Lost Wolf

Chapter 13

Dwayne had spent the day thinking on what he had read in the books Alpha McLaren had brought him from her Pack. The history of Vampires wasn't going to be easily solved, most of what was written was superstition and myth passed among Vampires themselves. There was, of course, the concept that Vampires were merely Demons inhabiting the shell of a dead mortal, but if that was the case, why could they only remember their human lives, and not their existence as Demons? Surely, they would have had to existed elsewhere, if only waiting for a body to snatch?

It just didn't make sense, unless the Demon was formed somehow within the corpse spontaneously...

One theory he found interesting was a series of old myths about Caine, the Biblical Caine. The First Murderer. The Dark Father, as the book put it. Allegedly he was further cursed by God than revealed in the rather brief depiction in Genesis. After refusing to repent his crime before three Archangels, he was given three curses, which were familiar to all Vampires. An inability to survive in the light of the sun, (Though Caine, being cursed with true immortality, could not be killed by it himself), a weakness to fire, and The Beast, the insatiable hunger within each Vampire. The constant hunger for blood. It was unclear to him if The Beast was meant to be a literal entity or a representation of their violent hunger. These were passed on from Sire to Childe, forever. Of course, there were curses his Childer didn't receive, like being forced to wander the world, forever alone and forsaken.

Though he found it difficult to make sense of and even more difficult to believe, it was interesting, to say the least. Alex was going to love reading the passages describing how Werewolves (Here referred to as Lupines) came about through the mating of one of the first Vampires, Ennoia, (while still a mortal) with a wolf, her offspring being Werewolves. Since she was, according to the text, raised by wolves with no knowledge of concepts of morality, mating with a wolf would have seemed natural to her.

Some Vampires did have a natural affinity with animals, such as Marko, who found the idea pretty radical, as she had other, Vampiric Childer with animalistic tendencies. He seemed to hope it was true.

There were other books he had yet to get to, but at least he know knew something about greater Vampire culture.

He, like all the boys, scented the Werewolves approaching and realized that something was wrong. They smelled of an combination of rage, concern and Frog.

XXXX

"We have a problem." The fact that Alex didn't point out anything of interest to his companions made it clear that this was a serious issue, "Edgar Frog came into Mr. Han's while we were eating and starting accusing us of being Werewolves, and you of being Vampires. Openly. In a crowded restaurant."

Even Paul sobered at that. Sure, everyone knew that the Frog brothers believed The Lost Boys to be Vampires, but they'd always stuck to their little comic shop. They'd never actually walked into a crowded restaurant to out them to their faces.

All of the Vampires had their game faces on now.

"And Alan?"

"He was there, but he wasn't doing anything but try to get his idiot brother to shut up. I... I lost my temper, I jumped the table, grabbed Edgar and threw him out the door. Jan took Alan out."

This was bad...

"How did the people react?"

"They applauded us for kicking Edgar out, Mr. Han banned them both from the restaurant." He did that nervous move with his hair that they knew so well.

"When Edgar accused me of mauling Alan, I... I mentioned that he'd tried to murder Marko." He steadied himself a bit, turned to face Marko, "Mr. Han asked if you'd pressed charges, but I told him you didn't really trust the police. When we left everyone was pretty confused, who knows how the story will end up after five or six people?"

David growled and punched the wall beside him, leaving a fist-sized crater. Alex and Sean both jumped at that.

"They have to go. Both of them."

"Then everyone will know it was us." Dwayne replied.

David turned back towards the others, "Everyone will suspect it was us. No bodies, no blood, no evidence."

"They'd investigate, they'd follow us and find the lair."

David looked around the old lobby, the fountain with all of it's trinkets and souvenirs, the chandelier Marko and Alex had put back up to shine again, Marko's pigeons, cooing in their little nook, Dwayne's books, Paul's cassettes and vinyl records, his wheelchair throne, the poster of The Lizard King on the wall. David and Dwayne had been here when the hotel was new and proud and the rich and famous walked the halls... And it was the only real home Marko and Paul had ever known. All they had ever wanted. Alex had been raised here.

