Into your flame

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Disclaimer: See first chapter.

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Author's notes: This is the last chapter of "Neverland". I might write a sequel, but I'm not sure yet.

Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed. You have been a great motivation to me. :-)

The entering scene to this chapter might be slightly disturbing. The Boys enjoy a late night picnic ... I don't know for sure where the colour-idea came from. Anne Rice, probably.

XXX

It had been exactly one year since the turning of the Frog brothers and Michael's and Laddie's final step into the night. Now, the Boys were out to celebrate. The Boys, in this case, meant eight people: David and his old gang, Alan and Edgar, Michael, and Laddie.

Alan had a driver's license now, and had achieved the permission to drive a motorcycle six weeks ago, so he was doing just that. Edgar was sitting behind him, engulfed in Alan's flapping black duster. Instead of his former military garb, he was wearing a dark brown leather jacket and black jeans. But he had not given up on his bandana. Tonight, it was red.

Laddie, as was his custom, rode with Dwayne. The boy was sporting an earring now that looked very similar to that of his favourite brother. The Frogs were wearing earrings, too. Edgar had had the audacity to tinker himself a wooden pendant that looked like a miniature stake, whereas Alan exhibited a tiny Superman figure.

They had left Santa Carla, and were speeding down the Highway to Los Gatos. They were many now, and they could not always feed at their home town, it would have been too suspicious.

On a parking lot at Lexington Reservoir, they spotted a minibus and lights at the lakeside. Perfect.

They parked their bikes and sent Laddie over to scout. The child was great, giving off an air of innocent sweetness even Star had not possessed when, back then, they had used her as bait.

After ten minutes, Laddie came back to report that there were twelve people, adults only, enjoying a late night picnic at the reservoir. To him, it looked like a kind of works outing.

David grinned and ruffled the boy's hair affectionately. Pouting, Laddie straightened it back. He did not fancy to be treated like the child he still was.

David gave them all an appreciate once over. He was proud of his band of brothers.

"Ready?" he asked, his grin broadening. "Let's rock, Boys!"

The group of humans became instantly uneasy as they spotted what they likely supposed to be a gang of bikers. There were seven men and five women, mostly middle-aged. They seemed to be a boring company, probably office workers. Fortunately, that did not mean that their blood would taste as bland as their lives were.

They made their pick, quickly and wordlessly communicating with each other who would kill whom. One of the men rose, stepping protectively in front of the two youngest women. He was the boss, presumably. Now, he would be nothing but fodder for David. Since Laddie was far less strong than the rest of them, they left one of the women to him, a frail, anorexic looking creature, probably in her early thirties.

Laddie was the first to advance on the group. The mortals seemed anxious, but unsure. He was only a child, after all. But now, unlike when scouting, Laddie gave off a menacing air which simply could not be ignored. He smiled at the bunch of humans. The lights of their gas lamps reflected off his very white teeth. His eyes were ablaze with malice. Then he changed, the others followed, and all hell broke loose.

Dwayne attacked and grabbed his chosen prey. The bespectacled, nerdy guy screamed like a girl as sharp fangs descended into his neck. Since his meal flailed in his grasp, Dwayne missed the vein and had to try again. The guy fought back, and things became messy. Dwayne did not mind, though. He liked a bit of fun at the table. He even went so far as to let his grip slacken, so that his quarry could wriggle free, making a desperate try to escape. However, he did not get far. In seconds, Dwayne had him by the neck again, leering down upon him and listening with slight amusement to his desperate babble of pleas. Soon he became bored, though, and cut the nerd's throat with a slash of his claws. The pleas drowned in a gurgle of blood as Dwayne plunged into the wound.

He always relished the kill. Each human was different. The taste, the colours …

Fading human life translated into colours for them. Children were like rainbows, beautiful beyond compare. Dwayne liked children, and it always enraged him if he discovered in feeding that someone had ruined their beautiful colours. Laddie had been tainted like this, his spectrum smeared with black and brownish red. It had made Dwayne furious.

This guy was mostly blue and grey. His life must have been severely lacking of passion – there was almost no red. The man's desperate, bubbling gulps for air intermingled with his frantic, irregular heartbeat, morphing into a symphony of dying. He made one last, feeble, and more reflexive than conscious attempt to break free. Dwayne gripped him harder, feeling something snap under his fingers. It was almost over now. They never lasted long, not when treated as roughly as this. One minute, two, perhaps three if you were lucky – and they unlucky, as it was.

Dwayne felt the guy's heart stumble and stutter to a halt. He drained the very last of his blood, then dropped the body and turned to look how the others were faring.

