Jeanne pushed her way through the crowded boardwalk, scanning the mass of people. Where was she? Celine had called not ten minutes before, in need of a ride. She'd sounded almost scared. Jeanne just hoped she hadn't gone off with anyone, or that Dane had found her again.
Some band was playing, and they sounded rather good, but Jeanne ignored them, looking for Celine. Ordinarily, the girl wasn't that hard to spot, with her wild blue hair and multiple piercings, but with the crowd this night, she blended right in. Jeanne was the one who looked out of place in her comfortable jeans and three-quarter sleeve shirt. She was easily ten years older than most of this group.
She was starting to get worried. Celine had called because Dane had shown up at her apartment, yelling threats and trying to break down the door. When he finally succeeded in forcing his way inside, Celine hit him over the head with a cast iron skillet, and ran. The boardwalk was a very public, very busy place, even at ten thirty at night. If Dane did recover enough to come after her, it would be hard with so many people around.
Jeanne pulled out her cell phone and redialed Celine's number. It rang a few times before it was answered, and she almost couldn't hear anything over the noise.
"Celine, where are you?"
"I'm over by the roller coaster. I couldn't just stand there with all those people."
Jeanne had momentarily forgotten, Celine was a slight agoraphobe. She wasn't so afraid of open spaces, but large numbers of people terrified her. Jeanne had learned firsthand the danger that Celine might have an attack, or freeze up to the point of not being able to move when surrounded by people. The airport incident was still fresh in her mind. At least Celine hadn't frozen up this time.
"Hang on, I'll be right there."
She didn't notice the ghostly pale, blonde man who watched her every move as she pressed her way through the crowd, toward the roller coaster. Since she didn't see him to begin with, she never noticed when he left his curly-haired friend to start following her.
David followed the woman along the boardwalk. They'd been back in Santa Carla for a week, and come out to the boardwalk every night, but this was the first time he'd ever seen her. She'd grabbed his attention the moment she walked past them, and David knew her scent would be forever imprinted in his mind. His fangs instinctively elongated with the urge to claim this strange creature for his own. He couldn't begin to say why, but he felt as though he knew this woman, although they'd never met.
She was ignoring everyone around her, walking with a determined step. This was a woman on a mission. David guessed her to be in her late twenties, possibly close to thirty. She was definitely out of place among the usual crowd at the boardwalk.
He watched as she made her way over to the roller coaster, obviously looking for someone. David felt an irrational surge of jealousy at the thought of her meeting another man.
Snap out of it boy, he mentally ordered himself.
"David, you okay?"
He knew that Marko was concerned, he was certainly acting strange.
"I'm fine. I think I found my dinner," he lied. He had no intention of feeding off of this woman. He wanted to know who she was.
He relaxed as soon as he saw her meet another woman. A blue haired young woman, who could possibly bear a slight resemblance to her, if not for the hair and piercings. As he got closer, he could smell the other woman's blood as well. It was similar to his woman's, but not the same. They were certainly related, most likely siblings. He stayed far enough away that he wouldn't be noticed, but close enough to hear them talking. His vampiric hearing told him they were arguing.
"Celine, you have to call the cops on this," Jeanne glared at her younger sister. Celine's lip was still bleeding, and her eye was almost swollen shut. Still, Celine was refusing to blame Dane, claiming it was an accident. Jeanne knew she was lying through her teeth.
"I shouldn't have called you. I knew you'd say something like this. You've never liked Dane, I don't know why."
"I don't like him because he's using you as a punching bag! Remember the restraining order last month? You didn't take it out because he's such a great guy!"
"He IS a great guy!. He just has a few issues! He gets insecure, and worries that I'll dump him-"
"And you should! Celine, he clearly isn't going to just come to his senses! He could end up killing you!"
They were yelling loud enough to draw attention, and Jeanne dropped her voice.
"What do you call this, Celine?" she asked quietly. The fire seemed to leave her sister once the yelling stopped, and the younger girls lip trembled.
