QLFC Round 6 – Cult Classics;
Cannons, Captain – write a fic inspired by The Lost Boys.
AN: I don't know the film at all so I've just used the summary as my source and taken a couple of events that I liked. While it is a slight Lost Boys AU, it's probably not a particulatly accurate one xD
Thanks to Mags and Mary for betaing.
One Of Them
A lot had happened since the Potters, the ones that were still together as a family at least, had moved to a quiet little seaside village on the south coast. First, there had been the divorce to deal with. It hadn't affected Albus much—he would still see his dad about as often as usual, which was on the rare occasion that work hadn't swallowed Harry up—but his mum was in pieces about it. Then there had been the adjustment period—finding a new school for Albus and Lily, finding a new job for their mum, finding their way around an unfamiliar place.
Finally, there had been Scorpius. Albus had been walking along the beach one evening when he saw the most beautiful human being he'd ever laid his eyes on. He was tall, blond, slim, and had piercing eyes that almost seemed to see right into Albus' soul in the most compelling way. Immediately, Albus decided he needed to know the boy and walked over to him. They seemed to be getting on great, even flirting a little, but an older boy (man? Albus was never sure what to call people over the age of eighteen) had joined them and whisked Scorpius away on the back of his motorbike.
Since then, he'd only caught a glimpse Scorpius once or twice, and they hadn't spoken again. That didn't stop Albus from spending every waking moment thinking about him, though.
Knock, knock, knock.
The sound pulled Albus out of his thoughts. Lily was out with a couple of her new friends and his mum was still at work, so Albus pulled himself up from the sofa and went to open the door.
His eyebrows shot up and he had to clench his jaw to stop it from dropping open. Standing on the other side of his front door was Scorpius.
How does he even know where I live?
"Scorpius," he said. "What a surprise. I didn't… what are you doing here?"
"I, er…"
"Come in," Albus said, standing back so there was room for Scorpius to pass. "Make yourself at—" He stopped himself when he saw a motorbike parked in his driveway, a guy in his late teens leaning against it—the same guy that had whisked Scorpius away the first time they met.
Scorpius waved him over. "This is David. David Nott," he said, introducing him. "We, er—"
"We're having a party tonight," David said. "Scorpius here hasn't stopped talking about you since you met so I said he could invite you."
Albus didn't know what to say, all he could think was, Scorpius has been thinking about me!
"You don't have to if you don't want," Scorpius said, obviously mistaking whatever look had fallen onto Albus' face.
Albus let a grin fall there instead. "I'd love to go."
Riding on a motorbike behind two people was a strange experience, and it wasn't one that Albus wanted to experience again. He was grateful when his feet hit solid ground once more.
"Have a drink," David said, handing Albus a dark red drink almost as soon as they entered the house. "I made the punch myself; it's delicious."
"Uh, thanks…"
"Don't drink it," Scorpius whispered in his ear a second later. "It's blood."
Albus laughed. "Yeah right," he said. He took a swig of the drink. It did taste a bit metallic, but then he spotted a metal bowl filled with a similar coloured liquid and concluded that it was just the bowl making it taste that way.
"Shit," Scorpius muttered to himself. Albus didn't think he was supposed to hear it so he didn't react.
"Well," Scorpius said cheerily a moment later, "I might as well introduce you to everybody."
The night had passed in a blur, and when Albus woke, his eyes were burning from the light and he had no recollection of where he was.
"Shit, I'm hungover," he groaned, rubbing his eyes as he sat up. "Mum's going to kill me."
Scorpius was nowhere to be seen, so Albus picked his way through the still sleeping bodies in the room and walked home, vaguely remembering the route the motorbike had taken the night before.
When he got home, the door wouldn't open. He tried again, but it wouldn't budge. Patting his pockets, Albus realised he hadn't taken his keys with him the night before. He knocked on the door in the hopes that somebody was home.
Lily opened the door.
"Albus?" she asked. "Why didn't you come in? The door wasn't—" Her eyes widened and her expression changed from confusion to fear. "You're one of them!" she hissed. "Get away from here."
"What are you talking about?"
"You're a vampire!" she practically screamed. "Lorcan and Lysander told me all about this town. How could you become one of them, Albus? How could you?"
