Author's Note: Hello there! It's a little past midnight here as I'm writing but I spent most of the day out so I've only just got the chance to write this, hope you guys had a splendid halloween! Just want to take an opportunity to say a MASSIVE thank you to everyone that reads this story and has added it to their follows and favourites, and to all those who review! I'm so glad people like the story and especially glad sadlyhuman1997 asked me to do this because I freaking love this story haha :D so just telling you all that I love you and you rock! Anyway, thanks to new favourites and follows and to TheGoofyCat, Flowerchild23, kittykat6625, sadlyhuman1997, Guest (response below), SilverDragon13 and Me (response below) for their awesome reviews! Enjoy and please review!
Guest: Thanks for your review! Glad you love it as well as the interaction, trying my best to get more of it in soon :D
Me: Hiya! Happy post-halloween now lol hope you had a good halloween :D those questions SHALL be answered I promise! Lol no problem, I love your reviews! They always make me smile :) I'm actually so happy you decided to read this story because honestly when I was finishing Rebel Blues I was like "Damn I'm really gonna miss talking to Me!" But you've stuck around and I'm MEGA happy so thank you! It really is like having a pen pal! We just have conversations practically between reviews and author's notes :D phew I'm glad late updates aren't too much of a pain but I will always try my best to get things updated on time :) HUGS! hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for your review!
Disclaimer: I do not own The Lost Boys, just my OCs.
"What's his problem?"
Marko was the first to speak after Dwayne left, I still stood in the spot Dwayne left me in as David answered Marko's question from behind me, "Beats me, and he's had a mental wall up since he came back here. So whatever it is, he does not want us knowing about it." There was a slightly curious edge to his voice and I got the feeling they had some sort of communication through thoughts, but obviously Dwayne was intent on not sharing his. And apparently that was unusual.
I turned back round to see the other three look up as I finally moved, I raised my arms with a sigh, "So what now?"
"Now?" David asked, "Now we go find that little buddy of yours and make sure he stays silent."
"Silent as the grave." Marko added by means of explanation, I shot him a glare before turning back to David, ready to protest but someone beat me to it.
"Guys, maybe Bryn's right. I mean, the little junkie was probably off his head, and you know no one would believe him anyways if he tries to squeal on us, they'd lock him up in a padded room before they'd come looking for us." Paul scratched his head as the other two stared at him in disbelief.
"Look, you wanna make things up with your girlfriend here, find another way. Trying to help her get her friend off the hook is not gonna help anyone here."
"When Dwayne put him on the bench he was out for the count, probably asleep right now and won't wake till sunrise! Give me one chance to talk to him, I'll convince him that anything he remembers was in his head. One chance, David, please." I begged.
David shook his head, "You can beg and plead all you want, I'm still not changing my mind."
Stubborn asshole, "One chance, I swear that's all I need."
"Come on, man. She tells him this is all in his head and he'll believe her, I'm sure the Surf Nazis take shit that always has them tripping."
"You really wanna risk that little shit telling someone? You know how much trouble this will get us in." David said, particularly emphasising the last part. Paul swore under his breath.
"As long as we keep our mouths shut, no one has to know." Paul argued.
David sneered, "You really will go to extraordinary lengths to keep little Bryn from suffering anymore heartache, won't you?" Paul's lip curled and David smirked before eyeing me.
"You honestly believe you can keep that friend of yours quiet, convince him that everything's hunky dory, just like that?" He asked, clicking his leather-clad fingers.
I stared back evenly, "I have to."
They all shared a glance before David stepped forward, "Tell you what, tomorrow night if I so much as hear him make a peep to anyone, look at us the wrong way, or make a scene, I'll kill him and every human close enough to witness it. You get us screwed and everyone finds out, let's just face facing us four will be the least of your problems." He threatened.
"I got it, I won't let you down." I promised.
David's gaze was threatening enough to cut through me, "Better brush up on your acting skills, if he does remember anything, you better do your best to make sure he thinks it was all in his head."
"This doesn't exactly seem like something that could possibly be happening in real life." I argued.
"Oh but it is." Marko protested, finally after what seemed like forever David and Marko simultaneously turned to leave and I let out a breath, turning to go sit up on the bed. I didn't think I could make my way home just yet, not with my mind running at a hundred miles an hour.
Paul cleared his throat awkwardly, I could sense him walking up to join me but I kept my gaze on my hands in my lap, even when I felt the mattress sink as his weight settled on the bed next to me.
I expected him to make some joke to break the tension, or some random statement that just happened to come into his head, but he stayed silent. Whether out being completely clueless about what to say or simply remaining quiet to give me time to think, I couldn't tell.
Eventually the silence got too much, and I figured since he didn't want to be the first to speak, I would.
"Thank you."
I looked up to see his eyebrows crease slightly in confusion, "Uh, you're welcome?"
I smiled a little at his totally clueless expression, "For trying to help me to convince David to let Nick live. It was nice of you."
