Nothing better than home
The fight is over and the Santa Carla vampires are destroyed. But are they really? Who survived and who didn't? Will there ever be a pack of vampires again, with the hunters around? Would vampires really care? And may it be that some of them meet again?
I don't own the Lost Boys or any of its original characters. I only own my OC's and situations I'll put them into.
Many thanks to the dear people who follow and favor my story. Comments are welcome.
Chapter 19. Missed
Hope sat amazed between the vampires and looked at the figure, who had meanwhile sat down on the old fountain.
"Who is that," Hope asked, confused. "And why is that my brother, I have no siblings!" Paul smiled down at her. "Well, that's right, Dwayne and I are brothers too because your dad was our sire," he explained. "David's blood has made us vampires, just as our blood has made you!"
Dwayne looked aside when Paul mentioned David, and when Paul looked over at his friend, he knew immediately that Dwayne was keeping something from him. Paul looked at Dwayne with a frown. "What's up," he asked. "What's up," Dwayne asked back.
'I can not say that out loud,' he added, telepathically. 'I'll explain that later! Now we have to take care of them first! ' Paul sighed. He did not like it when Dwayne kept something from him, but finally, he nodded.
Dwayne got up from the sofa and walked over to the figure on the fountain. "What is wrong, the young lady asked for your name," he said amused. "Where are your good manners, child?" The figure just growled at Dwayne and glared at Hope, who immediately moved closer to Paul, who grinned.
Dwayne growled back, sounding deeper and more threatening, like the unknown man's growl. "Stop that shit," Dwayne finally ordered, then turned to Hope.
"Hope, this is Sam Emerson," he explained, "my lost son!" Then he turned back to Sam. "Welcome to the family," Dwayne stated, grinning. "I never thought you'd survive alone for so long, and I never thought I would ever see you again, but hey, my mistake is that I did not just kill you! It's not often that it happens twice! Well, I'm your sire, whether it suits us or not, so you'll stick to our rules from now on, get it! "
Hope looked amazed between Sam and Dwayne. "Are you related to Michael Emerson," she finally asked. "We worked together."
"My brother does not work with bloodsuckers," Sam answered angrily and Hope looked annoyed at him, 'what a nut,' she thought.
Of course, Paul heard her thoughts and burst into laughter. "Yes, yes," Paul finally answered Hope's question, although Sam had already done that himself. "Sam is Michael's little brother, and Sam's right, Mike would never work with bloodsuckers like us, strictly speaking, he will not work with anyone except the sharks, or, more precisely, the sharks will work with him, like food!"
Sam looked puzzled at Paul. "What does that mean," he asked. Paul grinned. "Your big brother once again had to play the hero and saved my victim," Paul reported. "Well, he saved the victim that I chose, but unfortunately it was the last thing he did, he will never again cause any problems!"
Sam looked at Paul shocked and defiant. Then he realized what exactly Paul had just said and Sam rushed furiously at him. "And now it's your turn," he shouted.
Paul laughed again and he was prepared for Sam to attack him, to be honest, he had hoped that. "Do you want to play," Paul asked, picking up Samm's upper arms and flinging him across the room.
Sam crashed into the wall next to the elevator shaft and fell to the ground. Paul walked up to Sam while Dwayne stood on the fountain ready to intervene, if necessary. Hope sat on the sofa with her mouth open and watched Paul and Sam in fascination. Sam's skin had burst in some places from the impact but healed long ago. Hope could not believe what she saw there!
"You and your stupid friends," Paul shouted furiously, dragging Sam off the floor just to throw him back across the room. "You three did not manage to kill us at the time ..." Sam crashed into the red toolbox, which tumbled to the ground with a big bang. "Why do you think that's different today," Paul said, pausing in front of Sam, who looked up helplessly at the tall blond vampire.
Dwayne drifted down from the fountain, walked over to Sam and put him back on his feet. "Look," Dwayne said to Sam. "We've never done anything to you, we've never done something to children, but you had nothing better to do than attack and hurt Marko while he slept!"
"But your friend said that Marko was dead," Sam interrupted his sire, pointing to Paul. "I was kidding you then," countered Paul. "Your friend, the idiot missed Marko's heart! Marko was hurt, but far from dying!"
