The Darkness Within
Chapter 4
xXxXxXx
Disclaimer: The Lost Boys, sadly, do not belong to me. All rights go to their respective owners.
xXxXxXx
At first, Paul had felt like blacking out from the pain, but his body had decided on puking his guts out instead. So he was kneeling on the stony ground, half-blinded with agony, retching. As he finally managed to look up again, Marko was still standing beside the rock, stark naked, with a sheepish expression on his face.
"Ah man, I'm sorry," he said. "That was my instinct taking over. Jeez …"
Before he could try to formulate an answer, someone else stepped up behind Paul and put a hand on his shoulder. "Let me have a look at that." It was Dwayne.
At this moment, Paul didn't care that both he and Marko were naked, that they had fucked, that Dwayne had probably watched them go at it. He only wanted the pain to stop. Shaking, he lifted his bitten wrist. Very carefully, Dwayne took his hand and asserted the damage. The wound was bleeding pretty bad.
"That was stupid," Dwayne declared, applying pressure to a point below Paul's wrist to stop the blood-flow. "Gimme your shirt, Marko. Conveniently already in straps."
Pouting, Marko went to retrieve his muscle-shirt from where he had shed it, and ripped it to shreds. Then he handed them over to Dwayne. Vaguely, Paul wondered about hygiene and infections.
"That's something you no longer have to worry about," Dwayne assured him as he started to wrap a pressure-bandage around Paul's wrist. It hurt like hell, and Paul was glad that Dwayne was talking and thereby distracting him from the process. "No infection in the world would have a chance against the blood that's now running through your veins. That's not the problem. This will heal, and fast. But Marko has made you lose blood again while your body's still hard at work with replacing what he has taken from you several nights ago. In addition, your system's strained by the first stages of the change. It's a bad idea to further aggravate your body at this point in time."
"It wasn't my idea," Paul muttered from behind clenched teeth. Luckily, Dwayne seemed almost done with patching him up.
"I know that, Paul."
The vampire applied some final touches to his creation. "Done. There you go." Then he rummaged around in his jacket-pockets and produced a cigarette case. He opened it and took out a joint, which he lit and handed to Paul. "Here, have a smoke. It's good against the pain."
After that, he turned to Marko. "And you … you can go get the bottle, fly over to Max and ask him for a refill. It looks like Paul could do with another swig of the blood, and we used all we had to nurse him back to health the past nights."
Marko drew a face. "Ah … do I really have to?" he whined.
"Yes, you do. Go. Now."
Marko scowled, but he put his clothes back on and made his way over the rocks pretty fast. Paul was impressed by how Dwayne ordered him around. Marko was, after all, a very deadly creature.
"We have an age-oriented hierarchy. Usually, you won't see much of it, but in case of conflict it's pretty strict."
Dwayne lit a second joint. He sat down on the rocks, and they smoked in companionable silence for a while. Paul was still naked, but he wasn't cold, and he thought that it was a little late now to start feeling ashamed because of his nudity. His parents had been prude, and he had never been at ease with his body. But at the moment, he cared very little. It was strange, Paul thought, how he felt completely non-threatened by Dwayne while he was constantly on edge around Marko.
At long last, Dwayne helped him to get up. Paul's wrist was still killing him, and he couldn't use his left hand to push up from the ground – or to dress himself. So Dwayne assisted him with that too. Paul only put on his hoody and his boots though. His jeans and underpants had drifted to the shore of the pool, but they were, of course, soaking wet. Dwayne took both them and his other clothes.
"We'll find you some pants in the cave. Mine should fit you well enough."
It wasn't easy to climb with his damaged hand, but with Dwayne's assistance, Paul managed. When they, at long last, had made it back to the cave and he slithered down the entrance, his lower half naked but for his biker boots, his private parts and his behind barely covered by the hem of his hoody, he was in for a surprise.
There was David, and there was Marko, and they were both standing in attention, so to speak, beside a tall man in a suit. Paul stumbled in shock and would have fallen if not for Dwayne, who caught and steadied him quickly. His hoody had skidded up in the process, and Paul hastily covered himself again, his face burning with shame. It was one thing to be naked in front of the guys, who had probably seen it all anyway while he had been unconscious, and who were roughly his own age. But being naked in front of an unknown, distinguished gentleman …
"Ah, but that is were you are wrong, my dear boy," the gentleman said jovially. "None of my boys is even roughly your age. You call me middle-aged, but that is what you should call Marko. He was born in 1936 … Dwayne would be a really old man, and David would very likely be dead by now if you measured their life-spans by human standards. I myself have lived many a hundred years."
