"Just before sundown, gather at the corner of Market and Slaughter…" Sam repeated the direction on the flyer and slowly lowered it, surveying the small but mighty group of noisy teenagers who'd gathered together outside.
He turned around to say something to Jake, when he spotted two very familiar faces ducking in the crowd. Scowling, Sam forced himself to ignore them. "Jake, isn't that a little funny? 'Just before sundown'? No specific time?" This was weird. Really weird. Like pulling out a mirror and hiding in the house until morning weird...but...well, the whole thing was new to Santa Carla. Maybe they just didn't have specific plans for a meeting time. Maybe they were trying to keep it informal to appeal to teens...maybe he was really digging for an explanation, or just thinking about it too much.
Jake shrugged, "Come on, let's just see, it'll be fun, at least it's something to do."
Alex walked up beside them, glancing around and manically popping her gum, "better than poems...ugh...why is she always assigning crap for us to read?" She complained, tucking her hands into her pockets and giving Sam a thin-lipped smile.
"I swear, she likes to torture us. Gets off on it." Jake rolled his eyes, sighing, "If someone doesn't show up, I'm leaving. This is getting boring."
It was as if that was some kind of code phrase for someone to show up. Bobbing at the head of the crowd, a guy maybe about Mike's age waved his arms in the air, before cupping them in front of his mouth, "we all here? You guys ready for some fun?"
A collective cheer escaped their lips, "Finally!" Alex huffed, "Took long enough!"
Sam stayed quiet, hazarding one quick look over his shoulder, and not at all surprised to realize Edgar and Alan were both a little bit closer...shoving past a couple of people and ducking when they thought he wasn't able to see them. He looked back to the guy calling the shots and crossed his arms.
"Alright, we've got a bus waiting off at the end of Market. Renovations at the local place are still going down, but we've got a great center at Luna Bay, and we're looking for guys like you to test out the new arcade games we just shipped in!" He went on, drumming up even more excitement as he began to gesture for people to form into lines.
"Guys, nobody said...there's nothing on the flyer about a bus," Sam said, alarmed as he glanced back at the flimsy paper in his hand.
Jake and Alex looked at him, "Come on, Sam, it can't be that bad, let's go take a look, if it's shit, we'll leave." Jake said, "Live a little, man!"
His eyes darted about, counting the people around him. There were at least twenty. If anything was fishy about this, people would find out. Safety in numbers, right?
"I…" He could leave now and go home...but then...man, they probably wouldn't even sit at him with lunch anymore if he just chickened out because he didn't want to take an unplanned bus trip.
"Okay," Sam ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, I guess a look can't hurt...but when we get there, I'm gonna have to give my mom a call. I don't want her to freak out or anything. She's...been through a lot…" Probably best not to really explain exactly all she'd been through...or they'd think he was just as crazy as Ed and Alan.
The warehouse was, in a single word, paradise. Black lights, glowing stripes of neon paint, and the crowning jewel, arcade games. They lined the walls, there was everything they could ever want, a room full of entertainment. Best of all, people were just...walking up to the games...and playing. No quarters or tokens. No catch. Just having fun.
Then there were the others...just leaning along the walls and reclining on the ground together, leaning into each other and pressing their faces close without talking. Sometimes Sam thought he saw one or two playing some extreme P.D.A games, but he just kept his eyes averted and quickly walked by them, tugging on Alex and Jake's shirts to pull them ahead.
"This is too good to be true," he laughed, jogging up to a gleaming beacon near the corner of the huge building, "'Rampage'...you ever played that one?" He turned back to Jake and Alex, his smile open and tongue touching the roof of his mouth.
Jake shook his head, "Nah, man, never heard of it."
Alex popped her gum, looking around until her eyes settled on a table crowded with cokes and junk food, "you hungry, Jake?" She smiled at him secretively, and Sam felt the bottom fall out of his stomach…
She'd never been looking at Sam…
"You guys go on," he mumbled, turning back to the game and flipping through the characters on the screen. "I'm not that hungry...I'm...just gonna play a couple games and find a phone."
Jake scowled slightly, "Hey, man, you sure? Come on, join us."
He shook his head stubbornly, focusing on the screen, "you two...just go eat. I'll still be here when you're done." He'd had enough being a third wheel when Mike pulled babysitting gigs for mom back in Phoenix. Sam had seen enough necking and slobbery fondling to last a lifetime, thank you very much.
He shrugged, "Alright man, we'll catch up, alright?"
"Alright," Sam moped, glaring at the screen as he tried to attack a skyscraper with all of the budding impotent rage any normal hormonal teenage boy without a real outlet could muster...and when he lost, he barely even noticed the two other players stepping in beside him to take up the extra positions.
