Apologies for the late post. I've just recently moved house and unpacking (and going to work) took top priority. I hope this chapter makes up for it.
I do not own The Vampire Diaries or The Lost Boys. The Vampire Diaries are the property of author L.J Smith, and The Lost Boys belong to writers Janice Fischer and James Jeremias. The film is owned by late director Joel Schumacher. I do own however, my OC Grace and this story.
Please review, and no flaming will be accepted.
Thank you!
HEY, BROTHER!
"Hey brother, there's an endless road to re-discover. Hey sister, know the water's sweet but blood is thicker. Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you. There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do." ~Avicii: 'Hey Brother' (True [2013])
An Internet Café
Santa Clara, California
Day
I was deep in research mode. Correction: Damon and I were in research mode, as we both agreed that we needed a hell of a lot of information about this town, since a lot of weird and scary things apparently happen here on a regular basis. By whom, we weren't sure about, but smart money seemed to be on the flying predators Damon said killed Beasley, by sucking him dry like a juice box. The question was: what were they? Plus, the fact that Santa Carla apparently made even the usually unflappable Original Hybrid nervous, made it a reason to act and act now. To be honest, I was shocked that Damon agreed to cooperate and help navigate the way through the mystery that was Santa Clara's mysterious disappearances and horrific deaths.
Back in Mystic Falls, Damon preferred to be the hands-on guy; the one that was sent out to carry out the plans made against the big Bad terrorizing us, instead of grabbing a book and reading it cover to cover for the information we sought after. One rare occasion where Damon played bookworm for a good cause was when we needed more information about Nik's hybrid ritual and didn't want Katherine to know anything about it. So, the fact that Damon was willingly surfing the net alongside me, proved that whatever he witnessed that night on the beach was enough to concern him enough to make him be prepared. Even going as far as suspecting that the predators were another type of vampire than what he and the Originals were.
"Any luck?" Damon asked, as he got up from the computer he was using, to browse over my shoulder at what I was looking at.
"Possibly." I responded absently, frowning in concentration at the computer screen as I clicked on a link devoted entirely about the town of Santa Clara; my current attempt at finding relevant information that didn't solely relate to just the Boardwalk and the sights to see and do locally. "You?"
"Nada." Damon responded, sounding mildly annoyed. I reached up and pat the hand he had laid on my shoulder when he had leaned it to scan what I was looking at. "If it wasn't for the fact that I saw it with my own eyes, I would've thought that somebody drugged me, or fatigue concocted that nightmare in my head." Damon grumped, and I snorted at the possibility.
"I'm inclined to agree with you, sweetie. If it wasn't for the fact that the bulletin board papered an inch thick with missing posters contradicts your theory vehemently." I pointed out.
"Yeah, unfortunately." Damon muttered underneath his breath and straightened up when a waitress walked over to us, all smiles.
"Can I get you both anything?" The woman asked, politely. I glanced briefly at her and smiled distractedly.
"Um, yeah. I'd love a tea, please." I requested; anything to stop her from buzzing around and getting the wrong impression about what Damon and I were doing if we struck gold with our findings.
"And you, dear?" She turned to Damon, who offered her a pained smile, apparently agreeing with me about how nosy she was being, considering that we weren't the only customers in this internet café.
"Nothing for me, thanks." Damon declined her offer, firmly. The woman wondered off to get my tea, and the smile on his face dropped into an annoyed grimace. "Hasn't she got anything better to do than hover around us?" He bitched, and I sighed and glanced at him helplessly.
"She's just doing her job, I suppose. Making sure that we're not doing anything illegal that could get her and her boss into trouble." I theorized, and Damon paused thinking this over before shrugging but still looking a tad sceptical. I turned back to the screen and started reading what had just finished loading, while Damon went back to his computer to begrudgingly continue his search, despite how obviously bored he was.
That was when I spotted something that caught my interest.
"I think I might've found something." I muttered, grabbing Damon's attention before he could take seat on his swiveling stool. "It says here that the weird and mysterious things started happening in this town soon after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake." I eyed Damon with interest, and he immediately shut down; seeming to understand why I was looking at him.
"Don't look at me. I mean, I heard about it; everyone did. But I was nowhere near California during the turn of the 20th Century." He explained, flippantly. I swiveled around on the seat to face him properly as he perched on the side of a table directly opposite the computer station I was at.
"What were you up to?" I asked curiously.
"Mourning the loss of Katherine and trying to distract myself; eventually drinking copious amounts of blood just to feel. And later still, not feeling, because I had turned off my switch." Damon explained, shrugging, and I shuddered, only imagining what Damon with his emotions off could be like. "Don't worry. My switch is firmly in place, sweets. I've got you to keep it there." I blinked at him in surprise when he said this, obviously accurately interpreting my thoughts and planting a brotherly kiss on my head, as well as a cheeky smile. "What else does that article say?"
I turned back and scrolled the page up to continue reading, with Damon grabbing a chair from the table behind us and straddling it backwards, so he could lean his chin on my shoulder, reading alongside me. I could feel his warm breath disturbing the peach fuzz on my neck.
"Only that it got worse around about a couple of decades ago." I read and snorted. "Although, it clearly doesn't bother the locals here, since they're walking about without a care in the world; being picked off like happy meals with legs." I scoffed, disgustedly.
"Thank you, Spike." Damon said, amusedly. "Are you sure that you're not the Buffy, the Vampire Slayer fan?" He wondered, and I hit him upside the head.
"Bugger off, Damon." I growled, half-heartedly. "But seriously, apart from a lot of people going missing, nothing is really ringing any alarm bells about why you, Nik and Elijah are so concerned about this place." I insisted.
Damon looked frustrated, "Well when you're right, you're right. What I saw that night, must've been a once off." He shrugged. "But we'd be idiots if we didn't watch our backs, just in case."
"That goes without saying, unfortunately." I said, logging off the computer and standing up from it, as Damon stood up from the chair he was straddling and spun it back round to push it back underneath the table. "I promised Nik and Elijah that I'd be smart and stay safe, and I plan to follow through with that plan. At least for my own sanity." I stated, just as the waitress returned with my tea.
"Leaving so soon?" She asked, looking worried.
"Of course not. I ordered this drink and I'm sticking around until I've finished it." I reassured the woman, who relaxed almost immediately and placed it on the table in front of me and wondered back to the counter to serve somebody else. Damon pulled the chair he had just pushed back in, back out and slouched down into it, looking annoyed as I blew on the scalding tea and sipped at it gingerly, so I didn't burn my tongue.
"So, what are we doing now?" He asked, absently drumming his long fingers on the table; his daylight ring on display as it glinted in the sunlight filtering in.
