"Shit, it's been at least… two months…"
David winced and Paul visibly flinched at hearing this new information out loud. He'd expected it to be bad but not this bad! No wonder David had been such a cock-block these past couple of months, refusing to let Paul take girls to the back of the cave for a good feed and fuck.
Rage surged through the stony haze Paul currently was feeling, knowing deep down that it was all Star and her stupid insecurities as a dying mortal that was keeping him from getting laid. If the leader wasn't getting any than neither was anyone else. Of course, both Marko and Dwayne were hardly affected by this rule, seeing how often they got laid in a century. But Paul had been killed at the height of his sexuality and as such, his special power was a nearly irresistible charm and lust that exuded from every pore upon his being. Sometimes all he had to do was stare at them and their wills melted into desire as their blood rose up to greet his touch.
However, going without sex for weeks on end had considerably weakened his powers charm and persuasion. Without a constant source of blood, sex and drugs, the stoner had been slapped nearly five times this week.
Growling deep in his throat, he felt a strange combination of hatred for Star and pity for David who sat in his boxers, staring up at the ceiling with something close to an awestruck fascination. It had been the long time since his brother had smoked good herb and cut loose, relaying strange and disturbing secrets to Paul.
Like Oak Shade Hotel.
It had been a similar set up as this one: an abandoned hotel on the edge of a small town that teetered and swayed in the wind occasionally when a rough storm passed through. Instead of staying in the house itself, however, the boys preferred to sleep in the basement rooms that stretched so far beneath the building that they could be mistaken for catacombs. It was the only time in Paul's immortal life that he'd actually slept in a coffin. And fuck, they were uncomfortable.
In those days, David had been more wild. More carefree and rebellious towards Max and his imposed rules. They hunted wherever they wanted, ate whoever they came across and had zero regrets when it came to creating chaos and havoc with a single glimpse into the nightmare that they were.
In any case… they'd gone too far.
People weren't so dense as David had predicted and within a few weeks, the boys and Max as well, were driven out of the town with threats of both staking and the FBI becoming involved. Punishment had been dolled out by Max to them all and none ever suspected anything more came out of it.
"He made me stay with her. Like… an entire weekend, man."
Paul felt his stomach lurch and his high immediately sink into the floor. The bud they were smoking was far beyond what any normal stoner should truly possess but the sudden image of the woman caught him off guard.
Staring at David in horror, he slowly shook his head. Revulsion was one thing, it was something that an average creature could deal with. But this… this was far beyond what any being, immortal or otherwise, should have to endure. Much less for forty-eight hours.
Granny Marlene.
Pressing a hand suddenly to his mouth, Paul felt himself heave for a moment but thankfully nothing (due to the lack of feeding) came up. The old hag was the next higher up on the family tree of the Lost Boys.
Being Max's creator entitled her to certain rights. Every so often she would come to visit or they would be forced to go up and visit her, bringing along their best suits, best behaviors and absolutely no fangs or bloodshed in the woman's presence. Born in a culture of class, she preferred to keep their vampire heritage as little noticed as possible and thus, each time they were forced to be around her, the boys were forced to act human.
Entirely human.
Right down to the appearance of warmth through makeup and cosmetics that gave the skin a more lively appearance. It went against every instinct the boys had as vampires. It went against simply being vampire itself and even Max was worn after spending any length of time with the creature-woman.
However, if they didn't adhere to her rules, she would take their powers by force. And that force was through her own fangs. Two brittle, little nubs that hardly anyone living or dead actually saw in use; they would tear into the throat of the one who insulted her with their crude remarks, poor posture or lapping their blood soup at the table, and drain them to the point of such weakness that they couldn't resist the curse that was then placed upon them. A curse that made them human.
Or… seemingly human.
Their powers were absorbed by this creature under such a curse and while she let them retain the essence of their immortality, they were constantly weak and unable to use any of their strengths. Much less feed or fly or fuck.
The old hag had at one time or another, placed such a curse upon them all and it was no wonder that they all despised the woman right down to the very core.
"Dude, did she make you sit around with all those weird, old ladies and drink that vomit tea?"
David shook his head, but his face was paler than usual.
"She made me… she made me attend a formal gathering and dance with her. All night. And when we were done…. she…." David almost gagged on the words.
Paul was dangling by a thread. "She what? What did she do?"
"… she fed me."
Both vampires felt the pits of their stomachs turn and fall out. Such a secret must have been eating at David for some time now. It was no secret that Max had tasted the witch's blood but the boy's all tried their hardest to avoid taking anything directly from her veins. Sharing blood was something of an intimacy amongst vampires. One only wanted to do it with someone they wanted to be close with.
"Oh man, David, I'm sorry."
"No, don't worry about it-"
"How the hell did she manage that?"
David shifted uncomfortably. The woman's outward appearance was somewhere between seventy and eighty years old with all the attractiveness of a wrinkled burlap sack. The appearance of immortality was hidden beneath her will to appear human and the very age that she had been made into a vampire. Out of all the immortal family trees and dynasties, none was weirder than that of the Lost Boys.
David shuddered and gripped his shoulders. "Well, it wasn't like she was coming on to me or anything. She just offered me wine and I needed to get drunk. I needed to get drunk really, really badly, Paul."
"Damn, she pulled the old wine trick on you? C'mon David, that's the oldest fucking trick in the book."
"You don't think I bled myself out a dozen times after it happened?" David snarled. He'd tried his hardest to get rid of the sensation of her pulse beating in his ears but no amount of starvation or bleeding techniques would ever truly remove it. Like it or not, David was now connected with the witch.
Paul gave one final shudder before the sudden sound of wings carried throughout the air. All too quickly, the shadows around them fell in a trippy pattern that lasted just long enough for Paul to steal another hit before the hellish forms of Marko and Dwayne were upon them.
