Caught Off-Gaurd
Slowly the night's sky turns as the sun rises, the cool breeze of Fall blowing through the beach town. The working class has started to rise for the day, and the creatures of the night settle in. Well, not all of them. One, in particular, was pacing around his suburban home. The air around him felt tense, and he felt like he was being watched. The feeling actually started a few days ago, but last night it was intense.
Maximus, or Max, has been living in a state of ignorance for the past few decades. He has secrets. Secrets even his sired children didn't know. As far as his boys were concerned, they were his first coven. That's not the case. His first coven was long gone, thought to be dead. He should know, he watched the group of them get attacked. Max didn't stay long enough to watch the whole thing. He couldn't. Max may have loved his coven, but they were a coven, not a family.
And Max wanted a family. It was why he turned David and his brothers so young. Barely adults, old enough to pass as adults, young enough to be moldable. At least that's what he thought. Over the past few decades, David, Dwayne, Paul, and Marko have started to defy him, act out. Max was not going to stand for that. He was growing tired of their antics. Max was planning to anonymously alert some hunters to take care of The Lost Boys and start over. Not all boys this time, and maybe a little younger, more pliant.
Max's inner turmoil and pacing stopped abruptly at the sound of Thorn's growling from outside on the front porch. His Hellhound is on high alert. He knows it's not because of the Lost Boys, the sun is rising. Thorn's growling continues to get louder, now he is barking. Meaning who or whatever is outside is getting closer. Max stood in the center of his living room, listening to his Hellhound. He was waiting for Thorn to stop growling or an attack. There was no indication of neither. Max edged to the front door, opening it enough to see the porch but not enough for sunlight to reach him. He was greeted by a shocking sight, "Ada?"
A woman that looks no older than twenty, stood on his front porch petting Thorn, "Hello, brother." The woman stood at 5 foot 6 inches, with long brunette hair, big light brown eyes, and slim but fit. She was beautiful. She was his sister. A sister he thought he would never see again due to her death. He felt it when she died. How is Ada standing here before him? Max was so stuck in thought, he didn't have a chance to fight back when three others forced their way inside. Ada closed the front door behind her and Thorn.
He was forced to sit on the couch in front of the fireplace. Max got a good look at the three others in the room. All girls looking around the same ages. Ada sat in his lounger, staring at him while stroking behind Thorn's ears. Max tried to struggle against the three girls holding him down. But it was no use, all three of them were stronger than him. It means, they were also vampires and just as old as him.
Max stopped struggling when his sister spoke, "It's been a long time, brother. I'd say close to 530 years." Ada smiled at her brother, but it was cold. She was as happy to see him as he was with her. She leaned forward in the chair, "Surprized to see me? After you turned our coven over to the hunters?" Her smile faded into a scowl, "Those hunters killed Donovan, Louis, Seth, Angelica, and Claudia. I was near death, bleeding out on the floor when they set fire to our home. I crawled into the ash duct below the fireplace. Trying to shield myself from the fire. The others were staked and had already turned to ash. Once the fire had died down, and I knew the hunters were gone, I crawled out of the rubble and hid. I buried myself deep into the earth to heal for over a hundred years. When I emerged, I started building a new coven. All the while, vowing to hunt you down."
Ada leans back in the lounger, "It took some time, but we eventually found you. And when we did, we watched you from the shadows. And I have to say, Max, your new coven…"
"You stay away from my boys!" Max yelled, trying to get out of these girls' grip. He may have been planning to get rid of them and start over, but he wanted it to be by his hand. Not his sister's. A humorless echoed throughout the home. "We will see about that," Ada's emotionless face gave away nothing.
Wake Up Call
David woke before the sun was fully set. He is usually the first to wake, but not this early. It was the screaming voice of Max that woke him. Pleading with him to come to his house for some unknown reason. David tuned Max out for now. He jumped down from the bar they clung to when they slept. He slipped on his boots, dusted off his coat, and ventured into the main room, or 'Lobby', of the sunken hotel. David dug into his front pocket for his smokes, shook the pack until a cigarette stuck out enough to grab with his teeth, then lit it. Enjoying the brief silence before the others woke, or Max's voice got louder.