Laddie was feeding from the anorexic girl, having struck down upon her right where she sat. His whole face was covered in blood. He sensed Dwayne's gaze and looked up. His eyes were glowing like embers, but smiling, and Dwayne smiled back at him.

The boy got on reasonably well. Max had been wrong. They all had been. Laddie was not dependent on them. In a few years, he would be able to fend for himself. Dwayne sincerely hoped he would not leave, though. He loved his little brother with all his heart.

Next to Laddie was Paul, who had the second young woman by the throat. He was completely entangled with her, as if they were dancing intimately. For Paul, it seemed fairly civilized. But, then again, this was a woman. Paul usually went easy on women, whereas the men tended to end up in pieces.

Apparently, Marko was already into the second dish. His first victim, a male, was lying face down in the sand, no longer breathing. Now, he was teasing a plump little lady. Her bosom was covered in red, and he chased her around in ever smaller circles, his smile never leaving his face.

Alan was further down the beach with a young man. They seemed to be talking to each other, the vampire utterly composed, the human understandably agitated. Alan did that a lot. His victims usually gave themselves up to him without a fight. Of course, they all could have done it like that, considering the hypnotic powers they wielded. But where would have been the fun?

Like Marko, David was into his second meal, sharing with Edgar. The kid needed supervision, not because he was not able, but because he was still reluctant to kill. So, their leader kept him always close by his side when they went out to feed. David's first victim was a crumpled, bloodied heap lying a few feet from them.

Michael was a good distance away, chasing after two people who were trying to flee the scene, and Dwayne decided to join him. Along the route, he passed two unconscious humans. Someone had wisely knocked them out to keep them for later.

They soon caught up with their prey. Michael tore into his quarry with a vengeance, ripping his throat out and spilling blood everywhere. He was a messy eater. Dwayne had gotten himself a woman, a terrified, quaking, middle-aged creature. She stared at him with wide, half-crazed eyes, soiling herself as he seized her. A whimper rose from out of her breast, threatening to swell into a scream. "Shush!" Dwayne ordered and put a hand over her mouth. He went for the vein instantly, holding the writhing body in a death grip till it went limp.

Michael was done with his kill, too, so they went over to the others. There were still two humans left, unconscious, but very much alive, and smelling oh so tasty. They all shared, and the two were fortunate enough not to wake during the process. Someone must have hit them over the head pretty hard, presumably David or Michael.

It was time to clean up. They gathered the bodies and put them into the bus, arranging them neatly on the seats, shoveled bloodied sand into the water, and washed the grass clean with cans of beer and lemonade from the interrupted picnic. Everything the humans had scattered on the ground went into the bus, too. Then they set it on fire, taking cover and watching as it burned and, finally, the gas tank exploded.

As always, Alan and Edgar stayed silent, while the others hooted and hollered and danced in front of the flames. The Frogs called it showing respect to their victims. But what good did it do? The humans were dead, they would never know. It just ruined the atmosphere.

But since the brothers had, all in all, adapted fairly well into the pack, they let it slide. You could not force someone into having fun, after all.

XXX

Max awaited them on the front porch of his house. "Good evening, boys." He smiled at them affectionately.

As was his custom, he had insisted on a more civilized form of celebration of the first anniversary of Alan, Edgar, Lucy, Michael, Star and Laddie. The dining room was decorated with many candles, and all the fancy neon artworks Max loved so much gave it an eerie glow. Thorn and Nanook were sharing a dog basket in one corner of the room. There were two baskets, of course, but they liked to cuddle. Thorn had become considerably more relaxed since Sam and Nanook had moved in. He barely growled at Marko as he passed him.

Lucy, Star and Sam were already seated at the table, but Lucy rose to greet them individually as they entered the room. She went so far as to embrace each and every one of them and peck them on the cheek. They suffered it good-naturedly, by now well used to it. Alan and Edgar even seemed to like it. They had never had a real mother, after all, and, as far as Dwayne suspected and in contrast to the other Boys, always craved one.

Max served them wine which was interlaced with blood. His little donating company seemed to prosper. It was like drinking stale beer, though. Only the alcohol made it bearable.

Sam pouted as he was presented with a glass of grape juice instead. "I'm fifteen and a half! How come I'm not allowed to drink wine?"

"No alcohol until you're sixteen, young man," Max replied resolutely.

Marko chuckled.

Max stood and toasted them. "One year!" he said, letting his gaze wander over all of them in succession. "I am very proud of you, very proud indeed. All of the new ones made it through their first year, which bodes well for the future."

He paused.

