Disclaimer: I do not own The Lost Boys, The Picture of Dorian Gray, or Jane Eyre.

Author's Note: This is my take on how David became a vampire. This story will probably be a two or three shot depending on how it all plays out.

Warnings: Death, graphic descriptions, destruction, devastation, violence, and gore (honestly, if you are squeamish, you might want to skip paragraphs 14 and 15).

Now, on with the story.


Not one was prepared for the disaster. As the clock neared the third hour past midnight the hundreds were roused from their slumber by the sound alone. The shrieks of women and wails of children filled the night air. Mothers clung to their newborns and toddlers, leaving the older children to grasp their mother's skirts for protection. The loving husbands and fathers hurried to secure their loved ones from the disaster at hand. It was a given that the ground within a California town was likely to shift without warning, but the disaster they faced was beyond the precautions. Many glum faces stared at the destruction while fleeing to what shelter they could find as Santa Carla faced its very own version of Pompeii.

The night echoed with rumbles and cries as everything within the city limits fell to nature's wrath.

The following morning began with a death toll. The tears blended with the flooded land. The photograph on the front page displayed the image of a woman in a tattered dress rocking in an attempt to shush her deceased infant. The gash along the baby's head had clotted, but not before stealing the life of one who had yet a chance to live. Homes and families were destroyed. The shifting plates had caused the river to overflow, drowning those who were not fortunate enough to have mastered the art of swimming. Dogs scampered through the waste, gnawing at the bones of the dead.

Two days had passed since the disaster, leaving many more dead in the silence of the aftermath. There was still much more to come, but those who did not succumb to madness would find away to survive.

Still the most incredible of the stories following the earthquake was the fall of the posh resort that once set proudly along the fault line. Millions had been invested in the building and upkeep of the hotel with tens of millions visiting annually. The destruction would indeed cause a plummet in Santa Carla's revenue.

Still it was the report following the devastation that captured the hearts of those who resided in California. The police estimated that about three-hundred-seventy-two people perished within the mighty building as it crumbled. As more dead bodies were discovered beneath the rubble the hope of finding one alive diminished.

The police chief grasped at his forehead wondering if he would ever be able to find slumber again after watching the numerous mangled corpses that were dragged from the scene. The bodies of children proved to be the worst. He chewed his knuckles praying that the images would soon be erased from his mind, knowing that the decaying faces contorted into expressions of horror would forever linger.

There was a holler as another level of debris was located. The police chief hurried through the rescuers with the somber thoughts taunting him that all that would be found were more lifeless forms fated only for a box for the ground to consume. He joined with the team that was ready to excavate what appeared to be the bottom level of the resort. The likelihood of finding any survivors was a number none wanted to think about, but for their own conscience's sake, it had to be done.

The group began their descent into a cave that had swallowed the hotel. The lobby remained intact for the most part. It seemed to be the only area that survived total destruction. The men split up into pairs to cover more ground.

The thick air taunted the men's lungs. Many of them desired to abandon the mission in relief for fresh air, yet none dared to be the one to suggest that option lest he be branded a selfish coward were none to agree.

One of the men, one who went by the name of Richard, pushed through the wreckage. He wiped the sweat from his brow and inhaled deeply only to be dissatisfied with the amount of oxygen the atmosphere was willing to give. He pushed on with his partner Jacob in tow.

Jacob scratched the back of his neck while Richard kicked through the debris to make a path. Richard was easily the stronger of the two. Jacob, despite his lack of physical strength, was willing to assist in any way he could. He had attended the university and was the one who discovered where the exit of the hotel would be based on physics and mathematics.

Richard handed the lantern over to Jacob before he knelt down to where pieces of what used to be a marble ceiling rested at their feet. Richard tapped his fingers on a dried, scarlet liquid about two feet in diameter. He nodded at the debris and Jacob complied. The latter placed the lantern on a flat surface behind him then bent down to help Richard lift the tile. The two men grunted as the ceiling piece was hoisted from its resting place and tossed aside.

Both men jumped back and Jacob placed his palm over his mouth to keep from vomiting. A woman who appeared to be in her late thirties lay sprawled out on the ground with her face smashed in from impact of the tile. Brain fluid had mixed with the blood that was now caked on the marble floor. Her legs were bent in grotesque angles. Her empty eye sockets stared towards the left. What once was a sky blue dress was now dyed in crimson and sprinkled with specks of dirt, dust, and ash.

