her home. He nearly flew into a panic when he looked up and saw her walking into the tide, knowing it would have pulled her under in mere seconds. When she said that she tries to kill herself unconsciously, he wanted to smack sense into her. He had never felt these kinds of things before, not after he became a vampire anyways. But when she had told them how they all die, he got goose bumps. Now he really did believe some kind of magic had brought them here? Of course he did, he was after all a supernatural creature himself. But was it like Tatyana had said? Were they here to save him and his friends, or die trying?
"This is my room. Is it adequate, Tatyana?" Her name rolled off his tongue, tasting sweet. She turned to look at him. "It's a lovely room. It is a shame that you'd abandon this bed for a mine shaft, though." She smiled. He stared at her lips, wondering if they felt as soft as they looked. "I would have to say I've dreamed of this since I was a kid." Startled, he blinked. "What?" "A four poster bed, with sheets so black they make you think about sinful things." she laughed, her long nails clicking on the wood as she rounded the bed. "I read way too many romance books as a kid. My head is stuck in the clouds and slammed in the gutter." Dwayne smiled. "You say that like it's a bad thing. Sometimes it's best to stay in the clouds where nothing can touch you." "And therein lies the problem, I'm never in reality for too long and I don't pay attention. I mean look at me," She touches her hair first, and then moves down her body. "My hair is horribly messed up for life, I'm fat, and guys don't like me. I have very few friends, but not by choice. It's because I keep to myself, the ones I have now, I'm in danger of losing and I can't bring myself to stop it, because then I'd be being selfish."
She sat on the bed and looked at her arms, which were still covered. "I'm falling apart at the seams. I only seem strong because I can't let others see I'm not." Dwayne sat next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "That's not true. There's nothing wrong with your hair, and yeah, you're not exactly a twig, but guys like women with meat on their bones. They tend to make better wives." he winked. "Your friends care about you, and the fact that they haven't deserted you even after this crazy shit that's happening, means they do love you. As for you falling apart; it happens, you're only human, and you're still young. You're bound to make mistakes and fuck up a hell of a lot, but as long as you move past it, it's just dust in the wind." He pulled her head under his chin and put his other arm around the girl. "You're a hell of a lot smarter than I'd originally thought..." she said softly as she put her arms around his waist. 'What the hell am I doing? She's food. Why should I be so nice to her?' he thought to himself.
He breathed in her light vanilla scent, under it the smell of the forest after a rain shower, her smell. He held her until he heard her heartbeat slow down and her breathing even out, telling him she was asleep. He moved her around and up to the pillows and with a second glance got into the bed behind her. When he pushed aside her hair, he saw the deep purple bruise he left on her neck from earlier. He'd have to be more careful around her, he thought as he remembered the force in which he had yanked her from the waters and then shook her after that, he hoped that didn't bruise as well. He sent a breeze to blow out most of the candles, save for the bunch by the wall she faced. He stared at her, bathed in the soft light until he felt the pull of the sun on his skin, pulling him into sleep. With his arm around her waist and her back pressed to his front, he tucked his head into her shoulder, and gave in to the need to sleep.
~Page Break~
After dropping Angel into the spare room, Marko led Zulai to his room. Lighting the candles he had in his room, he held out his arms. "Well, this place is all mine." The bed that occupied the side of the room took up a good amount of it, the blanket looked to be swatches of different colors and fabrics, some crudely sewn, some attached with dozens of safety pins. Zulai held up the blanket to Marko. "Nice sewing." She snickered. Marko snatched it back from her and tossed it back onto the bed. "What? I'm just a guy. Girls sew." Zulai mock glared at him. "Right. I guess you didn't take arts and crafts when you had the chance." She looked around the rest of his space. Posters of various girls in varying degrees of nudity "I somehow doubt I'll have a good night's sleep with all these chicks staring at me." "Oh, I can take them down."