Dwayne looked at his leader and realized what was going on, "Please tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking."

"If they come after us, we'll have no choice. We can't defend this place from an army. There are hundreds of millions of humans in California alone, and a lot of them wouldn't take kindly to a group of Vampires living among them... Mobs with torches and pitchforks, been there, done that, don't want to do that again. We'd take a lot with us, but I'm not ready for Hell just yet." He cast his eyes to the floor, "This old place won't last forever, anyway. Like the song says 'everything is dust in the wind'."

"But if we don't do something, those ... The Frogs know about this place, they'd be at the head of any angry mob." Marko was chewing on his nail and pacing nervously, "Those brats! Those F***** Brats! Why can't they just leave us be!?"

"They have nothing else to live for, Edgar especially. Alan could function in society, but Edgar would be the homeless guy standing on the street corner yelling at everyone who walks by." Alex said unhappily, "Their lives suck and the idea of being heroes and fighting Vampires is all that keeps them going, Edgar, anyway. I think Alan got into it just to keep Edgar out of trouble, and realized that he was right all along. Now he's a true believer."

"Why not just turn them?" Dwayne suggested, "Yes, they tried to kill us, but did any of us want to become Vampires? Were we given a choice? Turn them and make them obey. They work at night and sleep all day anyway, who would notice?"

"Yeah, who would suspect the two lunatic kids screaming about Vampires to be Vampires themselves?" Paul laughed, "The perfect cover!"

"NO!" Marko growled, orange eyes blazing, "I'm not gonna' accept someone who tried to stake me as a brother!" He was shaking, but it appeared that it wasn't entirely due to rage. Paul eased over and put a comforting arm around Marko's shoulder. Alex walked over to the small Vampire and hugged him. The other boys closed in protectively. Even Michael joined in.

Siobhan was reminded of the night they first met, when Alex had broken down and Marko and Paul had supported him. How the rest of the Pack gathered around, their closeness soothing his fraying nerves. It was like watching a Wolf Pack gather to protect one of their own. Werewolves were tactile creatures, but she'd never really thought of Vampires needing touch and comfort.

So much alike, yet so different.

Matthias was stunned, these Vampires were nothing like most of the stories he'd heard. They were cruel, but they were devoted to one another, protective and caring among themselves. He immediately discarded the theory that Vampires had no souls, no emotions beyond greed, sadism and bloodlust. This was a true Pack. For all that he'd endured, Alex had managed to wander into, and be accepted by, a truly united, loving Pack.

"Okay, okay... Enough!" Marko was blushing furiously, "I'm just... Stressed out a bit. Confused, yeah? This is just such a big thing, you know." He hated that he'd shown such vulnerability in front of strangers, even if they were allies, "But I mean it, I don't want those Frogs anywhere near me unless I'm draining them dry!"

"Have them committed. Edgar's clearly nuts and Alan probably has a few screws loose himself. After the show today, not many people would question it." Sean suggested, "And Alex said that their parents are useless stoners and barely know they exist. They'd lose custody if they're half as bad as I've heard." It was better than killing them, and they honestly needed the help from what little he'd seen of them.

David wondered why the strange Werewolf was giving advice. They could just go home and be safe, they didn't live here. But, still, it was good advice, "I like the idea, but if Alan doesn't pass the crazy test we'd be in trouble. If he hadn't actually seen us as we are, he could probably be convinced that Edgar was crazy, but he knows. And Marko can't exactly testify in a court that the brats tried to stake him. They'd want to see the scene of the crime and we'd be f****D over anyway."

"My Pack, and the Winther Pack, have lawyers in the know and people in CPS. They mainly make sure cubs don't get lost in-" Alpha McLaren stopped and looked at Alex apologetically, "But, the point is, we have people who can deal with this sort of problem. Without anyone getting killed."

