The sound of Paul's cackling that typically woke them when the rocker played some sort of prank on Marko before their descent didn't happen tonight. Instead, Michael was forced to crack one red-rimmed eye open just shy of sunset when he heard the familiar, but almost as obnoxious sound of his cell phone ringing in his pocket. Probably shouldn't have charged it at dinner's trailer home last night.
He fished into his jacket pocket, nearly dropping it in the process, ignoring the murmur of complaints around him, "what's going on?" He demanded rudely. Sam knew not to call him until dark unless it was an emergency.
"Mike, I need to know something, it's important." Sam's voice was a little here and there, Michael didn't get the best reception in the hotel. Certainly not this deep inside it, either.
"No, Sam, I didn't eat those nuns last week. It was Marko. Is that all?" Michael asked, glancing over at David as he opened one very irritated eye.
"Are there other kinds of vampires?" Well, that was interesting. How did his brother figure that out?
He debated whether or not he should even give Sam a real answer. Seemed kind of weird. He hadn't been crazy enough to try and go after any of them since-well, since the only time he'd ever tried. "Maybe," Michael replied, not quite shrugging. Difficult to do hanging upside-down, and pointless when he was on the phone.
"Maybe? Yes or no, Mike. What is going on? Who are those guys staying in the house, what are they?"
Michael rolled his eyes, "you're the one who rented it out to them. Didn't you ask before you handed over the key?" He snarked, a little grumpy.
"You're as bad as Alan, you don't just ask someone if they're a vampire." He replied, obviously ignoring the fact his brother was grumpy.
"Yeah, I guess there's other types," Michael relented.
"And you didn't think I might need to know that? Are they gonna go on a killing spree? How the hell can they go out in the sun? That's like an every vampire thing. I don't like this, Mike. Not knowing what's in our town."
"They're not gonna go out and kill a bunch of people, Sam. We talked. I don't know why they can go out in the sun. There's not some secret handbook to being a vampire."
He could practically see Sam scowling, "I'm gonna look into this more, Mike, if you don't tell me more about them so that I can be sure Ed won't find out about them and go off the deep end again I'm gonna have to do something. Alan finally got him to give up hunting."
It'd be tempting to just let the Frog dipshits get themselves killed, but that would throw off the game tonight. "Sam, I don't know anything about them besides what you know, but we are hanging out with them tonight, so I promise they're not going to slaughter the neighborhood. Happy?"
Sam sighed, "fine, but don't keep me in the dark, ok?"
"Gotcha. No problem." He glanced over at David, "stay away from the house tonight, Sam."
He could practically see the scowl on his brother's face, "alright." He didn't sound like he meant it.
"I can't protect you, I'm serious, stay away." It was pretty pointless to even tell him this if Sam had already decided.
"Fine, I'll talk to you later." And with that said he hung up.
"Can we eat him?" Marko called out. Michael didn't even dignify that with a response.
"Nah, he won't taste good, besides, if he does show up we can have a little fun." David replied, smirking at his mate.
Michael rolled his eyes, "try not to break him, alright?"
"No promises."
Alex was acting weird tonight. Ever since he'd walked up to those punks on the bikes to bum a cigarette. John shook his head, bringing his vape to his mouth. That shit was going to put his friend in an early grave.
"Party," Alex repeated for the twentieth time, slack-jawed and staring across the boardwalk.
"Christ, dude, we don't even know those guys!" John snapped, "why the hell do you think it's a good idea to take my dad's car out into the burbs and get trashed at some weirdo's place?"
"Why not? Come on, don't be a pussy."
"I'm-" he sputtered, "-I'm not a pussy! What if they're running some kinda drug ring, huh?"
Alex shrugged, "party." As if that was the answer to everything.
John closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "okay. We'll go when Carrie's done shopping. Only for an hour, though, and if I see one batshit thing, I'm out. You find another ride home. Deal?"
"Fine, fine, party!"
"You don't even party," John mumbled under his breath, just in time to hear another asshole walking out of a store nearby shout to his friends. "Party!" It was like a dipshit virus spreading now. Was this party really that great?
Maybe it was. By the time they had piled into his Jeep, John could swear at least 10 other cars were being packed with excited teenagers, while Alex leaned forward from the back seat and whispered 'party' into his ear one last time before John kicked his engine into gear. Their drive to the house, based on Alex's oddly accurate directions without any notes or a phone to go off of, felt sort of like a procession. Every single car from the beach that had left seemed to be following their route too.