"Oh, that. Well, you're obviously willing to do everything you can to make sure he doesn't blab. That's if he even thinks any of what he may remember is real, sometimes when I was human I remember hallucinating some pretty weird shit when I took enough stuff."
"Weird like a vampire landing right in front of you in a dark alley?"
Paul thought for a second, "I think the closest to that would probably be the time I thought I saw a dragon, might have just been a lizard or something."
I puckered my lips in an effort to hold in laughter, this was a vampire I was sitting next to, "Does your face go all weird too?"
Paul nodded, "Wanna see?"
I shook my head vigorously, "I'll take your word for it. So you're a vampire. You don't look like one."
"That's kinda the point, makes for a good disguise luring in prey. Personally I think I look pretty sexy with fangs but I hear chicks don't dig it."
I shook my head, "I wouldn't imagine they would. Not the sane ones, anyway."
"Pity."
We sat in silence for a few more seconds before my curiosity got the better of me, "What else can you do?"
Paul got up and started walking around, "Uh, well besides the fangs and eyes? Communicate with each other through thoughts, move pretty fast, fly-"
"You can fly?!"
"Yep, not the whole faith, trust and pixie dust stuff though, proper flying. It's awesome." He grinned.
"Anything else?"
"Uh, a little bit of mind control. Y'know, make people see things that aren't there and stuff. But that's mostly for messing with people."
"What kind of things?"
Paul cocked an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side, "Hope you're not afraid of spiders."
A shudder ran through me and I opened my mouth to tell him how much I hated the creepy eight-legged critters when I felt something touch my hand.
I screamed as I turned round to see easily twenty spiders scuttling about on top of the bed, a big hairy one was making it's way over my hand. No sooner had I launched myself up from the bed and shook my hand furiously than Paul's laughter registered in my ears and I turned to him before looking at the bed again.
Totally empty.
"Your face." Paul howled with laughter, slapping his leg as he bent double with loud bursts of laughter. Another shudder ran through me and I grabbed a nearly candle that has burned itself out and chucked it at him, it landed half a foot away from his boot and he straightened up.
"That was not funny!" I scolded.
"I'm sorry but you did ask! And I didn't think the girl that just found out she's been hanging around with four vamps would freak out over some spiders." He said, a chuckle slipping at the end.
"Well that just pushed me over the edge, gah!" I cried, rubbing my arms as the feeling of stuff crawling under my skin danced up and down them. I hate getting that feeling after seeing a bug.
"Okay no more spiders, you like rats, right?!"
I ran and jumped up on the rim of the fountain, "I swear you make a single rat appear and I'll kill your vampire ass!"
Paul held his hands up, "Fine, but it is pretty handy when you want to scare someone. Most of the time we just get right down to feeding, it's only when you're bored that it's fun to mess with people." He stepped up on the rim of the fountain beside me as I looked around for rats, not trusting him to not make one scuttle out from somewhere, "Just us, Shorty." He assured me.
I turned to him, "Which only makes me wonder why I am here alone with a vampire." I muttered almost to myself.
"I wouldn't kill you, you can chill out girl."
I folded my arms, "Why wouldn't you kill me? I'm food, right?"
"I guess you stood out, which isn't easy in this crazy town, but you seemed… Different."
"So you kept me around because you think I'm weird?"
"Everyone's weird, just varying levels. You're on the same level I was as a human, I guess you remind me a little of me. Not that I changed much since I turned, I was never awake much during the day and every night was a party. Just a different food source now."
I shook my head in disbelief at how cool he was about this, "How long have you been a vampire?"
Paul's face turned thoughtful before he waved it off, "I couldn't even begin to try and figure that out, days blur together so I stopped keeping track. I'd say I turned when you were only a kid, maybe even before that."
"You don't look over twenty, twenty-three at the most."
Paul put his hand over his non-beating heart with a look of betrayal, "You mean I don't pass for a cute teen anymore?"
I shook my head, trying to ignore his attempts to get a laugh out of me, "Nope, far too old-looking. Marko's the only one could pass for a teenager."
He narrowed his eyes, "Little shit gets all the luck, I look older than those older two pensioners though, right?"
I smirked, "A fraction, if I was a betting girl I'd peg David as the oldest, he seems to be in charge. But I bet Dwayne's older in human years, he seems a bit more… Aged and wiser."
Paul scoffed, "He hasn't been acting very wise lately, I'm starting to wonder did he sneeze some of his brains out or something." He sat on the edge of the fountain.
I looked down at him in confusion and moved to sit beside him, "What do you mean?"
"I don't know, he's never messed up like this before, he's usually very careful about these things. He just must have had a few bad days or something, but he's blocking us out of his head so it's not like we can really help him. He'll be alright, though."
I nodded, shifting my leg to put it under me, my ribs didn't seem to like the movement and I winced before letting my leg fall back where it was.
"Bruise still giving you trouble?"
"Bruises." I corrected.
"Were you walking backwards into doors again? You know, we might have to look about getting you something for that, it sounds like a harmful habit."
I let a laugh slip at that before his curious gaze eventually got the better of me and I lifted my shirt up to just under my chest.