Sitting in his Wheelchair/throne, he had a good view of the lobby. It looked the same as it did before they went to sleep. Except for the small TV with a built-in VCR sitting on the edge of the concrete fountain with a note stuck to it. The note said, 'Press play.' David was reaching to turn it on, but before he could Dwayne, Marko, and Paul entered the lobby. Paul, being the hyper one that can't stand still came over to David first, "What's this?" David looked at him like it was obvious, then looked back to the TV, "I don't know. I was about to turn it on." Marko pulled Paul to the floor next to him, "Well, turn it on." Dwayne stood behind the other two blondes and nodded his head. David turned the TV on and pressed play on the VCR.
It was static at first then an unfamiliar face came on the screen, petting a familiar white Husky sitting inside a familiar living room, "Hello, boys. Let me introduce myself. The name's Ada. Long story told very short. Maximus has been detained, so to speak. You see, he and I go way back. Too far in time to go into detail. Anyway, my coven and I have been watching the five of you, and needless to say, I am ashamed of how my brother has been treating you four." The revelation that Max had a sister was shocking. David and his brothers wonder what other secrets he had kept from them. Ada had Max's glasses in her hands. She paused for a moment and held them up to her eyes, "Good lord, no wonder he didn't see us coming." David and his boys laughed and watched as she tossed them behind her.
Ada cleared her throat, "From what we could see, you boys are being kept on a short but slack leash." The boys growled at that remark. They knew they didn't have true freedom with Max. Ada glanced behind the camera, "The sun is supposed to set around 5 in the evening. It is now, a little before 4 in the afternoon. By 7 tonight, Max will be dealt with. My coven and I have spent centuries chasing leads, hunting Maximus down. He is responsible for the death of my original coven. All because I gave the gift of immortality, a gift he didn't want. Not at first anyway. It seems he's grown accustomed to the lifestyle in his own way. However, it is not a coven he wants, it's a family. Complete with a picket fence and an obedient dog. He never truly was a part of the coven. The hunters showing up to our home immediately after he disappeared told us that. One of my girls brought this message to you. Yes, she went out when the sun was shining." A girl with short, white hair and violet eyes, leaned into view of the camera and waved. The boys could see she was unharmed by the sun. "We'll get into that later. You boys have a choice to make. You could either stand by and watch as I tear my brother apart, or you can do it? You have until 7 pm."
The video had switched back to static. David shut the tv off. He doesn't even say anything, he doesn't need to. David just gets up from his wheelchair and leaves the cave. His brothers follow behind him. Mounting their bikes and heading for the beach for a quick feed. They found a small bonfire with two couples sitting around it. The whole thing happened quicker than they would have liked. The boys usually taunt or lure their food to a secluded area of the beach before draining them. But they were in a hurry. None of them wanted to miss Max's demise.
Max's House
The house was in a neighborhood. It was quiet, almost peaceful. The area residents were mostly retired couples with grown children that only visited during the holidays. The most noise in that area came from the motorcycles the boys ride. Pulling up to Max's house, the boys notice an older, American muscle car. A 1970 Chevy Chevelle SS, all black with leather interior. It was a nice car, very well kept.
David winced from the volume of Max's voice in his head. He knew Max heard the bikes pull up. David could feel Max trying to compel him and his boys to rush inside and kill his captors. Being young in terms of vampire aging, David and his boys should not have been able to resist Max's compulsion. It was like their sire has lost his grip on them.
"Come on, boys. We don't want to miss this," David dismounted his bike and headed for the front door. With Thorn not greeting them with a growl and baring teeth, they walk right in. The first thing they notice is Thorn laying in front of the fireplace on his side, absorbing the heat, his tail gave a small wag before falling. He doesn't move from his spot when the boys walk further into the house.
The next thing they could see is Max tied to a chair in the middle of a cleared-out living room. The furniture had been moved to one side of the room. The couch is occupied by two girls, Ada is sitting in the lounger, and they could hear another person moving about in another room down the hall.
Ada broke the silence, "Gentlemen, glad you could make." David nods his head. The boys had spread out. Paul and Marko were sitting on the arms of the couch. Dwayne leaned against the mantle of the fireplace. David stood in front of the chair Max was tied to, closer to Ada. Max had his head down until he heard the door open and his boys walk in. Now, Max had kept a blank face until David stepped into view. He couldn't help but smile, thinking his boys were there to save him.
The smile faded from Max's face the longer David just stood there. "Are you going to do something? You're not going to let this bitch kill me, are you?" David narrowed his eyes at Max. He turned to look at Ada and saw nothing but hatred in her eyes towards her brother. Everyone in the room could hear the venom in her voice, "I'm not the one who got our coven killed. I'm not the one plotting to do it again." The Lost Boys' eyes widen with that statement. Noting Max flinched but didn't deny it.