"We've got to talk," an irritatingly familiar voice grunted in his ear.
Sam closed his eyes and took a deep breath, hammering angrily at the buttons in front of him and refusing to even look at them, "Mike didn't steal your fucking comics. He just bought them off of the guy who probably did...so leave me alone and stay away from my balls, guys."
Ed hammered away at the buttons beside him, "I can't speak for Alan, Sam, but I promise...I'm never going to do anything to your balls ever again. We're monster bashers...we stick together."
He let out a snort, "Really, you serious? You kick me in the balls and then say we stick together? I'm done, I'm not chasing monsters anymore, why can't you get it?"
"Your bro is a bloodsucking asshole now, Sam...a real one...no holds barred, he's killed...he kills...he's one of them...and they're back!" Alan spoke up, leaning forward and violently hammering at his buttons so hard, he practically shook the machine.
Sam rolled his eyes, "He's not, what're you guys on? Come on, he's not a blood sucker."
"You're not listening!" Edgar snapped, "we met one of them. They're back, they got your brother, and they're gonna do something to us all, Sam, unless we figure out where they sleep and off em...and we gotta do it right this time, or we're toast! Me, Alan, you, everybody...the whole damn city!"
"Course you call the shots on staking your brother, family and all…" Alan added quietly. "We won't do it for you unless you ask us to."
"I'm not staking my brother! He's not a fucking vampire! Really, what the hell is wrong with you?" He paused, "And who're you saying is back? This is a bunch of bullshit man."
"Those hair metal wannabe shit-suckers we thought we dusted a couple of months ag-" Edgar was cut off my a sudden shrill whistle echoing across the building. Then...the games shut off, and the black lights as well...until they were all bathed in darkness. A few girls screamed in surprise, and Sam wasn't exactly sure who was suddenly clinging to him until there were two of them.
Friday evening, they wasted no time leaving the hotel. They were all hungry and a little irritable but felt a million times better now that their rut was done and over with. Of course they still needed to pair off to go hunting and this time David was not going to let anyone else go with Michael. There was, albeit unlikely, still a possibility that he'd take to one of his meals with more than just a feeding in mind.
"Michael, you're with me, the rest of you are together for the night." David spoke when they finally parked at the edge of the boardwalk.
Michael gave him a sidelong glance and shrugged, "are we hunting tonight, or…?" They'd had very little luck the past few days finding anything but the occasional scent that only led them to a dead end. For all intents and purposes, it was as if the vampires sneaking into their city had somehow...disappeared. Or maybe they got the message. It had been a pretty clear one. In Santa Carla...there was no vacancy.
Dwayne clapped Marko on the back, "c'mon," leaving Paul to his own devices. He was happy enough to go off in his own direction. Though, it wasn't unlikely he'd get himself into some kind of trouble while he was at it. He always did.
"Hunting, I don't know about you but I'm hungry. We can try to find signs of them too, priority is food though."
"Sounds good," Michael nodded, smirking as he cast a look out across the crowd. "What're you in the mood for tonight?" His eyes settled on a girl getting her ear pierced, stubbornly clinging to skimpy Summer clothes that left nothing to the imagination, when Fall was confidently in season now.
David followed his gaze, "That looks about right." He smirked back in return before sauntering toward the girl, easily making his way through the crowd. He didn't speak until she was finished getting pierced and was on her feet, "You look cold."
She blinked back at him, smoothing her teased red hair over her shoulder to display her new piercing at its advantage, "a little," she admitted with a slow smile, taking in his appearance with a calculating look. There was a very clear reason why she wore so little this time of year. Up close, she had to be carrying the scent of at least three other men from that evening alone. If that weren't enough, she had several fading bruises around her collarbone and wrists where someone had probably gotten more than a little excited.
He slid his coat off, draping it around her shoulders, "Come on, let's get you somewhere a little warmer, alright?" He smiled at her, his most innocent, most angelic, most human of smiles. It was the best he could do, so he'd just have to make do.
She very eagerly went along with him, pressing her hands against her skirt pockets, very likely taking comfort in some sort of defense she'd probably stowed away for her line of work. By the time they were out on the dunes, however, they did her very little good. Bullets hurt like a fucking bitch, but that was the extent of their power against his kind.
Crouched across from David, Michael nursed at their victim's shredded wrist, eyeing him silently, his mouth and chin painted with blood. David took one last drink from her throat before pulling off and looking at Michael, licking his lips slowly.
Michael pulled away, dropping her arm to let it fall uselessly in the sand, before reaching up to rub at his face with the back of his hand, "my neck still hasn't healed," he mumbled, lowering his hand. "Why?" His hand moved to the scar in question, scratching at it idly. As his claws were still drawn, scratching too hard would only end up cutting it open.