"You think this is a yearly thing?" John asked, glancing over to his girlfriend Carrie in the passenger seat.
She shrugged, "if it is, I've never heard of it. If it's awesome, maybe it should be made a yearly thing."
"It's gonna be great!" Alex exclaimed, gripping the back of John's car seat and bouncing forward like a little kid.
John rolled his eyes, pulling up into the grass outside of a white picket fence that must've seen better days. "We can only hang around for an hour, alright?"
Alex rolled his eyes, "since when did you become your dad?"
Carrie laughed, "he makes a good point, John."
Scowling, John pushed open his car door and quickly got out. "I just don't want to get my ass beat," he replied defensively, "but we can maybe do an hour and a half."
Alex hopped out of the car, walking backwards toward the door, "come on, man, nothing's gonna happen, it's just a party."
There was no drawback to dying as a teenager, as long as you came back. If any of them were just a few years older, it wouldn't have been nearly as easy to lure as many victims to the house. Marko and Paul exchanged looks, leaning against the wall as yet another pack of jocks strolled through the door. It wasn't going to be easy to keep their fangs to themselves, but they'd be on their best behavior tonight. That still wasn't saying much. Marko had already cheated and buried a pair of twins under the pile of coats in Max's old bedroom.
Michael relaxed on the couch in the living room, casually taking a drag from a joint strong enough to set any of the human guests on their asses for days if they even tried it. He passed it to Dwayne with a slight smirk, "you pick a target yet?"
"I have a couple possibilities picked out, what about you?" He asked, taking a drag off the joint.
Probing the thoughts of sober minds wasn't Michael's strong suit. People had a natural defense they didn't even know they needed, so it wasn't easy so early in the party to pick an easy target at will. His eyes scanned the teenagers and questionable older men filtering into the living room, "that one." Michael settled on an uncomfortable looking boy leaning against the wall watching a girl who looked a lot like him. A sister or a cousin, maybe.
Dwayne nodded, "good choice. You'll just have to loosen him up a bit first."
"What about you?" Michael nudged him, "gonna pick an easy target tonight?"
"Was thinking about it, just so Paul and Marko can't have one. Only so many easy marks to go around."
"I think those snacks they think they hid from us should disqualify the assholes," Michael pointed out, "it's cheating to do this on a full stomach."
Dwayne looked thoughtful, "I agree, why don't you convince David? He has the final say."
Michael's eyes scanned the room for their leader, and when that failed, reached out with only slightly drug hazed thoughts. The high never really lasted anyway. "Paul and Marko made a couple kills. Thoughts?"
"Disqualified." David's reply came almost immediately, as though he didn't even have to think about it, "you hear that, dipshits? You're disqualified. I should send you back to the hotel."
"It was Marko, not me!" Paul protested, as if he hadn't probably instigated it.
"You ate, you're out, and that's final." He paused for a moment and Michael knew he was probably scowling, "and if you try to sabotage the game you're going home and I'll think of another punishment."
It was hard not to laugh, but Michael just barely managed to maintain his composure despite the suddenly petulant moods of both Marko and Paul.
"You think they'll throw a fit?" He nudged Dwayne, grinning.
"Oh, you know they will, there's no question about it." Dwayne replied, smirking back, "I bet they'll try something regardless of the warning."
He supposed their guests wanted to keep everything clean. Simple. Michael didn't get it, but he'd play along anyway, focusing on his target.
"Let the games begin," he remarked, stubbing out the joint on the arm of the couch.
"I thought you wanted to do this whole game thing," Gabriel said with a hint of exasperation, "are you gonna hurry up and get dressed or not?" Donovan had been in the bath for well over an hour.
"I have thought about it further and am unsure if this is the best idea." Donovan replied, "those boys seem rather, uncontrollable, once they get started."
"So you don't think you can beat them?" Gabriel teased, leaning against the doorframe, "or can't keep up?"
Donovan narrowed his eyes, glaring at him, "you're trying to trick me."
He shrugged, "maybe, but I'm being honest. I've seen you get carried away before, so what's the difference? Because they're immortal teenagers?"
"Yes and this isn't one of my experiments." He paused, "I've been on my best behavior for you, I don't think I've slipped lately."
