Author's Note: This chapter didn't get uploaded Monday as planned, I went from being slightly sick Sunday night to pretty damn ill these past few days so I delayed fixing the chapter up, today I'm feeling pretty okay but I read through the chapter and made quite a few adjustments and replaced a lot of it, still not sure if I'm happy with it or not but I hope you guys are! Thanks for new favourites and follows and to Freax, TishaLiz, Guest (response below), jessalyn21, Amelia-bella1, JaliceJelsa4eva, called by the wind, Flowerchild23, Llayth, ZoopBooper (response below) and Eveline Wulf for their reviews. Again really sorry for the delay, enjoy!
Guest: Thanks for your review! Yes 'dun dun dun' was what I was hoping for! Hope you enjoy this chapter :)
ZoopBooper: Thanks for your review! Yep another cliffhanger, mwah haha :D thanks again and hope you enjoy the update :)
Disclaimer: I do not own The Lost Boys, just my OCs.
It was hard to come to terms with the fact Marko was now in the room, it all felt real, hitting me like a ton of bricks that I was back in their clutches, just as helpless before if not more so. Being a half-vampire for so long was leaving me weaker all the time, not to mention it really drove my emotions up the wall.
I didn't dare look up as Marko shut the door, and walked over to stand in front of me. I could sense the tension in the room as everyone waited for me to say something, I was trying to think what to say, my mind had just went completely blank as soon as I heard his voice.
"You came back."
That, however, did help me form a response.
I forced my legs to stay steady as I stood up, even though my knees shook. I kept my eyes on the floor as I took a deep breath to try and calm myself at least a little as I let my eyes drift up from the floor, my gaze finally meeting his after what seemed like an eternity.
He didn't look any different, not at all, it was like no time had passed since I last saw him. I guess that was one of the advantages he had over me, it didn't take anything out of him to move across the country. It seemed it didn't take anything out of him to do anything at all.
What he had just said started to swim round in my head like the water in the bathtub when you pull the plug, getting faster and faster until it all rushed out. I finally let my anger take over enough to do something that was long overdue.
My hand shot out from my side and I slapped him. Hard. To the point where my hand burned after the contact. But I didn't care, the small glimmer of satisfaction I got was worth it.
Paul let out a low whistle and David a surprised chuckle, both sounds went almost completely unnoticed by me, I was watching Marko too closely to really pay much attention to anything else. He stayed with his head to the side for a few seconds, his jaw clenching and unclenching before he turned his face back to look at me, no amusement filled his eyes and his arched eyebrow wasn't teasing like before all this had happened. He was going to kill me, I knew that much, and I wasn't about to show him any weakness. Not him.
"Before this goes any further, you better get one thing clear." I told him, "I did not come back. I would never come back. The only reason I am here is because David dragged me here. So don't delude yourself into thinking I actually want to be within a hundred miles of you."
He waited a few seconds before turning his head towards where David and Paul were standing, David surveying the scene with amusement in his eyes whilst Paul looked like he was trying not to laugh, "You can leave now, guys."
I was tempted to rethink my approach as they left the room, Paul warning Marko not to "get too much blood on the floor", which did not help me stay calm at all. Marko walked over and shut the door after them before turning and leaning against it.
"So how did David drag you back here then?"
"When I was unconscious, after he knocked me out, breaking my nose in the process." I explained, subtly backing away a few steps. I didn't like the way his expression darkened.
"He shouldn't have done that."
"Well there was no other way to get me here, I sure as hell wouldn't have come willingly. He knew that. Did you really think I was here because I wanted to be?" I asked in disbelief.
"Part of me didn't even think you were still alive." He told me.
"So how come you were out looking for me? David said you've been looking all over for me, even dragged them all here because you were convinced I'd run this far. Why do all that if you thought I was dead?"
He shrugged, "Couldn't stop hoping. If there was even a chance you were still alive I wanted to find you. Help you."
I arched an eyebrow, "Help me as in make me turn?"
"Yes." He answered, looking as honest as I'd ever seen him, "Help you realise you're not out of options before it's all too late."
"It's already too late." I informed him, "And turning is not an option for me, it never was. So why don't you just get on with what we both know what has to happen next?"
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "What?"
"We both know if I don't turn then you're gonna have to kill me. That's my punishment, right? For running away, refusing to join you guys?"
"Claire I don't want to kill you."
"Really? What do you want then?"