The man smiled and stepped forward, extending a hand. "I'm Max, and you could call me the boys' father. Since you're dealt as a possible addition to our family, I thought we should meet sooner rather than later. "
Acutely conscious of his disheveled state, Paul shook hands with Max.
"Someone get him some pants," Max ordered, still smiling. "Or I will be very distracted indeed."
Marko snorted with amusement, while Paul felt rather uneasy. Then Dwayne came over with a pair of leather-pants. "Try these on. I think they should fit."
'Why have I put on these damned boots?' Paul thought desperately. Now he had to get them off first to put the pants on, sticking his naked behind into the air, or –
"May I?" Max asked in a silky voice and knelt down in front of Paul, unlacing his boots for him. That, of course, offered him a perfect view of the exact same parts Paul wanted so desperately to cover. Max didn't comment though, he only smiled. But that smile told a story all of its own.
'Father or sugar-daddy?' Paul wondered, feeling more and more uncomfortable with the situation.
Max chuckled. "I am their maker. If we all agree on you as a new family member, I will be your maker as well. You have already drunk my blood. If we allow you to continue the process, we will be bound for eternity."
So it was neither David's nor Marko's blood he had drunk, but this guy's. That was a little …
'No! Don't think anything impolite, for fuck's sake!'
Max winked at him knowingly, clearly amused. Finally, he stood up again. Paul instantly grabbed the pants out of Dwayne's hands and put them on as quickly as possible. Luckily, Dwayne was build heavier than Paul, so he did not have to wriggle around in an undignified way to pull the leather on. When he looked up again, he met with the stares of four rather amused vampires.
"Well, Paul," Max said in a pleasant voice, "the blood is the life. And it tells us many things. It will tell me, for instance, if you are suited for this family. So I regret to tell you, but you will have to allow yourself to be bitten once again."
With that, he stepped behind Paul.
'Oh no, not again …' Paul thought desperately. His wrist was still hurting like mad, and now this guy wanted to …
He felt gentle fingers brush his hair aside, then a hand on his shoulder and one on his neck. Cold lips touched his skin, and after that, there was pain, but only for an instant. Max couldn't have made more than tiny pinpricks with his teeth. Paul felt relieved, yet very awkward as Max began to suck lightly on the wound.
"Well," the vampire uttered after a moment of silence. "There is a lot of darkness within you. You have tried very hard, and yet, you have been put down and betrayed again and again, and even by the people you loved the most. There is little love left in you now."
He licked over Paul's skin, tasting more of his blood. "Yes," he said. "You no longer care, not even about the ones that were once dearest to you. You have come here to seek oblivion, and maybe even the waters of forgetfulness – although you are not aware of that yourself."
More licking. "You are very bitter, feeling that the whole world has wronged you. You think that you have been taught lies all throughout your life. You would not say no if the opportunity for vengeance arose."
There was one last touch of Max's lips on Paul's skin which, in all honesty, felt more like a caress. Then the vampire let go of him.
"Very well," Max said, stepping beside Paul. "Boys …" he nodded to each of the younger vampires in succession and smiled. "I think Paul is perfectly suited for us."
Curiously, at least to Paul, all of their faces lit up at this.
"Marko," Max continued, "you've made a good choice. I'm proud of you … very proud indeed."
Marko's ever-present grin broadened at Max's praise.
"Take good care of him, guide him well, and present him to me again when he has completed the change. – Paul …"
Once more, Max smiled kindly at him. "This will not be easy for you, but, believe me, it is totally worth it. No one is ever going to lie to you in this family. No one is going to put you down for trying, even if you do not succeed. There is no betrayal amongst us. And, maybe most important to you, not one of us is ever going to leave you. Never. This time, your family will be for eternity. And if you want to take out your pent up frustration on the world – well, no one will hinder you."