Alpha Winther looked away shame-faced as Alex shook his head slightly at the irony. It seemed he'd managed to evade everyone who could have helped him. But that wasn't important right now, "If this can be done legally, people won't be able to blame us. I know I'm... Soft, but, the Frogs were my friends once, and I don't want them to die. But I do know that they hate us too much to let us live in peace, and I don't want to risk them coming after us again. They nearly got Marko last time, I don't want them to get another opportunity."

"I like that. Even if people find out it was us who called whoever is in charge of committing people, they won't be able to blame us because everyone knows that they're crazy." Marko had that evil grin on his face, the one he had whenever he got his prey cornered.

"It's probably the best way to do this. If they want to see where Marko was attacked, we can take them to one of our more human lairs, point to a random bed or couch and that would be the end of it. Especially if the lawyers are already on our side." Dwayne smiled, "It will be our word against theirs, and who would believe the Frogs?" He thought for a moment "It would probably be good if we could camouflage the lair somehow, make it look like there was a cave-in or something so nobody could get in, just in case. We already sealed up the area they came in through. A few big boulders at the entrance, a lot of dirt, nothing we couldn't handle easily. We could use the tunnels to get in until it was safe to open up the lobby again."

David considered this carefully. Part of him wanted to see the boys die, for being such a pain in the ass for so long, for trying to murder Marko, who still didn't feel safe in his own home. But this way was cleaner and safer, with little threat of being caught.

XXXX

Michael didn't contribute any advice. He knew he'd done enough already, as this entire disaster rested on the shoulders of the late Michael Emerson. Michael knew he wasn't the same person, the stupid mortal boy who'd followed a pretty girl into the lion's den and gotten bitten for his troubles. But he still remembered. He betrayed the boys. He betrayed his friends, his Pack. He lead the Frog brothers to the hotel, along with Sam, to save Star. To be the hero, The White Night. He knew he had been a little concerned with Laddie, but mainly it was Star he wanted to save. He'd followed his dick, betrayed his brothers and nearly got Marko killed by revealing the location of the boys' home to those adolescent jack-asses.

Michael Emerson had deserved to die. The Lost Boys had given him almost everything he had ever wanted, and he'd thrown it all away for a cheap slut.

Michael Emerson was dead, but Michael, the Lost Boy, still had his memories, even if he didn't have his emotions. A Wolf does not betray his Pack. A Vampire doesn't betray his brothers. Michael Emerson's memories and misdeeds haunted whatever he had that passed for a conscience as a Vampire. David and the others had clearly neither forgiven nor forgotten. He'd questioned Alex's loyalty, once, and they'd angrily pointed out that only Michael had ever betrayed them. Alex had always been loyal. Alex and Thorne had more of the boys' trust than he did. His actions as a human made them question his loyalty, even though they knew he wouldn't betray them now. It was enough that he had betrayed them before. That wound would take a long time to heal. David had already questioned his intentions when he asked about Werewolves and Vampires. They thought he still wanted a way out, that he was still somehow Michael Emerson.

And now they would be forced to move against the Frog brothers, an action that would clearly lead back to them, because of his actions in life. No one besides the Lost Boys had reason to harm the Frog brothers, that's why they had survived so long openly opposing the boys. Now they knew where to strike at them, and they were openly confronting them in public places. They had to be dealt with, despite the suspicion it would cause.

XXXX

The fallout was swift on The Boardwalk. The story had warped passing from person to person. Some people even thought Marko had been killed, a rumor his appearance quickly dispelled. But things were harder for him, now. Alex's loss of temper had left people, especially the Surf Nazis, with the knowledge that Marko had almost lost his life to two children. The Surf Nazis had the impression that the smallest member of The Lost Boys was somehow weaker than they'd imagined, and it made them bolder. If he had fought every Surf Nazi that taunted him, even the police would have been unable to keep their preferred distance. Still, he fought enough of them to single-handedly prove that he was stronger than they could ever hope to be.

He found the people who expressed sympathy over the attack to be far more troubling. The last thing in the world Marko wanted was his prey's pity. He was, for the first time since they'd met, angry at Alex. He'd always had such control, he'd never let this kind of thing slip in the past, but he was becoming a bit unstable with everything happening.