He shook his head and stared at me like I had just insulted him, "I want you to realise you're looking at this all wrong, you always have been. I never wanted to hurt you, I wanted you to be one of us. Being a vampire isn't all about killing people, the freedom we have is unbelievable. And I knew from the second I saw you if there was one thing you wanted, it was freedom."
My lip curled, "You have no idea what I want." I spat.
"Really?" He demanded, leaning off the door and clasping his hands behind his back, "So you were perfectly happy being the sad little diner girl counting her pennies for college?" He asked with sarcasm dripping from his words, coming to a stop a few feet from me, his eyes narrowing as his question hung in the air.
"Yes." I answered through clenched teeth.
"Liar." He snorted, "You loved every second you spent with me because you knew I had freedom you never did, you were just a daddy's girl up until I met you, you sure didn't take long climbing off that pedestal when I came along, and now you don't even see him anymore."
Guilt surged through me and mixed with the anger, I forced myself to swallow my emotions and remain poker-faced, I couldn't let him know he was getting to me, "I don't see him to keep him safe."
"Bullshit." Marko scoffed, "You left him alone and we could have killed him so easily, he had no protection."
"So why didn't you kill him, then?" I asked, the question that had haunted me every time I rang my home number and heard my father's voice.
"We chose not to." He said casually, "It's simple, we can kill anyone we want and spare anyone we want. I didn't kill your father because I know he meant something to you. I'm not totally heartless." He said with a shadow of a smirk on his lips.
"If only you could have shown the same compassion for Aaron and Stacey." I said bitterly.
"Well I can't spare everyone." He explained, the smirk more prominent now.
I turned my face away and stared at the wall, "I can't believe it never crossed my mind that it was you who killed them. It never even occurred to me." I whispered.
"That's the way it's meant to work, you're not meant to know why the people are killed. That's how we survive."
"And pretending to be human to get your kicks, it that just a little hobby of yours? You find an unsuspecting girl and make her think you're this great guy when really you're a monster?"
He sighed, "No that is not a hobby, I don't make a habit of keeping it up for longer than it takes to get a girl into a secluded area." I shuddered but he continued, "But I kept it up for quite a while with you."
"Yeah." I murmured, thinking back on how long Marko managed to trick me for, "Quite a while." I added.
"I liked you." He said softly, I wanted to roll my eyes but couldn't make myself do it.
"Obviously, if you hadn't I'd have been worm food one of those first nights, right?" I asked, folding my arms.
"Maybe." He answered vaguely before turning and walking around the room, I made sure not to take my eyes off him.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Shoot." He said, looking at me with an expectant expression.
"What did you think was going to happen?" I asked, he didn't seem to get what I meant, "After you gave me the blood to drink, what did you think was going to happen?"
"I don't know." He shrugged, "I never really think that far ahead anymore. That was one of the interesting things about you, you were never really a spur-of-the-moment girl. I bet this little journey across the states must have been fun for you, then."
"I wouldn't use that word to describe it, no." I answered flatly.
He chuckled, "Then how would you describe it?"
I thought for a few seconds, "Right now, a waste of time." He smiled to himself in what I assumed was triumph, probably thinking I was admitting defeat, "But it did serve some purpose."
"And what was that?" he asked, snuffing the flame of the candle out with his fingers and setting it back down again.
"To show that I will not be pushed into anything." I told him. He looked at me with slightly narrowed eyes and I forced myself to continue, "You said you didn't know what you thought would happen after you gave me the blood, but I bet me running away definitely wasn't something you thought of, right?"
"You got me there." He replied.
"Right, well I didn't expect to either, but I did. Because I wasn't about to have some decision forced on me, I left and I managed to stay hidden all this time. Had I not went to the boardwalk tonight I'd have been out of here in the morning and you would have never found me."
He scoffed, "Don't kid yourself of course I would have."
I shook my head, "No, David found me because of pure dumb luck, he found me, not you. But I'm here now, and I can't see you making the same mistake twice by letting me get away. But you need to get it into your head that I'm not going to give in."
"Well I'm not going to kill you." He countered.
"And I'm not going to turn." I shot back.
He stared at me for a few minutes before smirking, "You're even more stubborn than the first time I met you."
"I'm no longer so easily led, guess I have you to thank for that." I said bitterly.
"You can't keep this up forever, being mad at me or resisting what you are. You just can't." He explained simply, a glimmer of triumph ghosting over his eyes.
This time it was me to walked closer and I stopped a few inches away, my heartbeat picking up instinctively at how dangerously close I was but I ignored it, leaning forward slightly and to make sure my next words were heard clearly.
"Watch me."