Marko started pulling down the posters left and right. Before Zulai could realize what was happening, the walls were barren of women, but still held some singers or bands. "Wow...that was fast, but you really didn't have to. I mean, it's your room, I probably won't be here for long anyways." She plopped onto the surprisingly soft bed. Marko sat down beside her. "So, your friend, Tatyana, she knows what she's doing? If she goes after Max, she could-" "She won't die. She may be suicidal, doesn't mean she'll just die like that." She scooted until her back hit the wall. "She's too damn stubborn to do anything else." She lay down, with her back to the wall and went to sleep. Marko looked incredulously at the sleeping girl and then at the posters he just took off the walls because of her. "Damn, I think I fell..." he shook his head and took off his boots to hang on the beam he put in the ceiling, for when he didn't feel like going in the mine shaft. He fell asleep hanging above her.
~Page Break~
Shannon allowed Paul to pull her along to his room, but her arm was starting to ache and she was getting annoyed at being dragged like a child. She tugged her arm back and stopped walking. Rubbing her shoulder, she asked him "Do you intend to take my arm off? It does hurt being pulled along like a dog on a leash." Paul rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, it's just that I don't get a chance to bring many people back here." He turned around and continued walking, Shannon following behind him. "Seeing as how we eat most females, I don't get to show it off to the chicks." He rounded another corner and moved the cloth door aside. Shannon walked into the darkness, but his hand halted her in her tracks. "Don't move." he warned. Shannon could hear him moving around and then watched as he lit a small lantern with a long fireplace match. He went around the room lighting other, larger lanterns and candles, bringing his living space to light. "What do ya think?" He had a king-size bed, covered in different sized, different colored pillows drowning the bed.
On his walls were bands and singers of the time they were in as well as some models in swimsuits and the like. Off to the far side of his room was a small table with a few books, a boom box and a rather large knife on it. "It looks like the room of a typical teenage boy." she said. Paul looked like he had expected more from her. "So, I take it these bands here, are pretty good?" She inwardly sighed when he grinned like a child showing off his favorite toy. "...and they have an wicked drummer." he finished. Going over to his bed, she picked up one of the pillows. "And what's with the collection?" he walked towards the bed and held one up. "I don't know, I just like soft stuff." he shrugged. "Don't you have something that you just do without thinking about it?" "No, not really..." She put the orange pillow down, sitting in the space she made; she picked up a larger one, a bright pink one. It was super soft against her face as she pressed her face in it. "So what do you like doing? Back where you come from I mean." Paul asked, trying to start up another conversation. "I played tennis. I was on a team." "Are you good?" "I guess, I mean, I haven't gotten a heap of first place trophies, but I play to have fun. Winning just makes it better." she laughed and he smile.
Listening to her laugh made him want to hear it again, cause it. "I used to be in the army." he said. "I didn't die there though. I was on leave here, in this hotel, actually, when it came down. David found me and turned me." "Were you scared?" She moved closer to me. "A bit, at first it's hard to feed and kill people, but it gets easier to deal with. That's why we pick people no one would miss. Nobodies that live under the boardwalks or even on the street. We share sometimes, too, if we don't find enough." Shannon lay on top of the mountain of pillows, frowning she pointed at the ceiling. "What's that?" Paul lay back as well. "Oh that's the bar Marko helped me put up in here, for when I don't feel like walking to where we normally sleep while the sun's up." He sat up and pulled his boots off, showing her his clawed, bat-like feet. "Weird, huh? We all have feet like this, except Star and Laddie, because they're only half vampire." Shannon looked at his feet and toed off her own shoes, showing toenails painted a fiery red, and put hers next to his. "If we paint the nails, I doubt anyone would notice what they look like." She chuckled; Paul hit her with one of his pillows. "Go to sleep human, before I do. You want something to change into?" He held out one of his few clean shirts. "No, I'm good, thanks." She pretty much dived under the multicolored sea of pillows and he heard her sigh in contentment. Shaking his head he flew up to the beam and clutched it with his special feet, hanging a few feet away from the bed, he saw her head pop up. "You're sleeping there?" She asked. "Well, if you're offering to let me sleep with you, I'd love too." He smirked as he heard her mumble something about perverted vampires and sent a gust of wind to blow out most of the lanterns on the ground or near something flammable. He went to sleep, right after she did.
~Page Break~
Angel looked around the room he was given, there was a few lit candles or lanterns and the bed was huge. But as far as rooms went, this was the least crowded. 'I guess no one uses this room, but at least it's clean.' he thought as he hit one of the pillows and dust didn't fly out. He sat down on the bed but kept his shoes on. He took out his phone and switched it off, deciding to save some power, seeing as how he didn't carry around a charger and it would be hard to find something that didn't exist yet. 'Most likely I'm the only one that is going to have a live phone when this is all done.' he thought as he stretched out on the bed, leaving the candles burning he went into a light sleep.