Sam walked up to Paul and looked into his eyes angrily. "I just wanted to protect my brother from becoming a bloodsucker," he shouted. "We just wanted to protect our family!" Paul pushed Sam aside and walked past him to the sofa, from where Hope had watched the exchange between the three vampires, completely perplexed.
The blond vampire sat down next to the young woman and put his arm around her shoulder. "And where did that take you," Paul asked. "Just look at yourself, now you're the bloodsucker! We did not do anything other than you, we just wanted to protect our family, your stupid brother tried to steal David's woman, he knew Star was with David, and yet he could he will not keep his hands off her! "
Paul smiled down at Hope. "And we still protect our family now!" Hope looked up at Paul in surprise. It was hard to believe that this cold-blooded killer sitting next to her could be so vulnerable on the other side.
Dwayne sat back on the other side of Hope and looked at Sam for a moment. "It's basically very simple, Sam, the little one here is born into our family, though she did not know it until yesterday," Dwayne explained, pointing to Hope. "You, well, you wanted to kill us back then, so you'll have to earn our trust first!"
Paul nodded. "And I bet you still have no idea whose kid this young lady is, but that does not matter until we can trust you, we'll lock you up in one of the back rooms by day, "Paul said. "We do not want to experience a nasty surprise! If it was up to me, you'd be history, but Dwayne is your sire, and he wants to give you a chance!"
Sam looked furiously at the ground but did not reply. He was glad that he was no longer alone and had long since realized that loneliness was the worst thing a vampire could experience. What kind of eternal life did you have, if you could not share it with anyone?
Dwayne got up from the sofa, grabbed Sam, who protested half-heartedly, and took him to one of the back rooms. Outside it was getting light and the vampires were getting tired, it was time to go to sleep, Hope's eyes had already closed. Paul carried her to her bed, took off her shoes and covered her, then went to the small cave in the back where the vampires slept during the day; Dwayne was already waiting for him.
The brunette vampire fumbled in his jeans pocket and finally pulled out Paul's earring. "It was in the driver's seat in the van," Dwayne explained, handing Paul the jewelry. "You already missed him, right?"
"You were at the van," Paul asked in amazement, putting his earring in his earlobe. Dwayne nodded. "You will hardly believe who I saw there," he replied. Paul looked into his eyes with a smile. "Tell me, who did you see?"
Dwayne looked down. "David, Marko," he finally said pleased. It took Paul a moment to realize what his friend had just told him. The blonde vampire was stunned by Dwayne and so perplexed that he wasn't able to reply.
Dwayne put a hand on Paul's shoulder. "The two have changed," he explained. Do not ask me how it's possible, but David and Marko are human again! "
Paul's face twisted into a grin, then he burst into laughter. "Humans, David and Marko," he smirked. "We will probably free both of them from this evil!"
Dwayne nodded. "When the time is right," he replied with a smile. "Our pack will be together again, as should be!" Paul had now taken off his boots and socks and was already upside down on the pole, where the vampires always slept. "I can not wait," he whispered happily before falling into his death-like sleep. A minute later, Dwayne hung contentedly smiling beside his buddy.
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A few days later, Marko finally got the long-awaited tattoo. On his right thigh was now a picture of the old railway bridge in black. Under the bridge hung the four vampires, the legs of the four disappeared in the fog of the night and over the bridge, the moon shone. Marko was more than satisfied with Laddie's work and David also liked the tattoo.
Marko invited Laddie to eat at the campsite for the next day, Laddie was very pleased and gladly accepted the invitation. A freshly prepared meal sounded very tempting - Laddie himself could not cook very well, and he did not like it, so at home, there was usually a baking pizza, canned soups or he went somewhere to eat.
Marko had asked Laddie what he would like to eat, and he had wanted a vegetable stew with meat. Marko had just nodded, grinning, when Laddie had expressed that wish, and Laddie, well, he could hardly wait for the food. Even if a stew was nothing special, David had praised Marko's cooking more often, and that should mean something.
When Laddie arrived at Marko's and David's home on the afternoon of the following day, David was sitting outside in a chair with a cigarette in his hand, looking thoughtfully at the white van. David smiled at Laddie as he got off his motorbike and offered him a cigarette, which Laddie gratefully accepted.