To Paul's bemusement, after that, Max embraced him and kissed him on the brow. He did the same to all of the others. Then he turned around, made his way over to the cave's entrance and climbed out. In fact, it looked more like he glided out. His feet seemed to barely touch the ground. For a moment, his silhouette was visible in the entrance against the faint light of the moon. He raised a hand in greeting, and then, in the blink of an eye, he was gone.
After a long moment of silence, David said: "That went well." There was affirmative muttering from the other two.
"Paul, come over here," David demanded. He held a dusty, jeweled bottle in his hands. It looked ancient. "I want you to have a drink with us."
Paul felt slightly nauseated at the thought of slimy, glittery vampire-blood.
"It's mixed with wine," Marko told him. "And once you've tasted it, we'll have to wrestle the bottle from your hands. It'll blow your mind."
Paul really wasn't eager to have his mind blown. In the current situation, he'd much rather be in control of his senses.
"That's prudent," David said. "But there's really no way around it." He held the bottle out for Paul to take. "Drink some of this, Paul," he said in a seductive voice as he looked Paul directly into the eyes. "Drink some of this, and be one of us."
Hesitantly, Paul took the bottle and raised it to his lips. An enticing scent was wafting up from the liquid inside. Paul took a whiff and thought he would faint from pleasure. Hastily, he took a sip. The others hollered and applauded him. Pure energy was coursing through Paul's system. He took another sip, then a deep gulp, and after that, he simply couldn't stop. Delight was flooding all of his senses, prickling, tingling … He felt as if he were floating on air, or generating electricity, or …
It was Dwayne who finally, firmly but gently, pried his fingers from the bottle and took it away from him.
Paul moaned in disappointment and longing. His head felt as if it were stuffed with red cotton-wool. He couldn't formulate even one coherent thought. There was only hunger and craving.
"You want more?" Marko asked. He sounded excited. "Come over here."
Eagerly, Paul complied. He was as if in a trance. Marko was sitting on one of the old, beaten sofas which were assembled in the center of the cave. His eyes were a glowing, coppery red, his locks framing his face like molten gold. He smiled, showing his blindingly white, dagger-sharp teeth.
Paul stumbled over towards him, falling onto the couch and practically into Marko's lap. Marko's laugh sounded soft and affectionate. He bit into his own wrist and held it out for Paul, who greedily took a hold of it and lapped the gooey substance up as if it were the most delicious treat. He didn't want to let go, he didn't want to stop, but Marko pulled him up higher, towards his neck. With one long fingernail, he made a deep cut and opened a vein, then tilted his head and offered his blood to Paul, who needed no further invitation. Before long, both of them were moaning in bliss.
'Heaven …' Paul thought, both dazed and incredibly turned on. 'Never this good … Not even sex …'
Again, it was Dwayne who interfered. "That's enough, Paul," he said insistently, but not unkind. "Don't gorge yourself, or you'll throw it all up. – Marko, come down from your cloud and help me."
Marko seemed unwilling, but he assisted Dwayne nevertheless in unhooking Paul from his neck.
Paul didn't want to let go. He fought their hands, and then he growled. He heard David laugh, and then there was another pair of hands on his body, easily lifting him up and away from Marko. Paul's growls turned into sobs. He was so overstimulated that he didn't know his head from his feet anymore.
Someone held him in a firm embrace from behind, pinning his flailing arms to his sides. "It's okay …" David whispered into his ear. "It's okay …"
Then there were hands on his crotch, unlacing his borrowed pants and pulling them off his hips. Gentle fingers wrapped around his member and began to work him, while Paul was sobbing and weeping, not able to control himself under the assault to his senses that was coming from everywhere. Then it all seemed to concentrate down below. It was simply unbearable. He cried out in agony and desperation, and then he climaxed violently, trembling all over, all of his energy flooding out of him. He slumped bonelessly against David, who, once again, picked him up and laid him down on one of the couches. Paul rolled onto his side and curled up, still crying. He was shaken to his very core. A few heartbeats later, someone snuggled up against him, settling behind him and putting his arms around Paul's poor, shivering body. A blanket was tugged over the both of them.
Even as out of it as he was, Paul felt a little comforted by the proximity of another body and the obvious care with which he was treated.
Completely exhausted, he closed his eyes, and immediately fell into a deep sleep.