"He just got angry when I wouldn't open the door. I shouldn't have locked him out."
"Don't do that Celine. It's not your fault. It's his. C'mon, we'll go back to my building."
"No. I have to get back to the apartment. He'll be furious when he wakes up."
"If you think I'm letting you anywhere near him again you're crazy!"
'You're not my mother, Jeanne!"
Jeanne was tempted to leave Celine there with the growing crowds, until she saw the younger girls eyes tearing up. She often forgot how young the girl really was. Ten years younger than Jeanne, she had just turned nineteen. And she'd been without any real family since she was sixteen. She was trying to play at being an adult with no idea of how to do so. And she was scared. Jeanne could see it in her eyes.
"I know I'm not our mother, Celine. But if she was here right now, she would say exactly what I'm saying; get away from Dane before he takes your life. Come with me now."
She waited several tense seconds until Celine nodded her agreement. The argument over, Jeanne wrapped an arm around her sister's shoulders and guided her back down the boardwalk, towards her car. She still didn't see the platinum haired young man watching them walk away.
"Are you going to drain her or what?"
"Not tonight. Let's hit the beach. I'm sure there are a few Surf Nazi's down there."
"Not exactly what I craved for dinner tonight."
David just rolled his eyes as he rejoined his brother. He didn't really want to go after the local gang members either, but he didn't trust himself on the boardwalk tonight. He might follow Jeanne if he stuck around.
Jeanne. French. What on earth brought her to Santa Carla? I'll have to find her again. Soren would love her.
He smiled at that thought. Soren. Max's sire. When they'd fled Santa Carla twenty years before, they went directly to Soren. Soren had shared a single mental connection with David before claiming that it was no wonder they were complete savages, with the way Max ran the coven. He immediately set out to turn his two surviving "grandsons" into civilized vampires. Yes, Soren would like this Jeanne.
They rode out to the beach, parking their bikes some distance from the bonfire. David briefly touched the mind of the leader; they were all high or drunk, celebrating their latest break-in of a store. Twenty years with Soren, and David developed the habit of scanning his victim's minds. Knowing they were evil people somehow made them taste better, in Soren's opinion at rate. David thought knowing they were evil just helped to ease the conscience, for thost that still had them.
He nodded once at Marko, and the pair flew at the small gathering, quickly taking their fill. David loved being able to hunt on his own again, without Soren watching over his shoulder. He'd been worse than Max in many ways.
Once they'd taken all they wanted, they dumped the bodies on the bonfire. One thing Soren had managed to impress upon David was the need for greater discretion than they'd shown before. No more ripping limbs off, or causing unnecessary destruction. Less attention by the public was crucial if they were going to re-inhabit Santa Carla.
They rode back to the cave once they cleaned up the mess, and stashed the bikes.
"Home sweet home" Marko chanted in his head. David had been ambivalent about going back to the cave, but it was their home. Best place to go. Marko had done considerable redecorating to the cave, and had even managed to steal electricity and water from a nearby hotel that had gone up in the years they'd been gone. The old fountain was, of course, still there, and Marko had replaced Star's old bed with more masculine couches. It would prove useful when they started bringing dinner home, instead of always eating out. David briefly entertained thoughts of Jeanne on that couch, but cut off the X-rated images when Marko smirked at him.
"I knew you weren't going to eat her."
"Shut up and go to sleep. The sun will be up soon."
"The sun won't be up for at least three hours. Why don't you go find your lady?"
"Leave it, Marko."
Marko's smirk grew broader, but he left David and headed for the back caverns. They'd decided to sleep in a new caver, which was just as dark, but had room for real furniture, so they each had a comfortable bad, not a bar that mean hanging from the roof, to sleep in. Marko certainly preferred the new arrangements. David would even admit that there were some things Soren was right about, such as using a bed.
Turning on a light, Marko grabbed a book and settled into bed. He would leave the subject of the woman alone tonight. There was, after all, plenty of time to find out who she was.