"Because you're mine." He said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
He snorted, "so you made it scar on purpose because you're an egomaniacal possessive fuck?" Michael asked dryly. There wasn't any heat behind the words, just a mild amusement. He paused thoughtfully, leaning back on his elbows in the sand, "what if I decided I was my own man, huh?"
David chuckled darkly, leaning forward and licking the blood from Michael's chin, "Oh? Well, little late for that."
Michael closed his eyes, "I could just leave when you're not looking. You wouldn't be able to stop me." He might have been joking, but he didn't have any doubt that he could if he wanted to. He pulled back slightly, opening his eyes and acting as if he was about to do just that.
David let out a soft growl in warning, "You won't get far."
He climbed to his feet, dusting the grit and sand from his jeans, "yeah? Why's that? I've got a bike. I'm sure I'd get pretty far before you even knew I was gone."
David was on him in a flash, kissing him hard and pinning him down into the sand, growling into his mouth, "No matter where you go, how far you get, I will find you."
Michael shifted beneath him, nipping at David's chin, growling back at him as he moved his lips across his jawline to settle against his throat, "is that a threat?"
He continued to growl softly, his own lips moving to the bite on his throat, "It's a promise." He whispered against his skin, mouthing are the bite mark.
Michael's breath hitched in his throat as he pressed back up against him, bringing his hands up to David's back and running his claws along the fabric of his coat, just barely brushing his lips over his neck again and letting his tongue dart out to taste his skin, "prove it, then."
David dug his teeth in, opening the bite and rocking down against him, pressing their hips together, slotting them easily as if they always belonged there. His fingers tangled in his hair, holding his head steady as he licked and nipped at his throat, sliding a bloody trail back up to his mouth and kissing him possessively. Michael, in turn, responded just as enthusiastically, grinding his hips back against him and digging his fingers into David's back until his knuckles were white, running his tongue along David's fangs as he groaned into his mouth. His tongue ran over Michael's fangs, nicking his tongue on the sharp points, letting his blood spill past his lips. His hips bucked down, making both of them moan.
"Want to take you, right here, show the world you're mine." He growled, thrusting again.
Michael gave a harsh gasp, pulling his hands back to David's shoulders and wedging a knee between David's legs to get a bit of leverage, flipping him over and straddling him in one swift movement with a cocky smile, "yeah?"
David chuckled softly, "Yeah." He rolled his hips up, "You could always make it easier, take a ride." He lifted his hips for emphasis.
He grew still above him, raising an eyebrow and quickly looking over his shoulders, "in public?!" Apparently killing was one thing, but public exposure was just going too far.
"There's no one around, no one out on the beach, come on, live a little." He ground his hips up again. He chuckled softly, "Just tug your jeans down, no one'll ever know."
He leaned down and nuzzled at David's throat, "why don't you take a ride, then?" he suggested, nipping at the skin there and lapping at a drop of blood as it blossomed, red against white.
David growled, freeing himself and jerking at Michael's pants, "Not gonna happen." Somehow, Michael wasn't exactly sure how he did it, David had tugged his pants down just enough that he was able to thrust up and hit his mark.
"Fuck!" Michael mentally cursed, digging his fangs into David's neck, and sinking down against him with an angry growl as he tore and pulled at the mark he was making.
David snarled, beginning to take him as hard as he was able considering he was under Michael, "Keep going, Michael." He snarled lowly, biting his throat again in return.
It was violent. They weren't capable of anything less, because that simply wasn't in their nature. Once Michael was finally riding him, the high of their meal and the taste of his sire's blood in his mouth went a long way in easing the pain until it was numb enough for the physical pleasure to take center stage, each movement and buck of their hips pushing them both closer to the edge. David may not have started out very considerate but in the end he refused to come until Michael did. His fingers wrapped around his length, stroking quickly, trying to get him to fall over the edge first.
"Fuck, you feel so good." He snapped up hard, "Let go."
Michael licked at the healing scar on David's neck, purring against him, "stop bossing me around." He sighed, digging his fingers into David's hair and kissing him roughly to muffle the sound of his own cry when he finally came in his mate's hand. A final snap up and David released, moaning into his mouth, swallowing up the sound.
"Fuck." He panted softly, although they didn't need to breathe there was just something about the afterglow that required they suck in mouthfuls of air.
Settling down against him, Michael gave a rough gasp, pressing his forehead to David's cheek, "I'm…" he panted, "gonna pin and fuck you one of these days…"
David chuckled softly, "I'll be looking forward to it."