Laddie looked in on the boy guest and went over to the bed. Seeing the cell phone, but not knowing what is was, he reached for it only to have his hand grabbed by the now awake Angel. "No touchy, kid." Angel put the phone in his pocket. "Can I sleep in here with you? Star's being moody again. I'd sleep with one of the guys, but all the beds are taken and this is the only spare." Sighing Angel moved back to allow the smaller child in. "Sure, but if you bite me, you're dead." he closed his eyes. Laddie crawled into the bed and closed his eyes, but sleep would not come to him easily. "Did you have any brothers or sisters where you come from?" "I have a little brother, about two years younger than me." "What are your parents like?" "If I answer, will you stop with the questions and go to sleep?" "Yeah." "My mom is a shorter woman, she's nice but she can get real mean if you get on her bad side. My dad, he can kind of be a real character sometimes, but he's okay I guess. Now go to sleep." Silence. "One more question, I promise." Angel groaned softly. "Sure." "Where did you guys come from? Really?" Angel thought a bit before deciding to tell the kid the truth. "We're from a different time, a different reality. One where vampires don't really exist. Although it's a bit more complex than that, that's all I'm telling you. Sleep. Now." Angel prayed the boy would go to sleep and he did. Angel fell back into a light slumber, listening for the breathing of the kid next to him, dreading more questions that caused less sleep.
~Page Break~
David had slipped out of sight with Guadalupe in tow, taking her to the room he used when he was feeling for a bed. His bed was similar to the ones his brothers had. It should, he spent nearly 3 years carving his own out of a fallen tree and had helped his brothers make creations of their own. When he was first made, he got bored easily, Max had thought he should find something worthwhile to do for the rest of eternity, he ended up learned carpentry.
His bed was what was left of one of the old oak trees that had fallen after a storm one night. David carved the base and headboard with intricate runes and symbols he had learned through the years, as well as some Latin inscriptions. There was, at the end of the base, was his boys' names and the date they met. His sheets, he had for little over a week, he got them from a recent kill's house, were a dark red color, he took the couple's mattress and pillows just because they already matched and he needed a new one. The old one had blood soaking it. He had iron posts at the corners and had dark cream lace drapes for the bed's canopy.
David watched Lupe walk around his room. He had left his drums burning; on the off chance he brought home food. She stopped at his small art corner, small, wooden figures litter the table. One or two were people, but the majority were animals, some lifelike, some taken from the imagination of a child. She picked up one his old carvings, a doe. "Nice, I take it you like carving stuff out of wood?" He shrugged and took off his coat, tossing it across the bed, he sat down on it. "It's not like I have anything better to do for the rest of my life. Besides, I sell some of them sometimes, when there gets too be too many." He watched her move to the other side of his room. "And the large pile of clothes? Should I expect something to start crawling out any second?" He laughed, Lupe looked as if she wanted to poke and prod his clothes pile to make sure nothing was living there. David patted the bed beside him. "Sit, relax. The sun's almost up. All good little boys and girls are dead to the world by now." She walked closer to the bed but didn't sit down, she held onto one of the steel rods. "Is that supposed to be some kind of pun? If it is, it isn't a very good one... So how old are you anyways?" David smirked and pulled out a cigarette from his pocket. "Do you mind?" "I have asthma, and I don't have my pump with me." "Asthma? So I guess you do mind." he tucked it behind his ear and got up. "Get some sleep; you got a long day ahead of you tomorrow night. We'll show you guys around the boardwalk." David patted Lupe's head and walked out of the room, needing to smoke and clear his head, fully intending on returning and watching his guest. He couldn't put his finger on it, but this small girl was making him think about things best left behind in a vampire's life.
David returned just as the pull of the sun made him drowsy, he lay on his back, across the bed, at Lupe's feet. He could hear the rhythmic release and draw of her breath and the slow, even thud of her heart, she was in a deep sleep. The sun broke horizon and everyone was dead to the world. Figuratively and literally.