"Wanna go be 'tourists?" I asked, grinning at him. Damon made a face.
"God, why?" He looked at me like my idea was nuts. "Are you serious?" I nodded as I took another sip from my tea.
"Half. But mostly because I planned on buying souvenirs." I explained.
"For whom?" Damon asked, mildly interested.
"Bekah, Jeremy, Caroline." I paused, hesitating a little before mentally shrugging and continued listing. "Maybe even Elijah and Nik, if I can find something suitable and not too cheesy." I said, glancing at a couple of teenage boys hi-fiving each other after one of them got a high score on the PC game they were playing.
"What about Kol?" Damon asked, raising an eyebrow that I had neglected to mention my 'twin' on the list.
"Already done. I got it first night here." I stated, innocently. Damon didn't buy it but smirked anyway.
"What did you get him?" He asked, insistently. I simply held up the Vampire Comic book that I kept on my person, tucked away hidden in my inner jacket pocket with my machete.
"Thought he might get a chuckle out of it." I shrugged. Damon blinked at it for a fraction of a second before he started to chuckle as discreetly as he could without bringing attention to us. "What about you? Gonna follow my lead? Buy something for Bekah too, or a gag gift for Stefan?" I teased, and Damon looked like he was thinking about it, much to my surprise.
"Hadn't actually thought about it. But we'll see if I'm willing to waste my money on that." Damon responded, dismissively.
"You'd consider buying your girlfriend a gift a waste of money?" I frowned at him, a little offended on my sister's behalf.
"Not Rebekah. Stefan." Damon corrected me, patiently. "Considering how much of douche he's been behaving like recently; he'd be lucky if I just bought him a cheap stick of gum as a souvenir." He said, and I relaxed a little.
"Just so we're on the same page." I stated, smiling in relief. I finished the last drags of my tea before getting to my feet and looping my purse over my head. Damon speed-walked to the front door, while I paid for my drink and then we headed towards the Boardwalk.
Santa Clara Boardwalk
Day
Since we hadn't checked out the rides in the Amusement Park just yet, Damon and I immediately forked over $30 each for an unlimited ride wristband for the duration of the day. Then, I dragged Damon, who was feigning disinterest and pretending to resist my attempts to drag him, towards the thrill rides.
Many of the rides had changed since I was last here as a kid with my parents … and David, but thankfully the Giant Dipper was still functioning, and immediately Damon and I got in line and snagged the front seats. We spent most of the afternoon riding ride after ride, successfully forgetting that we were potentially in a very dangerous place, and just generally having a great time.
"C'mon! Let's hit the games!"
"Lead the way then." Damon nodded, looking a little relieved that we were stopping the rides for the moment. Walking through these stalls looking for a game to play, reminded me uncomfortably of the school carnival back in Mystic Falls when I first arrived in the town, and 'persuaded' by Elena to help, even though I barely knew her and the town, and was bound to attract some suspicious stares from the locals, because I was a new face. Damon suddenly hooked a hand underneath my elbow and pulled me to a stop.
"What?" I asked and turned towards one of the more popular games that Damon was staring at with obvious delight and eagerness.
"Fancy a game of Beer Pong?" He asked, grinning at me from ear to ear. I hesitated, not because I sucked at playing Beer Pong; on the contrary, it was one of the few games I didn't mind playing drunk. It was more because I was scanning the prizes available, trying to determine if it was worth was competing for one. When I noticed the abundant display of sock monkeys of all colours and sizes, I immediately grinned.
'I think Caroline would like one of those…' I thought and turned towards Damon, in excitement. "You're on!" We wondered over to the game and mingled in with the crowd to wait our turn. Eventually, Damon and I made it to the front of the crowd and were greeted by the vendor who was a nice-looking guy who looked roughly Elijah's physical age.
"Two please!" I requested the guy, who nodded with a pleasant smile and handed me a small bucket of ping pong balls and gave another bucket to Damon. We paid up and looked at each other competitively.
"Good luck!" The vendor guy bid us, and Damon turned to me and grinned.
"Ladies first." He invited, and I grinned and aimed the ping pong ball before giving it a small bounce. It landed smoothly in one of my red cups and bobbed on the water within it like a cork. The crowd surrounding us yelled 'ONE!' in unison and clapped congratulatorily.
"Your turn." I gestured to Damon who studied his ten blue cups of water and let fly with his ping pong ball. Like me, the ball landed neatly in one of the cups, and the crowd cheered enthusiastically. This went on for a few more tries until eventually, I won; getting all ten balls into my cups.
"Winner!" The vendor roared, grabbing one of my arms and raising it in the air, like I was a heavy-weight boxing champion. "Choose your prize, miss." He requested and I immediately pointed towards one of the large grey sock monkeys hanging overhead.
"One of those sock monkeys please." I requested, politely. The guy nodded and reached for a special hook to pull a sock monkey down. "Thanks!"
I joined Damon who had stepped away from the game to allow another person to have a go and smirked at me as I wondered over to him with my prize. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
"Beginner's luck." He teased. I pretended to be offended.
"Beginner's luck, my arse!" I snorted. "I'll have you know, I'm very good at Beer Pong; even when I'm tipsy." I preened, and Damon chuckled affectionately.
"Whatever you say, kiddo." He said, and we continued walking around to the other games.
At dusk, we went back to the motel to change into slightly warmer clothes, get dinner and put the presents I won or bought to wrap and pack away later.
"Hey, guys!" Both Damon and I paused when we stepped inside our room, and noticed Henrik, sitting cross-legged on the bed, and looking rather awkward. And for good reason too, because the second I looked at him, I went blank-faced. Damon took one look at me and raised an eyebrow. "You're angry, I know. But I knew that he could help you." Henrik attempted to explain.
"How was telling Nik that something was wrong with me, trying to help?" I demanded, as I shut the door behind me and dumped my purse, the grey sock monkey, a small carry bag containing an earring and necklace set I bought from a homemade jewelry vendor for Rebekah, and another carry bag containing Halo 4, Far Cry 3, and Assassin's Creed III (that I got second-hand, well-loved and in great condition) from another Boardwalk vendor for Jeremy, onto an armchair. "You know how overprotective and paranoid he gets." I chided him, sternly. Damon, who had slunk out of the room, the second Henrik started apologizing and attempting to explain himself, reappeared in the room looking suspicious.
"I get that. But you were hurting, and you needed him." Henrik defended his actions.
"What am I? Chopped liver?" Damon blurted out, and Henrik glanced at him with mild annoyance.
"Where it counts, yes." Henrik retorted, a little rudely, and Damon glowered. I was so not in the mood for this.