"I am aware that, for some of you, it was not easy." His gaze was passing over Star, then lingering on Edgar, who averted his eyes. "But, nevertheless, you made it. You should be proud of yourselves, too." He was still gazing at Edgar, who, at long last, looked up to meet his eyes. "I would not want to miss any of you in my family," Max said, his voice soft.

Edgar replied with a taut smile, and Max nodded at him encouragingly.

Max's attention passed on to Laddie, who seemed a tad apprehensive. "Some of you have taught me that my assumptions are not always correct. In this case, I am glad that I was proven wrong." He was smiling at the child now, giving him an appreciative nod. Laddie seemed relieved, though the answering smile on his face was still wary. He was well aware that Max, initially, had not approved of the Boys' decision to keep him, and that he had even voted for his death.

"Some of you had old grudges to sort out. It seems that you succeeded in doing this, which pleases me well." His gaze was directed at nearly everyone in succession, excluding only Lucy and Laddie.

Then he addressed David and his old gang. "You took Michael back in, and made him one of you. You looked well after Laddie, and you helped Alan and, especially, Edgar, to come to terms with a kind of existence they feared and did not understand. You did great, Boys." He toasted David, Dwayne, Marko and Paul consecutively.

Dwayne thought that, had Max known exactly how David had "helped" Edgar to settle into the pack, he would not have been half as pleased with them as he seemed to be now. Then again, he pondered, Max might actually have a good idea of what had happened. He knew David well, after all, and he himself had told the Boys that it would be submission or death for Edgar. Max just did not care to hear the details. He liked to keep the picture perfect.

Max turned to Alan now, smiling warmly. "You tried very hard to adapt and to overcome your preconceptions. You were successful, I may say."

Alan seemed slightly embarrassed by the praise. In fact, his preconceptions were fairly intact. He just tried to go with the flow and not to think too much about it.

It was Edgar's turn again. The boy seemed even more uncomfortable than his brother to be in the spotlight of attention.

"Your way was the hardest." Max's tone was grave. Something seemed to shift in Edgar's eyes, as if he was shutting blinds to not let his feelings show. "I am not glad that it had to be like this, but I am glad that you are still with us. I know that you continue to struggle, and I hope that you will, eventually, find some kind of peace among us."

Edgar gave the tiniest of nods in acknowledgement, again not meeting Max's eyes.

"Lucy, dearest." Max's smile broadened till it threatened to split his face in half. "I love you with all my heart. You are more to me than I ever expected, and I could not have found a wife more kind or a mother more caring."

Lucy, who was sitting at his side, rose and pecked him on the cheek in reply, looking slightly exhilarated.

Paul was already fidgety, shifting in his chair and picking at the patches on Marko's jacket to keep his itching fingers occupied. Marko was long since used to it and bore it with stoic calm and a half-smirk.

"Sam, I know that life amongst us has sometimes been trying for you. But you do try, and, so far, it has worked out well."

Sam was grinning broadly at this, nudging his brother in the ribs as if to say: 'See? I told you he likes me …'

Dwayne wondered dispassionately whether, this time, Max had succeeded in keeping his hands to himself.

"Sam's even gotten himself a summer job," Max declared, obviously proud.

Yes, work, right. They had never understood why it was so important to Max, him being a rich, immortal vampire and all.

Dwayne noticed for the first time that the god-awful tie he was wearing tonight somehow matched the colours of Sam's dreadful shirt, and he sneered.

"He's working at your comic store during the vacation, boys," Max explained, addressing the Frog brothers.

Max and the Frogs had agreed to re-open the shop two months after their parents' untimely deaths. The official seal on the crime scene had been removed three weeks earlier. Since Alan and Edgar could no longer work at the store – if they did not want to endanger the lives of potential customers, that was –, Max had recruited two employees for them. The shop, though, was still theirs, and they sometimes visited at nights to leaf through the newest comics and to check the records.

Max turned to Star. "My dearest girl, I am most happy to say that you are part of the family now, a trusted and trusting friend to Lucy and me, and a sister to my Boys."

This was only half true. Star had sorted things out with Michael, was kind of friends with Sam, looked sometimes after Laddie, and got on fairly well with Edgar and, especially, Alan when they were visiting. She kept well away from David and his old gang, though – Paul excluded.

Said Paul was obviously bored. The others were, too. David was gazing pointedly at the ceiling. Marko was slapping Paul's hands away as they wandered somewhere he did not want them to, receiving a suppressed giggle in reply. Opposite them, Edgar was looking bugged and uneasy, sometimes exchanging quick glances with Alan, while Laddie was bouncing on his chair.