"Lily, I don't know what you mean. Just let me in."
"How many people have you killed?"
"What? I haven't killed anybody. Lily, are you okay?"
Lily sighed. "Okay, half vampire. I can do this," she said to herself. "Come in, Albus. Lorcan said there was a way to cure half vampires, so I guess I'll call him and get him to explain.
Half an hour later, Albus, Lily, Lorcan, and Lysander were sat around the kitchen table.
"You were with David?" Lysander asked, amazement in his voice. "You were with David and he didn't kill you?"
"He did try to turn him, though," Lily said, exasperation creeping into her voice.
"I know, but David is known for killing people, for making others kill people." Lysander turned to face Albus. "Are you sure he didn't take you there for somebody else to kill? To make someone else turn?"
"I…" Albus faltered as flashes of the previous night came back to him.
"I'm not killing him. No way!" Scorpius' voice floated through from the kitchen.
"You have to. It's the only way," a voice growled, Albus thought it was David.
"I'm not killing Albus. He's the only person remotely interesting in this damn village."
Albus froze. Him. They were talking about killing him.
"Scorpius!" he said, panic rising in his chest. "He wanted Scorpius to kill me. He didn't want to, he said no. We have to save him!"
Albus stared at the stake in his hand. He really didn't want to have to use it, but he knew as well as the others that if things went wrong… Well, he didn't want to finish that thought. He stashed it in the back of his jeans and covered it with his jacket.
"Are we all clear on the plan?" Lorcan asked. "Albus, you knock on the door asking after Scorpius. Hopefully, he'll come out and we can escape and plan our move, but if not…"
"If not, we break him out. I know," Albus said. "Alright, let's do this."
Albus took a deep breath and walked up to the door. Everyone else crouched behind the front wall so they'd be out of sight.
Knock, knock, knock.
Each knock sounded like a gunshot, firing through the tense silence that surrounded them. It took everything Albus had to stop himself from jumping, even though he was the one knocking.
He stood there for almost five minutes. There was no answer.
After casting a worried look at the group behind him, Albus rapped on the door once more.
Knock, knock, knock.
When there was still no answer, Albus tried the handle. Breath caught in his throat as it turned and, with a slight push, opened to reveal an empty hallway. He didn't dare turn his eyes away, certain that if he did, the vampires that resided there would ambush him.
A comforting hand pressed against his back. With the presence of the rest of his group behind him, Albus stepped into the house. Every sense was heightened as he desperately waited for a sign that told him there were people in there.
The house was completely still. There was no movement except for the members of his group, no sound except for the shuffle of their feet against the floorboards. There was a creak in one of the rooms above them and everybody froze. Their breathing was so shallow, Albus could barely hear it. He didn't even blink as they waited to see if the noise would happen again.
Deciding it was just the noise of the house settling, Albus took a step forwards. There was a soft intake of breath behind him, and then, chaos.
Vampires were fast. Albus knew they would be, but film and television had not prepared him for the reality he was now facing. Around twenty vampires had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, completely surrounding them. A crossbow fired from behind him—Lorcan—and the vampire standing closest to Albus crumpled to the floor.
Albus grabbed the stake from out of his jeans just in time. A fierce-looking vampire sprang at him, and Albus swung at him, the stake injuring the vampire enough to leave him incapacitated for a few moments, but not enough to kill him—Albus didn't want to kill anyone himself just in case vampires were included in the whole "full vampires are created when a half vampire kills" thing Lorcan and Lysander had told him about.
He ran, eyes scanning every face that he passed on the hunt for Scorpius. He punched and kicked and wildly brandished his stake at any vampire that came near him. The scent of blood filled the air. His ears were accosted by screams, grunts, and weapons being fired.
There had been no sign of Scorpius when Albus reached the stairs at the far end of the hall, and no sign of David either. With a quick glance back at his comrades to check they weren't in too much trouble, Albus took the stairs two at a time. His heart was racing, his head was filled with images of Scorpius in danger, and his stake was so slick with blood he was struggling to keep hold of it.
The top of the house was quiet. He could hear muffled sounds from behind a few of the doors, and Albus knew Scorpius would be behind one of them. Scorpius had to be behind one of them.