"Boys…" I said warningly. Damon backed off, but the insulted glare on his face never wavered, and Henrik sighed heavily; knowing that he had overstepped his boundaries.
"Sorry. That was a low blow." Henrik apologized, and Damon nodded once, accepting the apology. "But, in this circumstance, Niklaus was the one who needed to lend Grace comfort." He insisted, stubbornly.
"Why?" Damon asked, still frowning a little at the obvious brush off. I also couldn't help but be curious about why Henrik believed Nik was the better option in digging a little deeper into my problems. "What sort of comfort could Klaus bring to Grace that I wouldn't be able to give myself?" He asked, defensively.
"Because they grew up together, once-upon-a-time." Henrik reminded us. "Don't ask me why, and I'm pretty sure my siblings would back me up on this, but Nik and Grace, when they were kids, had this uncanny ability to be able to coax out of each other whatever was bugging them, whether they wanted to or not. It continued being like that up to right now." I paused for a moment, reflecting on this.
A small smile spread across my face, as long-lost memories of Nik and my childhood during the Middle Ages returned to me.
"He's right." I told Damon, who looked pensive. I remembered a lot of fights, tears, and temper tantrums (usually from Nik) but nine times out of ten, we both helped each other out where it counted. And apparently, it was still as affective today as it had been in the 10th Century.
"I still take a bit of offense over the fact that you both believe I wouldn't be able to help." Damon stubbornly pointed out; despite the acceptance I could read on his face.
"That may be true, Damon, but if push came to shove, even I'd call up Stefan to help solve your problems. Because he knows you better than I do; and he knows your triggers." I pointed out, logically.
"Triggers?" Damon echoed, confused.
"You know, things that might get you angrier or violent? I've seen this happen with you, and it's not pretty." I acknowledged and Damon frowned.
"I'd never take out my frustrations and anger out on you." Then he paused and thought for a moment. "Maybe on Stefan, but that's different—"
"You kinda did, when you first met me." I reminded him, and Damon looked sheepish. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not have a repeat performance." I said, sighing. "Just accept that Nik was the better option to deal with my problem and let it go." I suggested, tiredly.
"What was your issue?" Damon asked, curiously. I hesitated, but ultimately decided that it couldn't hurt to fill him in on some of the details.
"I was brooding over the fact that it appeared David couldn't be bothered trying to find me, or at least get in contact with me during our years apart." I said, feeling the pangs of hurt flaring up a little again. "It made me angry and hurt and Henrik obviously believed that I needed to let it out before I let it control me."
"Are you okay now?" Henrik asked, cautiously.
"Would you be okay, if Nik, Kol or Elijah ignored you for a long time, and then basically ran away from you when you next saw them?" I asked him, sceptically.
"I see your point." Henrik nodded, looking a little relieved that his death permanently instilled strong love and a desire to be around him always. Wish I could feel the same way. I just hoped that tonight I might get a simple straight answer out of David and pray that what he had to say was a good reason.
"I honestly wouldn't give a shit if Stefan failed to maintain contact with me for years." Damon remarked, carelessly. Henrik and I scowled at him, unconvinced.
"Yes, you would." We said in unison.
"You would be worried shitless that Stefan would be on another Ripper bender, or that somebody got lucky and put him out of his misery with the business end of the stake, so don't feed me that bullshit." I stated, firmly.
"You love your brother, Damon, even if he did do wrong by you and condemned you to this life." Henrik insisted. "You never stop loving those who mean a great deal to you, no matter the circumstances. Believe me, I learned that the hard way." I winced, knowing Henrik was referring to when he was mauled by werewolves and suffered a slow, excruciating death afterwards, devastating his family for the next twenty centuries and counting.
Damon chose to stubbornly, eye the both of us with a hard look before turning and disappearing back into the bathroom, leaving Henrik and I to ourselves, knowing that we had somehow touched a raw nerve that Damon wasn't up to discussing at present.
Santa Clara Boardwalk
Night
Damon remained stubbornly mum about the 'still-loving-Stefan-even-though-he-did-the-wrong-thing-by-him-when-they-were-still-human' subject Henrik and I began back at the motel, even though it had been originally an explanation about why I needed Nik's help dealing with my issues, when Damon was already on hand to offer help. Personally, I think it's all petty, and that Damon still needs to learn to live and let live, rather than letting his negative emotions surrounding Stefan fester and grow.
"What shall we do tonight?" I asked, trying to change the subject, and put an end to this uncomfortable atmosphere hovering around us like a dark, ominous cloud. "Check out the latest concert, or hit the rides and games again?" I listed, then grunted when something small and strong wrapped itself around my legs.
"Entertain a little kid?" Damon suggested and smirked, as I glanced down and saw a grinning Laddie hugging me tightly, like his life depended on it.
"Hey, Laddie! How you been?" I asked the ten-year-old, patting his slightly greasy hair awkwardly and ignoring the snarky mood Damon had suddenly adopted as a reaction to his negative emotions.
"I'm okay. We were hoping we'd find you here!" Laddie chirped excitedly, before clapping eyes on Henrik and grinning harder. "Hey, Henrik!"
Henrik offered him a mock salute, "Hey, mate!"
"Who's we? You and Star?" I asked, searching the crowd for the teenager, and frowning when I couldn't spot her. "You didn't run away from her again, did you?" I asked, a little disapprovingly.
"No, Star had to do something really quick." Laddie explained before turning to look through the crowd also. "I came here with one of my brothers."
"Really? Who?" I asked, suddenly alert in case the 'brother' happened to be David. Henrik grabbed a hold of my hand for some extra comfort as we waited for the anticipated 'brother' to make himself known. Laddie suddenly pointed frantically into the crowd.
"There he is!" He yelled, and all three of us followed his pointing finger. I deflated a little when the 'brother' turned out not to be David, but the biker who looked like he could potentially be Native American. "Dwayne! Over here!" Laddie continued yelling, before breaking away from my legs and running for this Dwayne guy, who gave Laddie a small smile and caught him when he launched himself at him.
"Hey, little man. Who's your friends?" Dwayne asked in a deep, raspy timbre voice that perfectly matched him, appearance wise. Dwayne was tall; easily six feet with long, thick jet-black hair, and tanned skin with some slight stubble around his upper lip, jawline, and chin. He had a piercing in his left earlobe from which a really cool looking tiger fang earring dangled from it.
Dwayne was shirtless but wore a beat-up looking black leather jacket with patches of leopard print material sown on his right shoulder and arm, wore black jeans which had both the knees ripped open, slightly scuffed black boots and what looked like an odd necklace with bits and bobs strung around his neck. Clearly, he was a fan of the eighties, and taking advantage of the fact that this was 80s week to dress up like he had literally come from then. Laddie took his 'brother's' hand and led him over to us.