Laddie peered through one of the windows into the caravan, where Marko was busy with the pots at the stove and waved to him with a smile, then sat down on the stairs. "I still can not believe the two graves are empty," Laddie finally remarked. "I would like to know what happened to both of them!"
David shrugged. "I have such a weird feeling," he replied, looking back at the big white Mercedes. "Sometimes I feel like someone is watching us!" Laddie looked at David in confusion. "You feel watched," he asked seriously.
David nodded. "I know, that sounds pretty stupid," he replied, "but Marko feels the same, there's something out there, and I do not know if I like it!"
Well, David was not a bit crazy, and Marko wasn't as well, because they were actually being watched. Paul could not resist flying to the campsite at least once a night after the hunt, to see what Marko and David were up to. Paul was much too curious and it had a hard time not to talk to them.
He felt that his two former brothers were not really happy with their existence as humans, but the men tried to make the best of it. Dwayne had urged Paul not to get in touch with David and Marko, and though Paul did not fully understand what Dwayne was waiting for, he knew that Dwayne's restraint was justified. So the tall blonde vampire was just content to just watch the two men!
One evening, Paul came back from the hunt and looked around the cave to see if he could talk to Dwayne alone. Sam was in his room to shape it to his liking , and Hope was on her way, exploring the cave.
"David and Marko have a new friend," Paul explained. "His face looks familiar, but I don't know, where I saw him before!" "What, you did not recognize him," Dwayne asked, astonished. "That's Laddie!"
Well, Paul smiled too. "Laddie, are you sure," Paul pursued. Dwayne looked down. "Yes, I'm sure, what sort of sire would I be if I did not recognize my child?" Paul looked at Dwayne confused.
"You're Laddie's sire," he questioned. Dwayne nodded. "I never told anyone, but do you remember that David refused to replenish the bottle of blood for Star because he wanted to give her his blood right out of his veins to keep her closer. " Paul nodded. "Well, you know that Star most times resisted David's offer to drink from him," Dwayne continued.
Paul nodded again. Dwayne looked at him seriously. "Star had bad abdominal cramps and I felt sorry," he explained. "Well, I secretly made sure the bottle was always well filled, even though she complained a lot, she was our sister!"
Paul raised his eyebrows. "When Laddie drank from the bottle, your blood was in it, not David's," he asked amused. Dwayne nodded. "Now I understand," Paul said after a short pause, then he started to laugh. "So you were sorry," he asked. "To be honest, sometimes I let her drink from me when nobody was around! She did not like doing that, but when her cramps were very bad, I often convinced her that she had to drink! I've been glad that David never found out, she was his woman after all! "
Dwayne grinned. "Of course, David knew what was going on, strangely, he never said a word about it," Dwayne reported, "but from that point on, he filled the bottle himself!" Paul smiled. "And I've always wondered why he was so generous with it again," he said with a laugh. "Little Laddie grew up, he looks good!"
Dwayne nodded. "I'm glad when we're all together again," he affirmed. "We'll take care of it when the little butterfly is truly one of us, and I think Sam is a danger to her at the moment, and thus to us. He complies, but he is suspicious, and the little one is our weak point. If Sam tries something stupid, he's going to attack Hope first, he's smart, he knows we protect her, even if it costs our lives!"
Paul looked at his friend thoughtfully. "Yes, you're probably right," he agreed with Dwayne. "We do not know how David and Marko react when they meet us, the four of us need to be able to rely on each other in an emergency!" Dwayne just nodded, watching Hope emerge from one of the hidden tunnels. She smiled at the vampires and went to the bookshelf.
While the vampires slept peacefully in their den, David, Marko, and Laddie had finished their meal not far from Hudson's Bluff and sat in front of the caravan with coffee and a cigarette in their hands.
"Did you actually do anything about your daughter?" Laddie asked with interest. David looked at him with a smile. "I was not sure if I really wanted to talk to Michael," he replied. "But if I want to find Hope, I probably have no choice!"