"Damn." He swore, his fingers reaching out subconsciously to touch them before he drew them back as though only remembering bruises hurt. I guessed as a vampire he didn't get many.
"Yeah, this was down to Nick's friend, Zach."
Paul's gaze moved up to my face and I let my sweater cover my abdomen again, "That guys lucky his dead or else-"
"Thanks." I interrupted, not needing to hear the details, "I appreciate that, but Dwayne already took care of it. It wasn't exactly a wise move but I have a feeling if he hadn't have stepped in… Things would have got a lot worse."
He ran a hand through his hair and looked round the cave, "So maybe what he did wasn't that stupid, I'd definitely have done the same. What about tonight then? Did Nick try something too?"
I shook my head, "Just pushed me but he was in a bad mood over nothing, Dwayne must have thought it'd turn out like last night, he jumped in and you know the rest."
"Well I guess he didn't wanna wait on you getting anymore bruises." He reasoned.
I nodded and put a hand to the back of my head, "Ow." I said in surprise as I felt the area I had hit on the wall, it was tender to the touch but wasn't giving any bother unless it was touched. I swore under my breath as a thought entered my head.
"What?"
"These bruises need to be gone before tomorrow, if Nick remembers them he might piece other stuff together and figure out this stuff really happened."
Paul got up, "Any chance you would consider drinking some vampire blood? It's a great cure for injuries, most of them vanish within a few hours when you're a half-vamp then once you're full you're basically indestructible. But you could maybe-"
"I was thinking along the lines of covering it up with make-up." I interrupted, Paul stopped his searching and looked at me.
"Or you could just do that!" He picked up a fancy wine bottle and turned it around in his hands, "Worth a shot at least. Oh well." He said as he set it down to come back over to me.
"What's with the wine?"
"Hm? Oh yeah, that's not wine, it's vampire blood." He said casually.
"Blood?!" My cry echoed off the walls of the caves and Paul grimaced.
"Yeah, kinda."
"David tried to get me to drink tha?!" I cried, pointing at the bottle.
"Relax he was just messing, besides, we could use some new recruits. Never grow old, never die. You honestly wouldn't even consider it?"
"Do the words 'hell' and 'no' mean anything to you?"
Paul shrugged, "So I can't sell the lifestyle as well as David can, the guys a regular professional when it comes to convincing you. He can make it sound like a blast. And it pretty much is."
"So you don't mind killing people?"
Paul waved his hands over the flame of a candle, "I think it used to, but you get used to it eventually. It's just my nature, can't fight my nature."
I watched him amuse himself with the candle for a few seconds, "I always knew there was something up with you."
Paul turned his face to me, "Really?"
"Well I didn't exactly think you slept in a coffin all day and drank blood, but I could tell something was different about you."
"First off, I do not sleep in a coffin, I do not dig the satin-lined box thing, far too cramped. And of course I'm different, I'm Paul, babe. I'm about as different as you can get." He said proudly.
"Got that right." I agreed.
"So you seem extremely calm for someone talking to a vampire, are you sure this is your first experience with the undead?"
"Well I had a few dead-looking teachers but you are the first real encounter. And don't let my calm appearance fool you, I'm terrified."
He inclined his head a little towards me, "Yeah, your heart is beating pretty fast. But I just thought it was the effect I have on all the ladies."
I pressed a hand to my chest, "It is?" Sure enough, my heart was thumping pretty fast.
Paul pressed two fingers to the side of my neck, "Eh, you're not as bad as you would have been if I'd have shown you my vampire face. Still don't want a look?"
I shook my head, "I'm fine."
"One look?"
"Nope."
"A peek?"
"No!" I shouted, letting out a frustrated laugh, "One vampire face is enough for me tonight."
He pouted, "Fine."
"I should get home." I said after a few minutes.
"Alright, I'll drive."
I grabbed Paul's arm as he went up to the top of the caves, "I wanna walk, I need some time to think. About all of this."
"What's there to think about?" He asked.
I rolled my eyes, "A lot, okay? I just need some space and a bit of time to wrap my head around things. It'll take longer than just a walk home, I may need a few days at least."
"A few days?"
"Yes, do you think you can give me that?"
His face went from the usual amused or teasing expression to a serious one, I couldn't even imagine him looking serious never mind like a vampire, "Alright, I guess it's the least we can do. But you gotta let us know what Nick says, and if he's hell-bent on exposing us then… There's nothing I can do, Bryn."
I swallowed, dread already building as I wondered what Nick was going to say, "I know, but I'll make sure things are cool."
He nodded and proceeded to follow me up to the mouth of the caves and to where his bike was. We didn't exchange anymore words and I waved goodbye as I turned to walk the road back, but I couldn't be sure if he saw me or not. Maybe good eyesight was another perk.
The silence stretched out as I waited for the roar of his bike, but either he decided not to take it or opted for flying I didn't know, but soon enough the only sound were the crashing waves and my bewildered thoughts whizzing through my head, asking me what the hell just happened.
And more importantly, what the hell was happening next.