"This is Grace, Damon and Henrik." Laddie introduced us individually. "Grace and Henrik saved me from those surfer jerks." He told Dwayne proudly.
I stiffened uncomfortably when Dwayne's dark brown, almost black eyes scrutinised all of us individually with a calculating stare as though trying to determine something about us that only he knew about. Damon looked extremely wary also, which was a relief, as I seriously thought that Nik's paranoia was rubbing off on me. The only one who seemed relaxed and totally at ease around this guy was Henrik, who took Dwayne's scrutinising in his stride. I guess there are perks about being dead; you no longer sweated the details, you just adapted to them.
Eventually, Dwayne offered a small, polite smile to us.
"It's nice to meet you. Thank you for protecting Laddie for us." Dwayne said, placing his hands on Laddie's shoulder in an obviously fatherly gesture.
"It was no trouble, really." I responded, with a warm smile. Laddie darted forward and grabbed both my and Henrik's hand, dragging us towards the thickening crowd.
"C'mon! We were going to the Rides when we saw you!" Laddie explained excitedly, as I allowed him to tow me towards the Boardwalk entrance.
"Sounds like fun!" I agreed. "Damon and I went there during the afternoon." I raised my wrist into the air, and Laddie's eyes widened at the bright, fluoro wristband that was taped securely around it.
"Woah! You're so lucky!" Laddie exclaimed, earning amused chuckles from both Henrik and I for his childlike exuberance. "What's your favourite ride?" He asked both of us, and while Henrik responded to his question, I glanced absently over my shoulder to see where Damon was and noted that he and Dwayne were following behind us, unhurried, but keeping an unusually large distance between them. "Grace?" I felt somebody tugging on my hand, and I glanced down to see Laddie's curious face blinking up at me as he waited for my answer.
"Oh, uh, I like the Giant Dipper." I answered the boy's question and almost immediately that started Laddie off on a tangent on how he was still a little too short to go on the ride, and how he couldn't wait until he could go on when he was taller. I caught Henrik's eye and saw that he was looking at me with a serious, concerned look on his face, and I subtly jerked my head in the direction of Damon and Dwayne walking behind us.
"Hey look! There's Paul and Marco!" Laddie hollered, immediately letting go of my hand and Henrik's and stampeding over to two other teenage boys.
One looked roughly Kol's physical age and clearly enjoyed listening to the heavy metal band Twisted Sister, as he looked almost like one of their singers with long platinum blonde hair that was wild and feathery, and looked like a lion's mane. He was wearing 'spray-on' white skinny jeans (that didn't leave much to the imagination, if you know what I mean), with what looked like scuffed black old-fashioned jackboots, and a sheer black fishnet shirt underneath an old formal black jacket with tails.
The other boy looked like he was in his late teens and was baby-faced. He had a curly honey blonde mullet, and a puckish grin on his face as he chewed on his thumbnail. I judged that he was slightly taller than I was (I'm 5'2), and he was wearing a custom-made Levi's jacket decorated with vintage Italian tapestries, vintage 80s biker patches, squid lures, misfits, skulls, and anarchy symbols, a white wife-beater crop top, fingerless black gloves, blue jeans, worn leather chaps, and some custom printed biker boots.
It was certainly an odd taste in clothes, I'll give you that.
"I'm getting some seriously weird vibes from these guys." Henrik piped up quietly from beside me, as we watched Laddie attempt to tackle 'Twisted Sister' and at the last minute ended up in a headlock from him and getting the mother of all noogies as he giggled uncontrollably.
"From Dwayne?" I asked, glancing once again at him and Damon, who were seemingly oblivious to the attention we were paying them.
"Him; and those guys." Henrik confirmed, as he also gestured to 'Twisted Sister' and 'Crop top guy' as they sauntered over to us with Laddie tucked securely underneath 'Twisted's' arm, as the child kicked and squealed to be put down while still giggling insanely. Laddie was eventually placed back on his feet, while Dwayne and Damon finally caught up to us; with Damon looking strangely stony-faced, for some reason.
"Grace! Henrik!" Laddie yelled like a bullhorn, and I barely managed not to flinch from the volume. "These are my other 'brothers', Paul and Marko!" He introduced, and the four of us began sizing each other up.
"Which is which?" I asked, casually. 'Twisted' offers me what can only be described as a 'panty-dropping' smirk and leers at me.
"I'm Paul, babe." He reaches for what looks like a rollie cigarette from behind his ear and wedges it between his lips as he pats himself down for a zippo lighter that he produces from his tails and lights up. A moment later, something sweet smelling wafts into my nostrils, and I wrinkle my nose delicately when I realised, I was smelling pot. "This is Marko." Paul thumbs over at 'Crop Top Guy', who gives a shy smile and a small wave in response.
So far, he's my favourite 'brother'.
"I'm Grace, obviously." I introduce myself and wrap an arm around Henrik's shoulders. "This is my kid brother-in-law, Henrik." A warm presence leans against my back, and I don't need to look back to know it is Damon. Paul eyes him curiously.
"Friend of yours?" He gestures to Damon, who smirks back at him, but his blue eyes narrow warningly.
"Yeah, this is my best friend, Damon." I introduced, feeling awkward.
"Damon Salvatore." Damon corrected from behind me, and Paul and Marko merely blink at him, unconcerned.
"Awesome." Paul grunts. I immediately turn my attention towards Laddie, who was looking a little uneasy at the tension that suddenly developed the second after Damon introduced himself and decided to promptly change the subject.
"So, Laddie, wanna hit the rides now?" I asked, trying to be as enthusiastic as possible. Laddie takes the bait and grabs my hand and Henrik's.
"YEAH, LET'S GO!" He crows loudly, and I sag with relief before jogging to keep up with Henrik and Laddie who had run on ahead, with the rest of us adults following at a more sedate pace.
Hitting the rides with Laddie, was like a crash course in being a mother taking care of her child and making sure he stayed out of trouble or didn't get injured. I didn't know whether or not I was looking forward to the possibility, (I was sticking to my guns that the premonition I had had about Nik and my child months ago, would come true), or scared shitless. Because little kids were hard work.
Occasionally, Henrik, Paul and/or Marco would take over and entertain Laddie while I watched from a distance, but it appeared that Henrik and I were quickly becoming Laddie's new favourite people to play with. Dwayne and Damon chose to observe from a distance, with Damon being no help at all, and mostly just smirking at me unsympathetically. Suddenly, out of the blue, Dwayne, Paul and Marco suddenly announced that it was time to leave. I fully expected Laddie to pout and chuck a temper tantrum. But instead, he obediently walked over to Dwayne and held his hand as the three teenagers made their way to the Boardwalk entrance.