The Werewolf agreed to avoid The Boardwalk for the time being. Alex was clearly ashamed and angry with himself for his mistake and the trouble it brought Marko, but worse was the feeling that he had betrayed his Pack with his outburst. The other Wolves tried to console him with the fact that he'd never been trained or taught how to live as a Werewolf, but he'd lived in anonymity for over eleven years, and eight with The Lost Boys, without exposing information that could harm the boys. He wouldn't be able to forget his mistake, though he vowed never to repeat it.

The other boys had it fairly easy, just curious stares and whispers. Annoying, but little more.

Every night they'd walk by the comic shop, looking in the windows, smirking and snarling. On one occasion, when the store was particularly busy, Marko walked boldly in and started browsing, eventually buying a few comics from the furious, frightened Alan Frog. Edgar had to be stuck in the backroom, because he was willing to stake Marko even with numerous civilians in the shop. And with all of the eyes on him, Marko couldn't just take the comics. Normally having witnesses to such a minor crime was nothing to him, in fact, it enhanced his delinquent reputation, but Marko had to show that he wasn't afraid or intimidated by these two idiots, so he bought the comics with his trademark smirk on his lips. Alan hissed some colorful threats that only the Vampire could hear, but Marko seemed to ignore him. Then, as he opened the door, he put on his most vicious grin and stared Alan in the eyes, "Catch ya' later, little Froggy."

The Frog brothers' reputation, especially Edgar's, suffered as well. Some of the misinformed stories stated that he'd attacked Alex in the restaurant, and Alex had a lot of people in his corner. He was well-liked by those who knew him, while the Frogs were considered nuisances at best. Many of the people from town stopped coming to the shop, which meant when the tourists left their already small profits would take a heavy dive.

As it was, they wouldn't have to worry about that.

When the Child Welfare agents showed up at their door, they were met with two boys wielding crucifixes and wooden stakes, with strategically placed buckets of holy water and a mountain of garlic. Several were seriously hurt, and the police had to literally drag a screaming Edgar out to the patrol car. Alan, having quickly realized that the intruders were human, had tried to stop his brother, only to get a black eye as Edgar lost all control. He went peacefully, knowing that they were screwed and that fighting would only make it worse.

After Edgar attacked the psychiatrist sent to assess his mental state, both boys were committed. Edgar as criminally insane and Alan as delusional and a possible threat to himself and others.

When Alan saw Edgar again after being checked in, he'd cried. Edgar was in a straightjacket, doped up and being pushed in a wheelchair. He'd attacked an orderly, apparently, and wouldn't stop screaming about Vampires and Werewolves.

He knew it was the truth, he'd been there, he'd seen them sleeping like bats, he'd seen their twisted, monstrous faces and he still had a scar from where Alex had swiped at him that day they tried to stake The Little One. Marko. But he understood that no one would believe them, and that they would have to keep it between themselves. He tried to impress this upon his brother over the next few days. Edgar called him a coward, a traitor, for not sticking up for Truth, Justice and The American Way. He'd had to be sedated and taken away when started screaming that the Vampires had gotten to Alan, that his brother had been turned. It was the most terrifying and heartbreaking event in Alan's short life. Edgar and hunting blood-suckers was all he had. They'd had to fend for themselves most of their lives because of their perpetually stoned parents, they'd had very few friends, one of whom was still recovering from his brother being turned and the other exposed as a treacherous Werewolf working for the enemy.

This all went back to Alex, he was sure of it. It was only after the incident at Han's that Child Services had gotten involved. Only after they'd exposed Alex for the lying mutt he was. It wasn't the Blood-Suckers, they'd have just tried to kill them, but Alex was always trying to be a 'good' monster. He probably thought he was doing them a favor, putting them in the loony bin. 'Letting' them live. But things weren't so clear-cut, and the system didn't like to hear the truth. The docs were good, real good at fishing for things they weren't supposed to know. Along with the drugs, they'd almost convinced him several times that They weren't real. That They didn't exist.