Richard closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He found himself clutching at his heart. Upon regaining his composure Richard found himself gazing at the corpse once again. He muttered a silent prayer of overwhelming gratitude for the woman was the same age as his own wife who was fortunate enough to be spared by the earthquake.

Jacob placed a hand on Richard's shoulder. The larger man looked into the eyes of the other.

"We may have lost the barn and one of the rooms in our house, but I still have my family," Richard said. He looked down at the ground. "I still have them," he repeated quietly. After a few moments of silence Richard looked ahead then said, "Come, let's keep looking."

Jacob nodded and grasped the lantern, following after his friend.

The two maneuvered through the innumerable obstacles in the way of their feet. Usually a kick to the side or a careful evasion would work, but there were several times it required heavy lifting to push through. The hour the team agreed on in the beginning was coming to a close. With a sigh Richard turned to give the news to his partner. Before Richard could open his mouth, the sound of footsteps and falling stones reached his ears.

"Did you hear that?" Richard asked. With a negative answer Richard instructed Jacob to listen closer. They heard the noise coming closer and the two exchanged glances before heading in the direction of the sound.

Richard held the lantern up while scanning the area for any sign of life. The noise was most likely to originate from rats or other creatures that found a habitat out of the cave, but the men were going to be certain.

"Hello! Anyone there?" Richard called.

The two heard a muffled cry in the distance.

"Somebody's out there!" Richard exclaimed. He ran towards the voice, vaulting over the obstacles. Jacob hurried after, but was much more cautious and moving around the objects.

Richard stopped short of their target. It was a male about eighteen years of age. He was athletic built with blonde hair about ear-length shooting off in all directions. He wore a dirty, black trench coat with gloves on each hand. He was obviously disoriented. The boy clutched his head with a hand while trying to walk through the cave. Richard and Jacob rushed over to his side.

"Hey, are you alright?" Jacob asked when he reached the teen.

The boy glanced around trying to focus on the origination of the light.

"Hey, can you hear me?" Jacob asked.

The young man stared into Jacob's eyes with his own glossy ones.

"What's your name?" Richard asked.

"David," the teen said softly.

Richard and Jacob glanced over the many bruises and cuts that lined the boys face and neck. They gathered from the limp and difficulty speaking and thinking there were more hidden injuries that only a doctor could identify.

"We're going to get you some help, David," Richard said before hoisting the boy from the ground and slinging him over his shoulder. David protested at first, but the swirling behind his eyes cried for him to stop moving so rapidly. David shut his eyes to alleviate the pain and fell asleep.

Jacob led the way back to where the others congregated. Richard made sure to move more carefully. He was certain the boy had a concussion and wanted to do nothing rash that could further injure him.

"Hey, they found someone!" Arnold called from the group.

A hoard of men surrounded the sleeping victim.

"He's so young," one man spoke with a hint of pity in his voice.

"We need to get him to a hospital now," another suggested.

Richard pushed through the crowd and brought the injured into the fresh sunlight. David stirred a bit, but remained sleeping. A swarm of reporters surrounded Richard who glared as he plowed past them, ignoring each question. There was a flash from a nearby camera.

"Do you mind?" Richard growled. "I'm trying to save this kid's life."

With those words the media allowed the man to make his way to where a car was waiting to cart the injured to the nearest hospital. For hours it seemed definite that there would be no survivors, but this David changed everything. The reporters then turned their attention to Jacob to receive the story of how he and his friend found the only survivor.


David woke with a start. Catching his breath he glanced around the room to find himself safe within a hospital. The rushing blood pounded in his temples and even worse behind his eyes. He leaned his throbbing head against the soft pillow. David surveyed his body. His leg was secured in a sling and his head and left hand were bandaged.

David shut his eyes trying to remember what happened. The last thing he could remember was having a fight with his mother and her dashing downstairs to go take a walk outside the resort. David remembered lighting the candle his mother recently snuffed out and picked up Oscar Wilde's only novel. His mother often nagged him in his tastes of reading material, which David usually chose to ignore. In his opinion Wilde was a literary genius.

It hurt his head to try and remember so he stopped. David opened his eyes and shifted his sore body into a more comfortable position. David wished he still had the book with him if merely to rid himself of the boredom that came with lying in a hospital bed.

After the passing of another ten minutes the boy suddenly wondered why his mother was not in the room with him. Even though they had frequent arguments since the day he reached puberty, she was always able to forgive him. Surely she was somewhere in the hospital.

David shut his eyes and found slumber.