Gabriel grinned, "so be on your worst tonight. We're on vacation." He paused thoughtfully, "okay, not your absolute worst. I don't want poor Clarence to have too much work to do."
Donovan sighed, slowly getting out of the bath, "very well, just remember, you asked for this."
"Great," Gabriel cheered, "this is going to be awesome!" He couldn't help but wonder if maybe Donovan wasn't joking, or maybe even tricked him into explicitly encouraging him to let loose. Who tricked who? He wasn't sure it even mattered, well, except to Clarence. Of course he had a feeling Donovan would put the blame on him if Clarence had to deal with too much.
"You don't look too old," Gabriel said slowly, "young enough to pass for a college student if you dress for the part."
Donovan raised an eyebrow, "do you want to dress me?" He asked, chuckling softly.
"You'll just bitch about whatever I pick," Gabriel replied, skirting the suggestive smile thrown at him, "now hurry up. There's a couple of barbies Clarence told me about and I want to see if I can get them to trash the post office or something. You think that'll win the game?"
"Perhaps if they paint ritualistic sigils and make it look like a summoning." Donovan said thoughtfully.
Gabriel's eyes danced, his laughter stifled, "that's a thought. They might have to sacrifice a designer sweater or two. Maybe a Gucci bag…"
"Think of some of those goat rituals you dealt with when you were a hunter."
"Have you seen any goats around here?" Gabriel asked, "maybe a couple of small dogs or a house cat."
"Clarence has been out more than I have, perhaps he's seen something we haven't. I doubt they have goats here but one can never know."
As it turned out, faithful and oftentimes surprisingly intuitive Clarence had three places in mind already to wrangle a few goats when they finally made their way to the kitchen to ask. One of the few rooms in the house that wasn't swarming with teenagers and college kids.
"Seriously?" Gabriel asked their servant, incredulous.
"One must always be prepared for every eventuality, goats are quite useful in various rituals." He said, looking offended that Gabriel would even think he wouldn't know where to find everything his masters needed or wanted.
"Right," Gabriel replied awkwardly, "sorry Clarence." He looked over at Donovan, knowing very well just how smug his mate felt right then and there. "Ready to join the party?"
"Of course, shall we?"
It took years of focus and self-control for any vampire to juggle head games with tempering their own appetites. Adding drugs or booze into the mix only made it worse. Dwayne had already subtly sabotaged Michael tonight, so the bet was going to be an easy win. If David could feel any guilt for his mate, he'd probably try. He could already feel Michael slipping, and the night had only begun. Of course he still had to get past their 'guests', but he didn't foresee that being a problem, no, Dwayne was his real competition.
"You can really pound them back," a nameless middle aged loser patted him on the back. Creeps like this always found their way to the big parties in Santa Carla. Lucky for David the crap he tried to slip in the beer had no effect.
David smirked at him, "get me another one and I'll show you something great." All he had to do was make Michael jealous and his mate would be out of the game. Michael was known to eat his competition.
The guy's predatory attempt to look friendly was a joke, and the way that smile grew was even better. Scratching idly at his uneven chin stubble, He glanced at the back door of the house that stood wide open for party goers to come and go as they pleased. "You like vodka, kid?"
"I'm up for just about anything." David made sure his voice was low, practically sultry, as he looked the guy over.
"I'll make it a double then," the guy winked, "you won't know what hit ya." He was putting on a thinly-veiled act of an older brother type and coming off more like the uncle nobody talks about.
David smirked as the guy walked away to get that drink, spotting Michael glaring daggers at him. If looks could kill the guy would be dead a million times over.
Michael flicked the stub of his used-up joint into the backyard, leaning against the doorframe and watching the guy pass.
"Hey man, I need help getting a couple of cases out of my trunk. Wanna help?" He placed his hand on the creep's shoulder, making it a point to glare back at David in the process.
David looked back at him innocently, "what's that look for?" He asked his mate.
"Asshole," Michael growled in his mind, disappearing inside the house.
Dwayne appeared minutes later sporting a subtle smirk. He had a girl on his arm and a beer in one hand, sauntering easily towards David. "One down," he remarked softly.
"Four to go."
"Three," Dwayne corrected him, "one of us has to win."
David smirked, "shall we pool our resources until we're the last ones standing?"