Laddie nodded thoughtfully. "I could do that for you," he suggested. "Michael will not recognize me, I was a little boy when he last saw me." David smiled again. "I appreciate your offer, but I have to do it myself," he replied.
Marko looked from Laddie to David. "When do you want to visit Michael," he asked. David looked thoughtfully at Marko. "Morning, late afternoon," he replied. "After I went to the workshop I told you about last night!"
Marko nodded. "Are you talking about the job as a mechanic that they offered to you," he inquired. "Oh, you accept this job," Laddie asked, puzzled. David looked slightly embarrassed, then nodded. "Unfortunately we do not have a gold donkey, and we are running out of money so," he explained with a grin. "The rent here is paid for a while, but we need to feed!"
Laddie grinned back at him. "I would need someone to help me with the shop," he offered Marko. "Would you like to do that?" Marko looked over at him in surprise. "Do you really earn so much that you can afford it," he asked curiously.
Laddie waved. "I've been thinking about hiring someone for a while," he explained. "But I could not bring myself to give up an ad so far, you never know who's going to annoy you all day, but the both of us, that would work out well!"
Marko thought for a moment. "Well, why not, I'm in. Thanks for the offer," he answered determined. "But before we start, I'll definitely go with David when he visits Michael! If you think you can have the fun alone, you've been wrong!" Laddie nodded. "Marko is right, I'm with you too," he noted. David grinned happily at the two. "I knew I can count on you," he replied.
After negotiating his salary with Jason, his future boss, the next day, David made his way to Laddie's studio, where he had an appointment with his friends. Laddie had said that Michael's facility was not far away, so the bikes stayed in front of the studio and the three men walked the short distance.
A few minutes later, they were sitting in the waiting room of Shannon Martin, Michael's coordinator. The decor was pretty hectic that day. Shannon was busy explaining to an elderly man what rules he had to follow if he wanted to stay in the facility, while a young priest in the stairwell shrieked to a group of young people and then escorted them outside.
A few minutes later, he returned with an annoyed expression and, after nodding to David, Marko, and Laddie, entered Miss Martin's office. The priest asked the older man to follow him and they went up the stairs to where the accommodations were.
Miss Martin closed the office door after asking for some patience from David and his friends. Through the glass door, David watched, eyebrows raised, as the plump woman took the phone from the station and typed in a number. After some waiting, she put the phone on the desk with a worried face and invited the three friends to come in.
The woman looked the men up and down and then smiled tiredly. "You must excuse me," she finally explained. "Everything has been going awry for a few days now, but please sit down and tell me how I can help you!"
"We're looking for father Mike, we're old friends of his and need to talk to him urgently," David answered with a grin. Shannon looked at David sadly. "Well, they come in vain, we are looking for him too," she proclaimed. "Father Mike has disappeared without a trace days ago!"
David and Marko exchanged a look, somehow the two had an idea where the priest might have disappeared to. "What does that mean," David went on anyway.
Shannon glanced nervously at her computer. "He's gone, not findable," she replied with tears in her eyes. "And in a city like this, that can not be good, he even missed an important meeting yesterday with our most generous financier, which he would never do without logging out of my account!"
David looked helplessly at Marko, but he just shrugged. He was about to say something, but then the telephone rang.
Miss Martin answered the call. "Hello Jenna, good evening," Shannon greeted the caller and rolled her eyes annoyed. "I'm sorry, Jenna, but Hope has not been on duty for two days, just like Father Mike, she's untraceable, I rang her yesterday, but she did not open, and she does not answer the phone! Hopes car that's in the parking lot in front of the house she lives in. No, the car looks like it has not been moved for days, it's covered with pollen all over!"
Shannon talked and talked, and David did not feel like waiting until the woman was done, and he knew he could not expect any help from Shannon, so he got up and left. Laddie and Marko followed him outside.
Outside the building, David lit a cigarette. "I do not like this at all," he noted. "What do we do if Michael found out whose child Hope is, and he locked her somewhere?"