Three hours later David woke to the sound of a cart approaching his bed. David opened his eyes to see a nurse parking the cart before turning to face him. She jumped slightly then gave him a smile.

"Look who is finally awake," she said making her way to his bed. "How are you feeling?" she asked as she pushed back a sweaty strand of blonde hair.

David gave her a shrug which was followed with a wince.

"Not so quick," she said heading over to the cart. As she filled a syringe with the required amount of morphine she continued to speak, "You know you're lucky those guys found you."

David sat up ignoring the protests of his body. "Found me where?"

"You don't remember the earthquake?" she asked turning towards him. David shook his head. The nurse frowned while making a mental note to relay that information to the doctor. "They found you in the rubble of the hotel lobby," she said while lowering the needle to David's arm. "You were the only survivor." With those words she injected the medicine into the vein beneath the crease.

David never felt the penetration. His thoughts rested on his mother. Sure she had left the hotel before the earthquake. He only hoped she remained outside the perimeter before the disaster struck.

As the morphine took hold David regained another memory from that night.

David was on the seventh chapter of the book. He felt bad for the Dorian seeing as how Sibyl's horrid acting embarrassed him in front of his friends. The mentioned tried to explain that she was normally a splendor to watch to which Basil agreed that she must be sick. David reached the part where Dorian ventured to meet the actress he was engaged to only to confess that he had lost his love for her because of the wretched acting, the sole reason he fell in love with her. David found it weird how he was feeling for Dorian when most people he talked to mentioned feeling sorry for Sibyl in that situation. David usually did side with the less popular of the fight or debate. A part of him wondered if he did it merely to get a rise out of the rest of the pathetic society.

That was when the building began to shake. David jumped up off the bed and shut the book. He glanced around as the room shook again. David stumbled backwards and knocked over the candle that set upon the dresser. David attempted to catch the falling torch, but was forced in watching the elegant linens catch ablaze. Suddenly knowing how Edward Rochester felt when his bed was set aflame as he slept and having to come up with a believable excuse for his alarmed guests, David watched the flames while trying to come up with a way to explain the room catching aflame to his mother and the hotel staff. He doubted they would allow the destruction caused by his hand to slide merely because of a tremor.

The thoughts quickly left David's mind as the room shook harder than the combined force of the two previous. A framed picture hanging above the bed fell and the glass smashed into tiny slivers. The flames continued to grow. David could hear the screams from those on his floor.

Realization sunk in and David grabbed his coat and gloves from the closet before dashing for the door. He slung it open to find the guests scrambling about down the stairs. The building rattled causing a woman to slip. She rolled down the stairs taking two more with her. Her neck collided with the railing and audibly snapped. David winced as he threw on his coat. A tile fell from above. David leapt out of the way and watched as it plummeted to the floor and snapped in half. David gripped at his neck upon realizing that could have been his head that split.

David followed the crowd to the steps. He silently cursed his mother for reserving them a room on the third floor. The guests stampeded down the staircase, pushing and shoving in a way that was not fit for self-claimed civilized people. The women lifted the skirts of their dresses, exposing their stockings to where it would cause severe mortification in any other circumstance. However basic survival was more important than propriety at the moment. A man in his mid thirties pushed David into the wall. The blonde stumbled and caught his balance. Once they were on the platform of the second story David snarled then grabbed the man by his throat. He smashed his head into the wall with the threat if he ever pushed him or anyone else again he would be certain to do more damage.

David looked to his right to see the hotel manager staring at him. David shot the man a glare before continuing his descent.

David reached the bottom of the stairs. He glanced around at the panicked mob in the lobby. There was a scream followed by a collection of shouts. Through the mass hysteria all David could make out was that the entrance had been blocked.

David gulped knowing this was going to be his end. He was to die days before his nineteenth birthday. Through the screams and other various sounds David heard someone calling his name. It was a familiar female voice. David glanced over and the room went black.

David opened his eyes to find that he had fallen asleep once more. The lack of sunlight outside the window told him how long he had been unconscious.

A nurse realized he was awake. She assisted David to the bathroom and waited for him to finish before helping him back to the bed. About ten minutes later she returned with some food for David. The boy glanced over the selections, not too content with the way the food looked. However his stomach was willing to take anything offered.

As David munched on the tough chicken breast the nurse returned with another in tow.

"David," she said softly. "There's a visitor here to see you."

David placed his fork down on the plate and stared at the man. At first he did not recognize the face, but the moment it clicked he lost interest in the food and gave his full attention to what the visitor had to say.


There is the first chapter, I hope you enjoyed.