The girl sidling up close to Dwayne, "what are you guys playing?"
Dwayne shrugged, "chess. Hey, why don't you go inside and teach that rotten boyfriend of yours a lesson like we discussed?"
She pouted at him, "I'd much rather spend time with you." She practically draped herself across his back as she spoke.
His reaction was subtle. A slight twitch of his lips, a flash of confusion sparked in his eyes, and then it was gone and Dwayne's smile grew slightly, "don't you remember how he was looking at your sister?" Laced into the words was a forceful nudge from his mind, more powerful than simply speaking.
"That's true," she replied hesitantly, looking back at the house. Her face was a mask of concern and anger for an instant, replaced almost immediately with a big smile, "I'd rather spend time with you," she repeated, squeezing Dwayne's arm tighter.
David raised an eyebrow, "someone's been in her mind." He spoke strictly to Dwayne, "feels like someone familiar…" It was Paul, he knew it.
The hint of a laugh echoed in their minds, followed by a very smug remark, "just playing a new game since you guys kicked us out. Even got Mikey in on it now."
"Don't call me that, asshole," Michael cut in.
"It's your own fault, you decided to eat when you knew you shouldn't have."
"Then it's your own fault for kicking us out," Marko added, "we're not gonna let this be an easy win for you, so deal with it."
"Fuck you, asshole. You want our visitors to win?"
Michael remained silent, always preferring to let Paul or Marko lead when it came to leading the charge. He could be just as bad as them as long as he didn't bear the brunt of the consequences.
"We want a stalemate," Marko said simply, "or a really good show. Either way, you lose too."
"Motherfucker." David hissed, eyes flashing, "Dwayne, this means war."
The girl was too heavy-headed with the compulsions Dwayne had used to send her away and the combined efforts of the others, so she simply stared ahead, oblivious and just a little dazed.
"Agreed," Dwayne said with a not-so-emphatic nod.
"I'm getting a big Edgar vibe from you tonight, Sam, and it's freaking me out," Alan repeated for the ninth time, gripping his steering wheel firmly.
"We're just gonna go check it out, that's it, I promise."
Alan peered through the windshield, trying and failing to count the many people walking into the house. Mostly teens. Christ, there was no way any vampire could hide a potential massacre that big. No fucking way.
"Should we bring the crosses in the trunk?" Alan asked, smart enough to be prepared just in case.
"Just gotta keep 'em hidden."
Alan unbuckled his seatbelt, "hope they don't notice. I mean you'd think something that can kill those suckers would give off some kind of aura or energy."
"We never tested it but it seems like they have to actually see it before anything happens." He replied, getting out of the car.
"Christ, this is so messed up," Alan grumbled, climbing out of the car, quickly walking around to the back of the car to open the trunk. "So I'm assuming staking your brother is still off?"
Sam glared at him, "yeah, no staking my brother." He stood beside Alan, looking in at their arsenal.
"Water guns were a nice touch," Alan mused, tucking one into the back of his jeans, "not that we'll use it, right?"
Sam nodded, "better to have one and not need it, right?"
Alan nodded, "so we go in, make sure they aren't eating anybody - - and then what?"
Sam looked at the house, his jaw clenched, "I confront my brother and we stop this."
This was insane, and right now so was Sam. Alan offered a water gun to his friend, a little irritated, "dude, he's a vampire. This is what they do. It's been years since he literally bit the big one. You think he even remembers why this kind of shit is wrong? You think he cares?"
Sam looked at him, his eyes forlorn, "I just keep hoping that…" he trailed off, slowly taking the gun.
"For over twenty years," Alan pointed out, "you've been hoping for twenty years, and I keep hoping my brother will come back to reality. We're both SOL right now, Sam."
He sighed heavily, "you're right, maybe we should just go."
Alan shrugged, "we could be on the verge of letting evil win tonight. Are you prepared for that? Or at least are you prepared to lie through your teeth if Ed even gets a hunch about this whole-" Alan gestured towards the house, "-thing?"
He sighed, "you're right," he squared his shoulders, "let's do this."
"Yeah," a new member of their party agreed, clapping hands on their shoulders and leaning between them with a vicious grin, "let's do this, boys," Marko added for emphasis.
Sam and Alan froze, turning their heads at the same time to see who was there.
"Fuck." Sam said, swallowing hard.