Laddie looked wonderingly into David's eyes. "Why would Michael do that," he questioned. "Your daughter is just an ordinary young woman!" David shook his head. "No, that's just not her," he explained. "Star told us about an incident in the house of Hope's grandmother, her better nature has shown that girl nearly killed her grandmother, that's why she came here. When Hope gets angry, she's dangerous, like a ticking time bomb, if you understand what I mean, it's only a matter of time before the vampire inside of her gets the upper hand, so we absolutely must find her, she does not know what's slumbering in her! "
Laddie looked startled from David to Marko. "That's bad," he finally said," especially since Edgar is currently in town. Alone, he can not do much at the moment, but with Michael's help, it will look different. And as I know Edgar, he kills first and asks questions later!"
David nodded depressed. "It's late, we've wasted too much time here," he remarked. "It would be best if we go to Hope's apartment again!" Marko looked at him in surprise. "We do not even know where Hope lives," he finally said.
Despite the tense situation, David grinned and pulled his daughter's business card out of his pocket. He had stolen the card from Shannon's desk. Marko and Laddie nodded in amusement. "Then do not let us lose any more time," Marko told them and walked away.
Unfortunately, the three men soon realized that everything was exactly as Shannon had previously told Jenna on the phone. Hope did not open the door after David had rung the bell and did not answer the phone. And Hope's little white Ford actually did not look like it had been used in the last few days. Yellow pollen covered the entire vehicle.
David anxiously took his small block from his jacket pocket and wrote a message to his daughter on a piece of paper. He threw that into Hope's mailbox, which was not easy since she had not taken her mail out of the box. David managed to get some letters out of it, hoping to find some clue to his daughter's whereabouts. But it was just the usual post, bills from the electricity provider and advertising. So he stuffed the letters back and sat resignedly on his motorcycle.
"And what do we do now," Laddie asked. David looked back at the house and at Hope's car. "Is the comic shop still there" he finally asked. "Yes," Laddie answered. "I think so." David nodded and looked at the building one last time, then he left without another word.
Marko sighed and shrugged, then he looked annoyed at Laddie. "Edgar Frog, what a pleasure!" Laddie laughed. "I understand exactly what you mean," he replied. "But that's just David, if he wants something, he will not give up until he gets what he wants, as he has always been, terrifying me when I was a kid!"
"Yes, I know," replied Marko. "He's worried about the kid, that's understandable, but Edgar almost killed me, so I'd love to tear him to pieces!" Laddie looked at Marko sadly. "You know," he said as he sat on his motorcycle. "Back then, that was the worst day and the worst night in my life!" Marko nodded. "Yes, for us too," he answered. "Our life suddenly turned out completely different, was not always so easy!"
When Marko and Laddie arrived at the arcades where the Frog's business was, David waited impatiently. "Why did it take you so long?" He asked irritably, throwing away the meanwhile third cigarette he had smoked in the meantime.
Marko watched as his buddy throw the butt to the ground. "David, patient as ever," he countered also irritably. David looked at Marko with raised eyebrows but said nothing more. Marko made a face, turned and walked toward the entrance to the store.
He put his hand on the door handle but hesitated before opening the door. Through the door, he could see the cash register area. There was a man, and the camouflage clothing he wore told Marko that had to be Edgar. He did not wear cast anymore, but he hobbled around in the cashier's area, then opened a thick file folder. His crutches leaned against a wall behind the counter.
Marko instinctively took his free hand to the spot where Edgar had staked him all those years ago. That event had hurt Marko in his pride, damn it, Edgar and Alan were kids when they attacked the Lost Boys! The vampires had not taken the two boys seriously at the time, even though they knew that Edgar and Alan were trained as vampire hunters. "When the boys grow up, we'll take care of them," Max had always said. The brothers were not even able to defend themselves against the Surf Nazis, so they were certainly no threat to the vampires.
Well, the truth looked quite different! Edgar and Alan were still kids at the time, but still, they managed to fool five adult vampires! David, Dwayne, Marko, and Paul totally underestimated those kids, and that was the sad end of the Lost Boys!
David stopped behind Marko and watched as he watched Edgar. The tall blond guy shook his head indignantly at his friend's childish behavior, then put his hand over Markos and pushed the door open. With a determined expression, David passed the startled Marko, who had almost lost his balance. Marko stumbled, but caught himself again and glared after David, who was walking towards Edgar without hesitation.