He was afraid that one day he'd begin believe their lies. Brainwashed with the rest of the cattle. He was a good actor, but they were good as seeing through those kind of tricks. They knew he still believed, and he'd be stuck here until they thought otherwise. He didn't know what he'd do when he got out. Being committed looked bad to employers, and all he'd ever really done was help run a comic shop. He knew he could do that much, if he needed to. He hoped that Edgar would be by his side but he seemed to be genuinely losing it, and Alan was afraid for his brother's already fragile sanity. Edgar was never very stable to begin with, he took their fight as a Holy Quest against The Forces of Evil. He was paranoid and quick to lash out, quick to condemn anyone he saw as a Vampire. And that was before they came to this Hell.

He was losing his brother, and he couldn't do a damn thing about it.

XXXX

Alex felt no pleasure in what happened. He'd genuinely liked the Frog brothers, before they'd tried to murder Marko. Before they turned on him. But they were alive, and Alan, at least, was supposedly doing well in his treatment. Edgar was apparently sicker than he'd understood, every report he heard on him was negative.

Even if he had been allowed to, he didn't think he would have had the courage to face either brother. They knew why they were there, Alan was sane enough to put the pieces together and blame Alex, and Edgar was crazy enough to knowingly attack his fellow humans. Neither would be happy to see his face, or accept any sympathy from him.

While the Frogs were sick, he couldn't help but lay most of the blame on Michael Emerson and Star. He knew, intellectually, that they were right in not wanting to become killer Vampires, still, he was angry that Michael had led the Frogs to the lair, and that Star had used Michael to break free. However, it was Max who was the most responsible. Star and Laddie had been his choices, he'd told the boys to bring in Michael but David had wanted him from the moment he first saw him. And Michael would likely have embraced his new existence had Star not convinced him to 'save' her.

It was all a nightmare, after eight years of relative peace his family had been attacked, again, his best friend nearly murdered and two of his human friends were behind the attack.

And now they were in a mental institution.

His own actions had harmed Marko as well. With one foolish slip of the tongue in the heat of rage he had betrayed his closest friend, his brother in all but blood. And in front of enemies no less! Now Marko had to prove himself again to people who already looked down on him. It was the worst thing he had ever done, and it would be a long time before he could forgive himself.

XXXX

To Be Continued...

Notes-

The Lizard King was a nickname for Jim Morrison, vocalist for The Doors.

Dust in the Wind was a depressing song by the band Kansas.

The book Dwayne was thinking about was The Book of Nod, an ancient manuscript from White Wolf Gaming's Vampire: the Masquerade. I won't go into it at length, but the document talks about Caine, his curses, ancient cities he and his Childer built, the curses he laid upon his Grandchilder when they rose up and murdered their elders, and of course, the history of each ancient Clan, to a point. The book caused a schism within the Vampire race, one group believed it a holy book, the other insisted it was just mythology. Of course, they changed their tune a bit when the ancient prophecies about the Vampires' personal Armageddon, Gehenna, began to come true in the 1990's/early 2000's. It was apparently put on hold for a while, though. Or the world was destroyed, I'm not sure which... In this AU, the contents of the book might be true, false, or a mixture of both.

Ennoia, daughter of Lilith, founder of the Clan Gangrel, allegedly mothered the Garou (Werewolves) before becoming a Vampire. Since the Garou hate Vampires, any that know of this story would violently deny it. Very violently. According to the story, (which was never confirmed in universe), Lilith abandoned her daughter as a child, and Ennoia was raised by wolves. She allegedly mated with at least one wolf and bore his pups, which become Lupines/Werewolves/Garou.

The Frog brothers need mental health treatment, it's sad, but true. In fact, most of the main characters need serious psychological help, Marko, Paul, Alex, Michael, Sam, Lucy, Laddie, Star... They're all traumatized in their own ways.

Alex isn't upset about Michael and Star wanting to escape, he's upset that Michael led the Frogs and Sam to the boys' roost and nearly got Marko killed. Marko already had problems, and being attacked in his own home in his sleep has just made it worse.

No, the lawyers are not with Wolfram & Hart.