Chapter 10: Time to Go
When they got near one of the beaches, they stopped, letting Star and Laddie down to lay together, as if they'd fallen asleep like normal people. Tatyana gestured to the others to go. "Angel, have you seen Thorn?" "Nah, not for a while. He has to be around here somewhere. We'll find him. You just make sure this all goes off without a hitch." nodding they split.
Pulling her hair back, she kneeled by Star and gently shook her. "Miss? Miss?" the girl groaned softly and slowly sat up, rubbing her eye. "What happened?" she asked. "I don't know, but from the looks of it you fell asleep. I was on my way to that concert over there," Tatyana pointed to the crowd and the music. "I saw you and that kid lying there, just wanted to make sure everything was okay. Thought maybe you were in trouble. You okay?" Star nodded and gently shook Laddie awake. "Laddie, get up." Tatyana's heart broke just a little at the lack of recognization in his eyes. 'It's going to kill them too if they ever see him...' she thought to herself. "If you guys are hungry, I think they're still grilling over there. Well got to go, have fun." Tatyana walked back to the boardwalk and turned around. She watched as they made their way to the concert. Her arm started tingling. Frowning, she pushed up her sleeve and gasped, her arm was starting to fade away, keeping a solid shape, but slowly disappearing. It dawned on her, this would be how they're leaving, and they just fade out.
Quickly pushing her sleeve back down, she looked around to see if anyone saw that. No one. Tatyana sighed and began walking towards the concert. She watched Star and Laddie dance, she saw Michael watch Star and she smiled. "Okay, my part is done, now it's Angel's turn." she whispered to herself.
~Page Break~
Angel separated from the group, as they walked away from Tatyana, Star and Laddie. He stood near the crow, watching star interact with Michael. He looked over and saw Tatyana moving away from the beach, towards the boardwalk. After casting a last glance at the couple, he went to Tatyana.
"Hey. Everything went good. They met and I think they'll hit it off pretty well, she may even get to know him tonight." Angel frowned as he got closer to the girl, she was messing with her coat sleeve. "We're almost done Angel" "How do you-" she pulled up her sleeve and showed him her transparent arm, it was slowly spreading to her hand and upwards towards her shoulder. "We're nearly finished in this world and this is how we're leaving." "Damn... Have you showed the others?" "No, you're the first I've come by." she pulled the sleeve down as some people passed by them. "Did you see Star and Laddie meet Michael and Sam?" Angel nodded and took Tatyana by the elbow.
They walked until they were close to the Frog's comic store. "Where are the others?" "I don't know, after we left you, I made sure to check if Star caught Michael's eye. She'll lead Mike here and the Sam will find the shop." Angel squeezed Tatyana's shoulder. "Don't worry. Look, here they come now." They both turned to see Star and Laddie coming towards them, completely walking past them. They saw Michael and Sam following. Sam then split with his brother to go into the comic shop, Mike chasing after Star. Angel turned to his friend with the look of 'I told you so.'
"Okay, now we find everyone and tell them it's all good. So far." nodding to each other they begin searching the boardwalk for their friends and the vampires.
~Page Break~
Shannon POV
I went with Zulai and Lupe, Angel had opted to stay behind as a second hand. To make sure things went off well. The vampires followed, unusually quiet. I could see Paul out of the corner of my eye, he'd been trying to get me to look his way since we left the cave, the boys preferring to leave their bikes, because it'd be easier to carry the unconscious boy and girl. I had flown with Dwayne, Paul carrying Star.
I just didn't want to be upset. It had nothing to do with the fact that he wanted to kill me...okay, it had everything to do with it. That was just crappy of him. And right after sex! What a mood killer! 'No Shannon,' I speak calmly to myself. 'You have to just breathe. Don't put the first wooden object through his ribs. It would defeat the purpose of saving them.' "Hey," I said to no one in particular. "You think everything went smoothly?" David answered. "If it didn't, they'd have come and told us." Lupe frowned beside me. "Why do you sound unhappy? I thought you'd be glad to be alive, with no real figure breathing down your neck or some girl that'll end up being your doom?"
I looked at Lupe, her face perfectly smooth and indifferent. David's mouth turned into a thin frown and he looked to the other boys. All but Dwayne turned around and left. Zulai sighed. "Where's Thorn?" I shrugged. I hadn't seen the hell hound since the night before. We saw Tatyana and Angel walking towards us, their pace quick and their faces grim. "What happened?"
"Have any of you felt strange? Any weird feelings on your bodies?" Angel asks. "No." said Lupe and I. "My leg keeps itching me. I think a bug may have bitten me." Tatyana moves forward and kneels, pushing up the denim on Zulai's left leg. A low curse from both Angel and Tatyana made me look down and gasp. I could see right through her leg. "What the fu-" Lupe covered my mouth. "Try not to raise too much attention. We do have enough attentions on us." We all looked over to the silent vampire regarding us with a small smile. Dwayne pointed to his ear and I could practically hear the rolling of everyone's eyes. Tatyana waved him over. "Look," she pushed up her left sleeve and her arm was almost completely transparent. "The same with Angel, we think it may have to do with what needs to be done in this world. After that, we'll just fade away." she looked at me and Lupe. "Are you both sure nothing happened to you? Apparently it doesn't have to be a strange feeling." Lupe lifted her shirt and I could see her belly button starting to disappear. "It's been itching too."
"Nothing is wrong with me. No itching, weird feeling, nothing." I told them. Dwayne frowned and wrapped his arms around Tatyana who had stood up after pulling Zulai's pant leg back down. "Aren't you fighting with Paul?" I glared at him, I hadn't told anyone about what happened except Angel, and he would never tell someone without asking me. "What's going on between you and Paul?" Tatyana's eyes narrowed. "It's my problem to deal with. Don't worry." she gave me a sad smile, "Forgiveness isn't for them, but for you. I should know. Whatever it is he did. You need to forgive him, from your heart. Everything is done here, we need to find the boys."
We followed Dwayne down to a far end of the beach, a roaring fire was burning high and we could hear the laughs as we got closer.
~Page Break~
The group found the vampires burning their drained victims, covered in the blood of their kill, dancing around the flames. "David." Lupe called softly. He stopped and looked to the girl. Marko and Paul stopped their dance as well, looking at the faces of the humans. "Everything went well?" he asks. "Yep, just one last thing left to do. Shannon." Tatyana nudged the dark girl forward. She sighed and motioned to Paul. "We need to talk." She began walking away and looked back to make sure Paul was following.
They stood a ways from the rest of their group who had sat down on the logs. Dwayne still held Tatyana. Marko kissed Zulai on the temple and Lupe sat with David, their hands entwined. Thorn came trotting in from the woods behind the fire and sat in front of the group, everyone petting him and asking where he'd been, the dog remained silent.
When Shannon reached a good distance from everyone, she turned and faced Paul. She watched the moonlight bounce off his pale skin, the blood standing stark against it. "I forgive you for trying to kill me." she looked down at the sand beneath her sneaker clad feet. "I forgive you and that's all I've got to say, Paul. This is goodbye." Tears welled and began falling from dark eyes. Shannon leaned in and kissed his cheek, her lips hot against his skin. Paul reached out for her, but his hand went right though her shoulder. The tears on her face still glittered, but the smell of them faded with her body. "Goodbye." And then she was gone. He turned around to see his brothers sitting on the logs alone, empty air where there should have been people. Even Thorn was gone. Paul pressed his cold hand to his cheek, he could still feel the warmth of her lips. He walked back to his brothers, his head down.