Abbey and Joanna had arrived in Santa Carla around eleven o'clock, they'd found the apartment at noon, moved in what they had brought, went shopping for more furniture, and had come back with a truck full. The employee who had helped them was willing to help lift it back for some extra cash in his pocket. It was now eight, and the sisters were struggling.

"Lift your end higher!"

"I've got it as high as I can!"

"Use your legs!"

"Losing my grip!"

"Joanna if you drop it-!"

THUNK!

Abbey screeched and grabbed her foot where the bookcase had landed on it, "Motherfucker! God dammit Joanna! I told you to hold up your fucking end! Shit!"

Joanna winced at Abbeys profanity, not being one for cursing, and reached forward into the air, as if it would help, "I'm sorry, are you okay? I'm really sorry, I didn't mean too!"

Abbey dropped her foot and her expression softened for a moment before contorting back into anger, "Grab your end," She snapped, securing her fingers on the shelf of the bookcase as they lifted it once more, "And don't drop it!"

Five more minutes of pushing and pulling and the bookcase was standing in the center of the living room. Abbey had bought the biggest apartment in the building, and it was indeed huge, for an apartment with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, a living room, and a balcony overlooking the street below. They had already claimed rooms, their bed frames had already been assembled, and an assortment of boxes lay open and overturned on the floor, their contents spilling onto the carpet.

"Ha!" Abbey stood back and put her hands on her hips with an approving look. Then grabbing Joanna's hand, she pulled her through the door and locked it, before proceeding to drag her sister down the hall. Her actions were justified by one simple word.

"Boardwalk."

(x)

"They have a friggin' rollercoaster right on the beach!" Abbey laughed giddily as she jumped up and down, gradually spilling half of her popcorn onto the ground in the process. Joanna silently examined the ride from her position in front of cotton candy booth.

"It goes awfully fast." She said quietly.

"Exactly!" Abbey grabbed Joanna's collar and pulled her forward, "We have to ride it!"

Joanna whimpered, "But-!"

She stopped in mid sentence. Before her there was a store, with flashing lights outlining the open paddock.

"Comic books." Joanna marched straight forward into the shop, Abbey hot on her trail.

"Really?" Abbey asked, impatiently tapping her foot.

"Yes, really. Shut up." Joanna began to flip through a superman comic book. Abbey sighed; it was well known that Joanna's obsession with Lex Luther usually kept people stationed at comic book stores for a while. As Joanna busied herself with a special edition, Abbey began to pick at her nails. She leaned up against a comic stand. Unfortunately, the stand was not solid.

"WHA!" Abbey collapsed on top of the wire stand, her feet tangled in the lowest shelf. Batman comics swirled about her head and slid across the floor, the stand rolled underneath her, twisting her ankles into a painful position. However, Abbey did not cry out in discomfort, she began to laugh uncontrollably.

One of the employees came over to investigate the crash, only to be joined by the other worker a moment later. The first employee was a shorter stocky boy, with blonde hair to his earlobes and brown eyes. He was clad in camouflage and had a red bandana tied around his head. He wore a fierce expression, not exactly anger as much as irritation. The second boy was a little taller than the first, with jet black hair and dark eyes. He was also wearing camouflage, but he didn't have a bandana, and his eyes weren't agitated like the others, more filled with a modest curiosity about the girl on the floor and the girl holding a superman comic while her face slowly turned to the color of a cherry.

"What are you doing?" Asked the first boy rudely. His voice was deep and scratchy.

Abbey, who by now was simply bubbling with mirth, through her hands dramatically to the sides, "Falling painfully!"- She dropped her hands to her chest-"And this actually kinda hurts so can you help me?"

The second boy immediately went to work at pulling Abbeys feet free of the wire shelf; while the first boy sent disapproving looks Joanna's way before reaching out a hand. Now standing on her feet, everyone could clearly tell something had happened to Abbey. Her shirt was rumpled, her hair disheveled, and her ankles and knees were both covered in red lines and dips from the wire.

"Well," Joanna quickly shot a hand out toward the first, eager to relieve the swelling tension, I'm Joanna and this is my sister Abbey, er- what's your name?" She smiled sheepishly. Abbey was usually the one to introduce them, but it was clear that Abbey would not, in this situation, by the wide smile she wore, completely oblivious to fact that these boys were upset with her.

The first boy looked at her hand and then back up at her, "I'm Edgar," He said irritably, "And this is Alan, my brother."

"Nice to meet you! We're new here, so you're the first people we've met." Said Abbey a little too proudly.

"We figured as much." The second boy, Alan, stepped past Edgar and held out a teal colored magazine. Joanna reached for it with a thankful smile. That smile wavered when she read the cover.

"Vampires everywhere?" She meant her voice to be filled with curiosity, but it came out heavy with worry and doubt instead.

"Consider it a welcoming gift slash survival manual." Said Edgar in a serious tone, "There's a number on the back."

"Call if you need anything." Alan's lighter, softer voice was in deep contrast to his brother's rough, scratchy one.

Abbey bobbed her head blankly, "Okay…." She reached out and picked up a sharpie from a stock box setting on the nearby counter and pulled it open. She grabbed Edgars hand and began to write, "Well, we're gonna go and hang out with the normal people, and when you boys are sober and well rested, give us a call."

Abbey withdrew her hands, dropped the marker back into the box, winked, and drug Joanna out of the store, leaving the boys with offended expressions. She pulled Joanna behind her until they stood in front of a bookstore on the other side of the boardwalk. She stopped and turned to face her sister.

She pointed at Joanna, "If they ever come near you again, tell me, okay?"

Joanna chuckled, "Okay. Hey what did you write on his hand?"

"1-800-Fuck Off. Why?"

"Abbey!"

"Hey! They give us both dirty looks and stink eyes before giving us a 'survival manual' aka a horror comic with the worst 2-D Dracula ever on the front, and you want me to let it fly?" They turned and started walking down the sidewalk, slowly making their way back to the apartment.

Joanna laughed, "Abs, you accused them of being high and sleep deprived! And they were giving us dirty looks because someone," –She teased Abbey with her elbow- "Knocked over a full stand of comics."

"You were going to keep me there all night, I needed something of comfort."

"A metal comic stand is comfortable?"

"Yes. Yes it is."

"At least until it you fall on it of course."

"Well-!" Abbey didn't get to finish her sentence before uproar filled the air, lights filled the empty road, and shouting was heard over motorcycle engines. Abbeys hair whipped about around face, and her shirt sailed upward, revealing her strong stomach and laced bra. Someone among the motorcycle group wolf whistled and hollered "Woo!". Joanna cringed away from the bright headlights, shrinking into the dark outline of the street. More shouts and whistles were heard for a full minute.

Then it was over.

"What the hell!?" Abbey screeched into the silence as she fixed her shirt and hair.

"Abbey," Joanna whimpered, "What was that?"

"Crazy assholes that's what. Are you okay?" Abbey looked over at her little sister with worry. Joanna was easily startled, and she did not recover from such easily.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said shakily, "Can we go home?"

Abbey paused looking Joanna over, "Yeah come on."

The sisters walked huddled together the rest of the way back to the apartment. When they arrived, they moved robotically, putting themselves to bed, both shaken deeply. Abbey stayed awake a little longer laying in her bed, listening for any movement inside of Joanna's room, when she heard nothing, she relaxed, and fell into a fitful sleep, fueled by the beat of her own heart.

Hello! Sorry it took me so long to update, my time has shrank greatly due to school, but I am going to start making longer chapters so that when I do update you get a good deal of entertainment. Here you go, G'nite!

-PoisonBones