As Max continued to drone on and on about what he called his "close family", meaning Lucy, Sam and Star, and unwisely turned his back towards the Boys while doing so, Paul's hand sneaked into one of the snack bowls and came away with a sizeable amount of peanuts. He gained Alan's attention by flicking a peanut at his head – that was, almost at his head, for Alan grabbed it out of the air, grinning. Paul, enthusiastic as always, threw the next peanut at Edgar while still staring straight at Alan, and Edgar, caught unawares, received a direct hit on the nose. He drew a face, then grabbed into the bowl himself. He could not score, though, for Paul was much too fast and snatched each and every one of his projectiles right out of flight.

Dwayne watched their exchange, slightly amused, until Laddie decided to join in and managed to flick a peanut at his brow. Neither David nor Marko wanted to be left out after that, and, in seconds, the peanut fight was in full force.

Further down the table, Sam, Star and Michael were desperately trying to keep straight faces, while Lucy noticed absolutely nothing, her doting eyes only on Max.

Suddenly, Max's tone of voice changed from praising to chiding. "I know what you're doing!" He whirled around, but there was a smile on his face. "You all clean up together, now!"

Groaning, they began to pick the peanuts up, throwing them back into the bowls. That was, the ones which hadn't been eaten by Nanook and Thorn, who had both hurried over as soon as the first edible object hit the floor.

Max was rubbing his hands, looking pleased. It was not only because of their compliance in cleaning their mess up, of course. Dwayne knew for certain that Max was simply glad that they, eventually, all seemed to get along with each other, even Edgar joining in their playful fight.

Max had no idea, however, that they could never let Edgar off the hook. He needed constant supervision, lest he harm himself and, in doing so, his brother as well. In addition, even after nearly a year, he jumped almost to the ceiling if David so much as accidentally brushed his shoulder.

David had been right: It would have been kinder to kill him. But, because of Alan, that was out of the question. So, Edgar had to put up with it all, and they tried to ease it for him as best as they could. He was, after all, their brother.

"Well," Max said, as soon as everything was tidied up again. "Now we have to talk about resources. We are currently twelve, and that is far more than Santa Carla can support. It was already almost impossible not to raise suspicion when we were only five. I know that, nowadays, you Boys feed often far from our town, but this will not suffice. It can only work out if we control our urges and, for the most, thrive on donation instead of predation."

Paul made a gagging noise, and promptly received a stern look in reply.

"I am not joking, Paul. We have currently three FBI agents in town, and a lot more from the local forces exploring the deaths and disappearances in and about Santa Carla."

David leaned back in his chair, folding his hands on the table. "You know that your way is not our way, Max. But with one thing you're right: It does become increasingly difficult to cover up the kills. We discussed this and decided that we might try a change of scene. Like, going on a holiday trip. We want to travel a country for a while where deaths and disappearances are more common and will not raise that much suspicion."

Dwayne added: "We thought Mexico, perhaps, or South America in general. Colombia and Guatemala seem especially promising, considering the current political situation. People are dying there left, right and centre every day. We would barely make an impact."

David looked over to their youngest brother, who appeared a bit apprehensive, and smiled at him. "We'll take Laddie along, of course. But Michael wants to stay. Alan and Edgar have not made up their minds, yet. "

"Actually, we'd rather stay," Alan declared. He seemed pretty timid. "If it might be possible, that is …" He looked questioningly at Max.

Edgar said nothing, his gaze fixed on one of the modern paintings on the wall. He was so tense that Dwayne half expected him to burst.

There was a second of hesitation. Max exchanged a quick glance with Lucy, then plastered his smile back on his face and extended his arms in welcome. "Of course it is possible! You know your rooms are waiting for you. Lucy and I would be delighted! Sam would be, too, wouldn't you, Sam?"

"Sure thing! That'd be awesome!" Sam was grinning broadly at the Frog brothers. He, at least, seemed genuine.

"I'd be very happy if you let me take care of you," Lucy said. Her eyes were chiefly on Edgar. "You've been missing a true mother for far too long."

At that, Edgar actually looked at her. He did not reply, but there seemed to be a hopeful glimmer in his eyes.

Star simply smiled at Alan, causing him to almost splutter his wine and quickly look away in embarrassment.

"Well, that's settled, then," Max declared affably. "Wonderful!"

He turned to David, Dwayne, Marko and Paul. "So, my wild ones will soon be on the road again," he stated. His smile was a bit melancholy. "I am going to miss you, Boys. I mean it."

"Don't worry." David smirked at him. "We'll always come back again. Santa Carla just wouldn't be the same without The Lost Boys, now, would it?"

XXX

The end.