"Hey, you wanna come back to our place?" Paul suddenly and randomly invites Damon, Henrik, and me. Dwayne and Marco turn and look back to see what our reactions would be, while Laddie looked at us pleadingly, obviously not ready for us to call it a night.
"Sure, why not?" I piped up, seeing no danger in this kind gesture, and not seeing Damon's eyes widen in alarm, or Henrik to look a bit worried. I turned to them and began to state my case. "C'mon guys, this is the perfect chance for me to interrogate David about his absence from my life. Just give me this, please?" I urged, and Henrik and Damon exchanges glances between them before reluctantly agreeing. The three of us follow the quartet towards where their bikes were idling nearby. David's triumph was also there, minus its owner.
"So where is your place?" Henrik asked, curiously.
"Near Hudson's Bluff." Dwayne responded in his monotone voice. "We found it a few years back and claimed it as ours." He added.
"Sounds intriguing." Damon commented, raising a sceptical eyebrow.
"Yes, it is." A familiar voice pipes up, and I stiffen slightly before turning to face my brother. "The history is even better." David smirked, and his friends all loudly greet him, but not once did he stop looking at me. "I'm David, and you are?" He asked Damon, who frowns but offers his hand to my brother to shake.
"Damon Salvatore." He responds, cautiously. David's smirk broadens.
"And how do you know my kid sister?" He asks, and Damon's frown deepens.
"Sister?" Paul blurts out, surprised, while Dwayne and Marco merely react when David says this. "Since when did you have a sister?" He asked, a little rudely. David rolls his eyes, obviously used to Paul.
"Since forever." David responded, bored.
"Why didn't you mention her before?"
"Why do you need to know?" David retorted, sternly. Paul immediately backs off, but a mischievous smirk spread across his face.
"I met him when I moved to the small town of Mystic Falls in Virginia." I answered David's question for Damon. David looks at me curiously.
"Did you now? How interesting." He said, before straddling his bike. This seemed to be the signal for everyone else to mount theirs, as the next noise I heard was the loud roar of the bikes coming to life. "Shall we?" David asks me rhetorically, and I raise an eyebrow before walking over to him and getting on the bike behind him, wrapping my arms securely around his waist. "Pick a bike, any bike." David instructs Damon and Henrik, who turn towards the other three.
Laddie is immediately picked up and deposited on the back of Dwayne's bike, before the owner sits in front of him. Damon makes a face, before reluctantly walking over to Paul, who looks just as unenthusiastic about having him as a passenger too but steadies his bike as Damon flings his leg over the bike and takes a seat behind him. Henrik gets on Marco's bike without complaint, and Marco is seemingly nonchalant about it.
"Hold on tight." David murmurs to me, and I nod, feeling slightly suspicious of his motives.
The four bikes made their way a little further away from the Boardwalk entrance, and Damon and I looked at each other nervously, then in confusion when David suddenly came to an abrupt stop. I turned to see what had caught my brother's attention and became alert when I saw Star and that same guy who was lusting over her, talking and about to ride off somewhere … before David and the boys intercepted and surrounded them on their bikes.
"What's going on, David?" I muttered in my brother's ear. He ignored my question, instead focusing completely on the couple in front of us with intimidation radiating from every pore on his body.
"Where you going, Star?" David demanded, coolly. Star looked at him with obvious distain on her face, but responded almost submissively despite the crispness of her tone.
"For a ride." Star responded, promptly. "This is Michael." She introduced the guy on the older and outdated Honda 250 he was straddling. Obviously sensing the tension in the air, the newly introduced Michael, gently grabs Star's arm and guides her towards the back of his bike.
"Let's go." He suggests, and Star nods once and moves to hop on Michael's bike. I immediately feel David stiffen up underneath my arms that were wrapped around his waist, and I raise an eyebrow at this. Was Star, David's girlfriend?
"Star…" David speaks up, warningly. She pauses, looking at David with obvious frustration in her brown eyes before she reluctantly walks away from Michael's bike and over to where David and I were idling. Star stops when she sees me sitting behind David and frowns at me in confusion. "Ride with Marco." David 'suggests' and Star, still looking at me, walks over to Marco who helps her onto his bike. I immediately look for Henrik, and relax when I see him sitting behind Laddie on Dwayne's bike. He smiles reassuringly at me, and I glance at Damon for his interpretation of what had just happened. He shrugs at me, looking just as perplexed as I felt.
"You know where Hudson's Bluff is overlooking the point?" David asks Michael, who glances at David's Triumph and immediately looks wary. It is a clear invitation, and Michael is obviously tempted, but something seems to be holding him back. Insecurities maybe? Or the feeling of being outclassed? He was certainly outnumbered, should he challenge these guys, and I highly doubted that even Damon and I interfering would save Michael, should a fight break out.
"I can't beat your bike." Michael points out. David raises an eyebrow at the response, before giving him an amused smirk.
"You don't have to beat me, Michael. You just have to try and keep up." David explains, and revs his bike. I immediately tighten my grip around his waist, and I feel David's body vibrate from his chuckles. "A bit jumpy aren't we, sis?" He mocks, and I glower at the back of his head.
"It's been a while since I've been on a motorbike, David." I retorted, and David guns his engine again before allowing his bike to rev back down.
"Enjoy the ride then." My brother suggests, and immediately takes off down the pier before making a detour and bouncing down some concrete steps and onto the beach.
The other boys and Michael were quick to follow, and I nearly grinned in amusement when I heard Damon swear colourfully back where he was with Paul. Glancing back, I immediately spot why; Paul wasn't exactly a responsible looking driver, and seemed to like weaving about and taking dangerous and sharp turns whenever he felt like it, cackling insanely as he did so. I winced, trying to think of ways to make it up to Damon once we were away from my brother and his strange friends.
The second all five of us were on the beach, the bikes picked up speed as they spin out from the Boardwalk, spraying sand and forcing late-night beachgoers to move out of the way, so they didn't get run over. People we passed by on the beach turn to look at us as we roared past, heading towards the more deserted part of the beach. We weave between roaring bonfires, and straight through the surf, before heading for the pier Damon, Henrik and I spotted sea lions sunbaking on, at full speed. The thick wooden, barnacle and shell crusted pylons became a hazardous obstacle course for us, and I glanced back to see how Michael was faring, and winced when I saw him skid and slow down to avoid colliding with a pylon.