Laddie stopped beside Marko for a moment and of course, could not resist grinning. "Asshole," Marko mumbled and walked slowly past Laddie to the counter. Edgar was engrossed in the cash report from Kim, an employee, and had not noticed anyone entering the store. He had already checked everything three times, but something was wrong!
"Hello Edgar, long time not seen," greeted David. Now Edgar looked up from the papers and looked in astonishment at the three men standing in front of the counter. He looked David up and down, then looked into his dead face. "Should I know you," he finally asked not exactly friendly.
"I'm very sure you remember us, Edgar," David answered just as rudely and peered dismissively at the man. Marko stood up in front of Edgar and wordlessly, without lowering his eyes, pulled his shirt up so that Edgar could see the scar left by the attack.
Edgar looked at the scar in disbelief, then at Marko's face, and then he looked at David. "That is not possible," muttered Edgar. "We killed you!"
"Are we looking dead," David asked angrily. Laddie had meanwhile looked around the back and came back now. "There is nobody here except him," he reported.
Marko nodded, pulled his shirt back down and walked to the door to turn the sign that hung there from "open" to "closed". David walked around the counter toward Edgar, who backed away from him, and spotted a keyring lying beside the cash register. Edgar followed David's look and reached for the keys, but David was faster.
"Edgar, Edgar, Edgar," David grinned wickedly and threw the keys to Marko, who caught them with one hand and after a few tries finally found the right key to lock the door. David looked back at Edgar from the locked door.
"Well, now we can talk undisturbed," he remarked with a sarcastic undertone and pointed to the door that led to the back area. "Would you be so nice and take the lead," David said with a smile that did not reach his eyes and watched in amusement as Edgar hobbled backward with anger in his eyes.
David looked at Marko and Laddie seriously, then followed they followed Edgar. When the men entered the back room, they were greeted by a load of holy water of Edgar's pink toy pistol.
Quick as lightning Marko rushed past David and defeated Edgar the gun from his hand. He caught the pink toy before it crashed to the ground and threw it out of the room. David grabbed Edgar angrily with both hands on the collar of his jacket and pulled him close. "Listen Asshole," spat David. "I'm no longer a vampire, but I can still kick your ass!" Then he pushed the stunned Edgar in a chair that stood behind him.
David looked at his opponent in hatred and found that he looked pretty intimidated. The former vampire grinned satisfied, then he was serious again. He put his hands on the armrests of Edgar's chair so that his face was only a few inches from Edgars. "Okay, Edgar, where is the kid," he asked.
Marko stood beside David grinning mischievously as he nibbled at his thumbnail. Laddie had picked up the gun and looked at it, then he shook his head and watched what was happening in the room. Laddie almost felt sorry for Edgar, but only almost; Laddie had not forgotten that the vampire hunter was responsible for the misery Laddie had to endure as a small boy.
"Where do you hide her," David asked threateningly. Edgar looked at David uncomprehendingly. He had no idea who David was talking about. "Which kid," he finally stuttered uncertainly. "Hope Jones, the social worker with whom Michael Emerson works," Marko replied.
"How should I know where she is," Edgar answered, pissed off. "I do not even know where Michael is, everyone is looking for him, but maybe you've let Michael disappear!"
David wanted to punch Edgar, but Marko held him back. "I think he really has no idea, he seemed totally surprised when you asked him," explained Marko. David looked at Marko seriously, then stared at Edgar. He grabbed the vampire hunter by the collar again and pulled him up. "If I find out you've lied to me, I'll come back, sure," he whispered threateningly, then he turned and left the shop.
At the arcades, he rammed his cigarettes out of his pocket, lit one and threw the box at Marko. "What now?" Laddie asked full of energy, but David and Marko shrugged their shoulders helplessly.
"What the hell," David mocked as the men returned to their motorcycles. On the handlebar under the brake of David's motorcycle stuck a note. David took it annoyed and unfolded it, then he turned white. 'Hudson's bluff, we're waiting for you' someone had scribbled on the paper. David handed Marko the note. "I only know one person who has such terrible handwriting," said Marko dryly as he regained his composure.
Laddie looked at his friend in surprise. "What's up," he wanted to know. David grinned. "Are you coming home," he just asked, then got on his bike and drove off.