Albus walked over to the first door, deciding to do them in order to make an easier job for himself. He was tempted to start at the door farthest from the stairs—that was always the door that the captive was behind in films—but Albus knew that if he wasn't there, it would be too easy for whoever was keeping Scorpius captive to corner him in that room with no direct route to the exit.
A boy no older than seven was asleep on a beanbag in the corner of the first room. Then, a room lined with bookshelves and comfortable looking chairs. Next, an empty bed lay directly underneath the window. After that, a bathroom.
Behind the fifth door, a girl sat at a desk. Her head whipped around as the door opened, eyebrows raised in alarm.
Albus hesitated; she didn't look like she wanted to hurt him, but he didn't want to let his guard down either. She was staring at the stake in his hand. He slowly lowered it and she seemed to relax a fraction.
"I won't hurt you," he whispered, desperate not to alert anyone nearby to his presence. Deciding to be direct, he added, "I'm looking for a boy called Scorpius."
"What do you want with my brother?" she asked, her voice just as hushed as his own.
"We've come to rescue him." There was a crash downstairs that was followed by a yell of anger. "Preferably sooner rather than later. That doesn't sound too good."
"Take me with you."
"What?"
"Take me with you. I'll tell you where Scorpius is if you promise to take me with you."
Albus stared at her, trying to work out whether she was playing him or not.
She sighed. "I'm Cassie. Cassie Malfoy, Scorpius' sister. I'm a half vampire like him and I'd do anything to be human again."
"Okay. Okay, you can come with us." Albus stepped into the room, the door swinging mostly closed behind him.
"He's in the room two doors down from he—"
There was a noise outside. Cassie shot to her feet and quietly closed the door all the way. The pair stood there in a frozen silence as heavy footsteps approached and then passed the room. As the footsteps descended the stairs, Albus let out the breath he'd been holding.
"Let's go," Cassie said.
She pulled the door open and hurried down the hall, stopping when she came to Scorpius' room.
"I think that was David that passed us," she muttered, her voice barely audible, "but just in case it wasn't, make sure you're ready to use that stake."
Albus tightened his grip on the wood and nodded to Cassie. She kicked the door open and the pair of them rushed into the room.
"Albus?" a voice asked.
Scanning the room, he saw Scorpius huddled in the corner. Albus rushed over to him, grabbed the ropes that were tethering him to a metal ring, and, with a surprising display of strength, pulled the ring right out of the wall. Cassie got to work on the knot, and a moment later, Scorpius was free.
"Is there another way out?" Albus asked.
"No," Scorpius said. "The only exits are downstairs."
Albus looked between the two Malfoys. "Well," he said, "you'd better be ready for the fight of your lives."
An hour later, Albus, Scorpius, Cassie, Lily, Lorcan, and Lysander all sat huddled together in the Potters' living room. The escape had been a lot easier than Albus had expected; he, Scorpius, and Cassie had crept down the stairs—only one of the vampires noticed them, and Cassie was quick to silence him. He ushered Cassie and Scorpius out the back door and made his way back into the fight, his stake flying wildly once more. Once he saw them through the front window, he yelled, "Run!"
Every eye had fallen on him, the fight falling to silence momentarily. Lorcan had grabbed Lily and raced through the crowd, Lysander clearing the path ahead and Albus brought up the rear.
They didn't stop running until they reached Albus' home.
"Come in!" Lily yelled, directing it at Scorpius and Cassie so they could enter the building.
They watched at the windows for almost half an hour, and when it was clear that they hadn't been followed, they relaxed slightly.
"I never want to see another bloody vampire as long as I live," Albus said, wiping a still trembling hand across his forehead.
Scorpius pouted.
"Full vampire," Albus quickly amended. "I never want to stop seeing you."
"Gross," Lily said with a laugh. Then, seriously, she added, "but what are we going to do about that? You can't stay half vampires forever."
"Honestly," Scorpius said, "I think we've all had enough excitement for one day."
"You're right," Lysander said with a laugh. "I think that can be a problem for tomorrow."
"Albus, what do you say?" Lily asked.
"I think I can handle being a half vampire for a couple more days—that super strength might come in handy." Albus winked at Scorpius and everyone, even Lily, dissolved into laughter.
Word Count: 2,555