However, my brother and his friends do the exact opposite, and increase their speed, much to mine, Damon and Henrik's horror; despite two out of three of us likely to survive if their driver suddenly lost control and crashed. Mostly because they were technically dead.
I wasn't as lucky.
David and the rest thread their way through the pylons at breakneck speed, and I dig my hands into my brother's side; indicating how anxious I was becoming. Not that he noticed, of course, as they executed turns and appeared to avoid collisions in a way that didn't seem possible. We come to an area of gently rolling sand dunes, with a bonfire burning beside one of them. One by one, David and his friends fly straight through the flames of the bonfire and land upright on the beach below.
I was SO glad Nik was NOT around to witness all this. Not only would I be dead meat, but Damon would be deader than he already was, and Rebekah and I would be losing him in the long run. Because in Nik's eyes, Damon would've failed to protect me or stopped me from doing this. We all pause and turn towards Michael, who is the last to attempt this.
You don't have to do this, Michael… I thought, urgently. It's obvious that Michael is hesitant and nervous about attempting this stunt, but the expression that I saw on his face; told me that he didn't want to chicken out. No one's gonna think any less of you if you don't attempt this… But sure enough, Michael speeds up the dune, and flies through the flames before hitting the beach. I held my breath, (and I'm pretty sure Star did too) when he almost comes off the bike on impact. But Michael somehow manages to right himself almost immediately.
I glance at David, and is surprised to see a look of begrudging approval on his face. A single glance at the others show that Dwayne, Marco and Paul were impressed also. But Damon was looking exasperated and rolled his eyes, while Henrik looked troubled. We continue on, and come across a railroad trestle, which naturally (because why the hell not?) we speed across it. David slows down a little, to allow Michael to ride up along side us, and he turns and gives him a devilish smile that immediately makes me wary.
"Now we race!" David shouts to be heard above the noise of the wind and the motors at Michael, and my eyes widen in alarm.
"We're gonna WHAT?!" I hollered, and bit back a shrill scream when David suddenly speeds ahead. I vaguely hear Damon, Henrik and a voice that sounded uncomfortably like Nik's in my head, shouting out my name in horror, as Michael takes off after him. "Slow down, dammit!" I yell at David, panicking, just as his Triumph streaks across the flat surface of the bluff, and Michael isn't too far behind us. At the last minute, David brakes and his tires lock and the bike skidded to a stop, with his front wheel hanging slightly off the edge of a cliff that had a nasty looking plummet to some moon-lit rocks below.
"HOLY SHIT!" I breathed, and Michael bailed just before his bike made the plummet. I gasped out of sheer fright, and scowled unamused at a calm looking David. "Are you insane!?" I growled at him, but found myself shoved unceremoniously off the bike, just as a pissed off Michael got up from underneath his bike and came at David, swinging his fist and punching him in the face.
"What the hell are you doing?" Michael demanded, just as the other bikes arrive to witness the assault.
"NO!" screams Star in terror, and I glanced back at my brother and Michael in surprise. I concluded that David had obviously seen what Michael was about to do, and deliberately shoved me out of the path of Michael's fist for my own protection.
"Are you alright?" Damon asked, blocking my view of my brother, looking worried about me and pissed, as we watched Michael shout at my brother for goading him into nearly killing himself.
Not that I blamed him, to be honest.
David slowly turned his head back to face Michael, looking unconcerned that he had just been punched in the face.
"Just you. Come on." Michael challenged David, who raised an eyebrow. "Just you." A cocky, mildly arrogant smile spreads across my brother's face. "Come on. Just you." Michael insists, as we all wait for David's response.
"How far are you willing to go, Michael?" David questions him, and Michael looks taken aback by the question. I reach up to grab Damon's hand, and allowed him to pull me to my feet. I instantly froze when I spotted a lighthouse off in the distance on a nearby cliff.
Damon notices this.
"What's wrong with you?" He demands, alert and looking on edge.
"That lighthouse." I pointed it out to Damon, who turns and looked at it blankly.
"What about it?" Damon asks, looking confused as Henrik sidles up to me, also checking me over for injuries as well, before listening in to what I had to say.
"Do you remember what I told you on the bus getting here? About my premonition?" Damon nods, still not catching on. "I mentioned a lighthouse on a cliff." I reminded him, and Damon's eyes widen a little.
"Creepy." He observes, looking a little unnerved also.
"You're not wrong." I agreed, as we both turn and follow the others down some rickety looking wooden stairs, passing huge signs reading: 'CONDEMNED', 'UNSAFE', or 'UNLAWFUL TO GO PAST THIS POINT'. David and the others seemed to ignore them and pressed on towards a large opening in the rocks, followed closely by Star, Laddie and a wary looking Michael. "C'mon. We better catch up." I suggested, and Damon and Henrik hesitated before following rapidly to catch up with me, when they realised I was heading in with or without them.
A Cave near Hudson's Bluff
Night
Michael, Damon, Henrik and I follow our hosts into the cave, which was at first, very dark; we (meaning Michael and I) could not see what was in our paths, and were completely dependent on whoever was in front of us to stop ourselves from falling flat on our faces or skinning our knees on the wet rocks beneath our feet. Then there was light up ahead, and the very second we stepped into it; none of us could believe what we were seeing: what appeared to be an old-fashioned Victorian-style hotel lobby that had seemingly dropped through a crack in the earth.
"There's something you don't see every day." Damon spoke up, sounding mildly impressed and bewildered at what he was seeing.
"No kidding." Henrik drawled, sarcastically.
The 'lobby' was tilted and broken, but virtually intact, complete with a front desk, lobby mural; a broken wrought-iron elevator, and other old-fashioned items that Damon would know more of than probably any of us, since he grew up during the Victorian-era. Shafts of moonlight shot down from the cracks in the ceiling, illuminating a couple of oil drums which Paul immediately dips a flaming torch into, igniting whatever was inside them and creating more light, and a random wheelchair that stood off to the side a little. There were some 'homely' touches that the four boys had obviously added: an enormous headshot poster of Jim Morrison from The Doors, a beat-up old couch, a mechanic's large red toolbox; the kind with with numerous drawers, and other miscellaneous crap.
What caught my interest the most was a large pile of books that were not too faraway from the old couch, which made me question who amongst this group was the resident bookworm. My unspoken question was answered when Dwayne made a beeline for the couch and grabbed a book, immediately beginning to read from it.
"Hit the rock box, buddy!" Paul calls out to Laddie, who immediately nods and heads over towards a large ghetto blaster and turns it on. Aerosmith featuring Run DMC's Walk This Way immediately blasts from the speakers, as Laddie runs over to where Paul is dancing on the edge of a dry fountain, and hands him the box.
"This was the hottest resort in Santa Carla about eighty-years ago." David's voice rang out, echoing around the cavernous room and drawing almost everyone's attention. "Too bad they built it right on top of the San Andreas Fault." Damon, Michael, Henrik and I walked deeper into the cave, and started rubbernecking around the room as David continued his explanation. "In 1906, when the big one hit San Francisco, the ground opened up and this place took a header into the crack." David concluded his tale.
"Man, you wouldn't believe the cool stuff we've found in here." Paul piped up, excitedly.
I continued looking around, impressed at the hideout David and his friends had managed to make their own, and spotted a four-poster bed with lacey, moth-eaten sheer curtains I had failed to notice at first glance, off to the side. Star was sitting on the bed, with a shawl wrapped around her shoulders, looking at the rest of us worriedly.
What's the matter with you, I wonder? I thought, frowning with concern before jumping a little when somebody wrapped an arm around my shoulders, grabbing my attention. At first, I thought it was Damon, but the scent that engulfed me wasn't his familiar leather, expensive bourbon and faint blood smell, and I turned my head and saw David's face smirking back at me.
"I'm going to have to put a little bell on you." I scowled at him. "Next time, make a bit of noise before you scare the hell out of someone, huh?" I chided, and David looked amused by what I said.
"I'll keep that in mind, Lil' Sis." David said, before guiding me down towards the fountain where everyone else had congregated while I had been distracted with my exploring. "Marko, food!" David ordered, and Marko nodded obediently and disappeared back out of the cave. "That's what I love about this place. You ask, and then you get." I took a seat beside Damon, who threw me a questioning look.
"Are you okay?" He whispered to me, and I smiled and nodded; for the moment, unconcerned and fairly relaxed despite my brother and his mates acting a little strangely. I glanced back up at David, and watched as he accepted a joint from a still dancing around Paul.
"Thank you." He said, and Paul shrugged like it was no big deal.
"Yeah." Then he darted away, pulling Laddie in to dance with him and attempting to coax a thoroughly disinterested Dwayne, who was still immersed in his book, to join in also.
"Appetizer?" I grunted a little when Damon elbowed me gently in the ribs and I turned to swear at him, when he pointed towards David who offered Michael the joint. The teenager accepted it without hesitation. I frowned as a thought occurred to me.
"Can you get high?" I asked Damon, who looked taken aback by my question, then made a face.
"Yeah. But I choose not to. I don't like the cloudiness, even though it takes a bit to get me to that stage." Damon responded, and I notice David eyeing us with interest, as though he could hear every word we were muttering quietly to each other.
"So, it doesn't have the same affect that alcohol has on you?" I asked, curiously.
"Nope." Damon confirmed. "I partook of pot back in the '60s and '70s, but it didn't have the same appeal to me as it did for everyone else. It just gets you high, nothing more. Alcohol stops the cravings, and the older you are, the harder it is to get drunk." Damon continued his explanation on the difference between both narcotics.
I smirked, "Then you must be a lightweight then. Because I've seen you drunk on more than one occasion." I teased, wiggling my eyebrows at him. Damon grabbed me in a very gentle and playful headlock.
"Brat." He scolded, and I fought half-heartedly to escape from his clutches before Damon eventually released me and pulled me closer to kiss my temple. I darted away and approached Dwayne and his collection of books. He glanced up at me, and eyed me cautiously as I squatted beside the collection of books and examined the titles curiously.
"You may read one, if you like." I glanced up, startled, and smiled appreciatively at Dwayne.
"Thank you." I said, and Dwayne shrugged before returning his attention back to his book. I turned back to the books before spotting Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, and eagerly moved to grab it, only to pause when I realised a couple of things: it was bound in leather with gold leaf lettering, and it was a 1st edition. "Woah…" I gingerly reached for the book, and carefully extracted it from the pile before nodding once again at Dwayne and taking it back over to the fountain, where I sat cross-legged on the edge of it beside Damon, and used him as a leaning post as I started reading.
A few minutes later, I was just getting to a good bit in the book when David's voice suddenly boomed out loud.
"Feeding time. Come and get it, boys." I glanced up and saw that Marko had returned, carrying a large cardboard box with Chinese takeaway boxes contained within it. I wedged a random piece of paper I found on the sandy, rocky covered floor in the spine of the book, and set it aside as Marko started passing out the food.
"All right. Food time." Paul crowed, cheerfully.
"All right." Dwayne agreed, grabbing his own box and returning back to the couch to eat it.
"Chinese. Good choice." David complimented Marko's decision, accepting a box from him.
"Over here, bud!" Paul yelled out to Marko, who grabbed a random box and threw it at him. David looked at Michael, and leaned over offering the box in his hand towards him. Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I turned and saw Marko standing beside my knee, offering me a box with a shy smile.
"Thanks a lot." I said, taking the box and opening it; revealing some greasy looking noodles marinated in what looked like soy sauce. I glanced at Damon, who was already tucking into what looked like fried rice, and shrugged before scooping up some noodles with my chopsticks and eating them.
"No, thanks. I'm not hungry." Henrik politely declined, and a slightly confused Marko frowned before shrugging and retreating to eat his own portion of the Chinese food.
"Guests first." David stated, and Michael raised a hand and waved the food away.
"No. No, thanks."
David raised an eyebrow, "You don't like rice?" He didn't pull back the box, as Michael continued to stare at him, not taking the box. "Tell me, Michael, how could a billion Chinese people be wrong?" Michael takes the carton warily and David immediately turns his back on him and returns to the wheelchair, taking a seat on it and digging into his own food. Michael puts a sporkful of rice into his mouth, and continues rubbernecking around the room, taking it all in.
"Thanks." He says to David, who shrugged. Then a mischievous smirk spread across his face, and both Damon and I pause eating, waiting to see what he was up to.
"So how do you like those maggots, Michael?" David asks him, casually. Damon immediately looks down at his box since he was also eating rice, obviously inspecting his own food, before looking back up at David suspiciously when nothing seemed amiss. Michael blinks back at my brother, blankly.
"What…?" He muttered, his mouth full. Paul, Dwayne and Marko start sniggering, while Star frowns disapprovingly at them.
"Maggots, Michael." David repeats himself. "You're eating maggots. How do they taste?" He asks, a little sarcastically. Michael scoffs disbelievingly, before looking down at his food. I had never seen somebody turn as green as Michael did in that second, and he immediately spits out his mouthful in horror and revulsion, and throws down the carton to the ground.
Both Damon and I look down at the spilled food, and react in confusion when we notice that it is just rice.
"What's the gag?" Damon blurts out, frowning at David, unamused as Paul and Marko start cackling like hyenas and Dwayne merely smirks. Michael looks mortified, just as Star gets to her feet over by the bed.
"Leave him alone." She scolds the boys. Paul and Marko immediately stop laughing, but I could still hear muted snickering and I rolled my eyes and continued eating. Even Kol had more maturity than these two. David's teasing smirk sobers, and he starts mixing his food with his chopsticks.
"Sorry about that." He says to Michael, not really sounding sorry at all. I scowl at him disapprovingly, and he ignores me. "No hard feelings, huh?"
Michael eyes him suspiciously, "No."
"Why don't you try some noodles?" David leans forward and offers Michael his box of food. Michael glances into the box and immediately shudders.
"They're worms." Michael points out, and I pause and glance down at my half-eaten meal and relax when they still look like noodles and not earthworms. That would put me off completely. David raises an eyebrow at him, confused.
"What do you mean, they're worms?" David grabs a clump of the noodles with the chopsticks and pulls them from the box. Michael immediately goes to stop him.
"Don't eat…" He pauses when David puts noodles into his mouth instead of worms like he expected.
"They're only noodles, Michael." David reassures him, a little patronizingly. Star walks right up to him, looking annoyed.
"That's enough!" She insists.
"Chill out, girl." Paul retorts, glaring a little at Star who retreats back into the shadows, but remains close; probably to continue protecting Michael.
"Fascinating, isn't it?" Damon whispers into my ear, and I turn and raise an eyebrow, looking at him sceptically.
"Are we watching the same thing?" I asked him, dubiously. Part of me was just glad that David seemed to be just focusing on torturing poor Michael for now. Suddenly, David leans over to Marko and whispers something in his ear. He nods, and disappears momentarily, before returning with a dusty looking wine bottle, decorated in precious jewels and something red sloshing around inside it, which he hands to David. My mouth falls open, and I feel stunned at what I'm seeing. "Holy hell…" I murmur, instantly drawing both Henrik and Damon's attention.
Paul notices my shock, and misinterprets it.
"Very cool, huh?" He says, and I smile weakly.
"That's one way to describe it." I agree, but inwardly I was freaking out.
This was the second thing from my premonition to come true, and now all I wanted to do was get the hell out of here right now with Damon and Henrik. But before I could act upon these desires, David pops open the top of the bottle and takes a large mouthful from it. He winces, shuddering with obvious pleasure as he swallows before slowly opening his eyes and looking right at me with a piercing stare. I raise an eyebrow; that was an odd reaction to have after sipping at some wine.
"Would you like a drink, Grace?" David asks, handing over the bottle to me.
I take it hesitantly, figuring that there was nothing wrong with having a little sip, and study the bottle curiously. I held up the bottle to my nose and took a sniff, recoiling almost immediately. This was the unmistakable scent of fresh blood; having spent most of my time around vampires since moving to Mystic Falls, it was easy to identify the unique smell. I glance up and see the expectant faces of Paul, Marko and Dwayne waiting for me to take a sip, and the blank face of David, who was watching me intently.
I cleared my throat, "I think I'll pass. I've got a cold, and I don't want to infect everyone else." I lied, faking a cough. David seemed to relax subtly, and nodded in acceptance while Marko looked disappointed, Dwayne looked suspicious, and Paul booed and hissed before shutting up at the sharp glance that David threw at him. "But I think Damon might enjoy a few swigs." I said, passing the bottle to a puzzled Damon who takes it and examines the bottle also.
"You don't have to, you know." Star pipes up, sounding a little anxious, but shrinks in on herself when the other boys (minus Michael and Henrik) throw her glares for interfering.
"Trust me, this is Damon's particular vintage of wine. He'll enjoy it immensely." I stressed, giving Damon a meaningful look. He looks at me like I'm crazy, before shrugging and taking a mouthful. Instantly, his baby blues widen the second the blood touches his tongue and I give him a 'see what I mean' look.
"This is nice. Where'd you get it?" Damon asks, smacking his lips theatrically and giving David a harsh look, indicating that both of us were on to him. David's eyes widened subtly, but he managed to recover as he responded easily.
"It was given to us by a friend of ours." David lied very obviously, as he took back the bottle from Damon.
"He's obviously got excellent taste." Damon enthused, darkly. David turns his attention towards Michael.
"Drink some of this, Michael." He invites the teenager, who takes the bottle just as warily as he did with the Chinese food. "Be one of us." I made to stop him, but Damon grabbed my wrist with lightning-fast reflexes and shook his head no when I looked at him accusingly.
"Michael! Michael!" Paul and Marko start chanting, as Michael hesitates even more. Star takes this opportunity to do what I had intended to do before Damon stopped me.
"Don't. You don't have to, Michael." Star states.
"Take a chance." Paul contradicts Star's suggestion. "Michael. Take a chance."
"Michael. Michael." The chanting continues, getting rather annoying, as Damon and I sat watching with serious expressions on our faces. Henrik came over and sat down beside us.
"What's going on?" He asks, worriedly. I leaned down and whispered in his ear.
"There's blood in that wine bottle." I whispered, and Henrik's eyes widened in horror.
"Oh, shit."
"Michael. Michael. Michael."
Star leans towards Michael, "It's blood." She insists, and both Damon and I mentally clap hands to our foreheads in exasperation. It was probably the worst thing that Star could've said to Michael; especially in a situation where peer pressure was coming into play. Michael immediately scoffs at her disbelievingly.
"Yeah, sure. Blood." He takes a huge swig from the bottle and all four of us wince.
"Bravo!" cheers David, and the other boys cheer for Michael also as the teen continues drinking the blood, looking rather content.
Michael, you idiot! I mentally shout at him, as Star corrals a scared Laddie behind her as they back away to the bed. Paul walks over and slaps Michael on the shoulder congratulatorily.
"You're one of us, bud. Let the good times roll." He grins, and Michael returns the grin in between sips. Paul walks over to Damon and goes to shake his hand also. "Welcome to the club."
Damon merely gives Paul a sarcastic smile back and returns the handshake, making sure to squeeze the hand as hard as he could, causing Paul to wince a little at his powerful grip. "Easy on the goods, dude." Paul said, extracting his hand from Damon, who made a face.
"Dude? Really?"
"Let it go, Damon." I urged, already over everything, and I had the feeling the night had only just begun. It was official: we were in very, very big trouble.
A/N: Another chapter finished! Hope you enjoyed reading this, and are eagerly anticipating the next one. Until then, please review and we'll see you at the next chapter!
TTFN 😎