"Excuse me?" Marko asked. "Oh yeah. Max was planning on ratting you boys out to some local hunters. Skip town, wait a few decades, then build a whole new coven. Isn't that right Max?" Ada's face had shifted into her vampiric visage. David could tell she was losing her patience with the man she once called brother. He turned to face Max and smirked. Max tried to swallow the lump in his dry throat. Max now knew he was not living past this night. He continued the staredown with David, hoping the boy would break away first. Hope has long since been lost by the older man. Max broke eye contact and looked to the floor.
A loud crash came from the room where the last person was. Ada shook her head and looked to one of the other girls, Edana, "Go check on Silver." She couldn't help but chuckle at the youngest member of their coven. The girl was working on the glamor for all of the paperwork in Max's name. His home, shop, bank accounts, and vehicles. Soon everyone was back in the living room, Silver gave an update as she perched herself on top of the wet bar, "It's done. Had to tear the safe out of the wall, though."
"I don't want to drag this out. If I kill him, I become the head of both covens. Judging by everyone's positions, you're the leader of your little group. I'd rather you do it." Ada had put her human mask back on, "We have been on your territory long enough as it is." Paul spoke up from his spot on the couch, "You could stay longer. We'd like to get to know you a little more." The girl next to Paul, Gabrielle, rolled her eyes. The guy has been casting glances at her the whole time, or more accurately, down her shirt.
Both David and Ada shook their heads. Ada leaned forward and reached over the side of the lounger for the sharpened stake on the floor. It was crudely carved from a dining room table leg. Too fat to be from one of the chairs. "I wanted to make sure his heart was destroyed with a stake," Ada told David as she handed it to him. "You can't kill me. There are laws against this. A vampire cannot kill another vampire. You all will be hunted for this!" Max screamed, hoping they would spare him. The sadistic smile from all four girls told him otherwise. "We got that covered. Your death is considered restitution. Your death in exchange for the deaths of five others from the original coven. Not including any other vampires that you caused the deaths of when you tired of them." Ada was standing at this point, towering over Max.
David reached out with the hand that didn't have the stake in it and gripped Ada's elbow. She turned to David and nodded her head. Ada moved to stand on the other side of the mantel. "Please, David. Don't do this," Max pleaded. David had the stake in both hands, aiming for Max's heart, "Were you going to sell us out to hunters?" Max said nothing, he just stared at David before making a desperate attempt to break out of the ropes he was tied with.
David was angry when they arrived, now he's downright murderous. He grips the stake and shoves it through Max's chest, impaling him to the chair. Max screamed in agony. The area around the stake was smoking, soon Max was engulfed in flames. If it wasn't for the stake, Max would have looked like a victim of human combustion.
Once the flames died down, the Lost Boys felt like a huge weight had been lifted. There was no wave of energy, changing of eye color, or any other sign that Max was gone and David was now the head of his coven. Just a feeling of being able to breathe freely.
David was still staring where Max had once sat when Ada broke the silence. She and her coven wanted to get back home soon. "Well, I guess introductions are in order. I'm Ada, the older sister of Maximus." She looked to the girl sitting next to Paul, "I'm Gabrielle or Gabby." "I'm Edana. You can call me Ana." Edana looked to the last girl. "I'm Silver. Yes, that is my real name, and this is my natural hair color."
The girls all faced the man standing in the center of the room, "David, and these are my boys, Dwayne, Marko, and Paul." Each boy waved when their name was spoken. David turned to Ada, "So? How did you bring a tv into our cave during the day? And did you find it?" Ada just smiled while her girls chuckled maniacally, "Edana was a witch before she was turned. Still dabbles in magic." "That still doesn't answer the questions," David was standing in front of Ada now.
Ada could feel the anger rolling off of David. She could take him down but would rather not. "We have been here for a few days. Once we found Max and saw he had you boys, we watched you all. Learned his routine, and Silver followed you boys home the night before last. At a distance of course. As for your other question, Edana came in contact with another witch and both of them created Daylight rings for us."
"Lucky," Paul pouted. All eyes were on him, "Think about it. If we were able to walk around during the day, those wannabe hunters would flip." The teenage Frog brothers came to mind. Edgar and Alan have suspected the Lost Boys of being vampires since they got those comic books inside their shop. "Good thing I made you guys a ring then," Edana dug into her pocket and pulled out four rings with Lapis Lazuli stones. Before handing them out she said, "You need to add a drop of your blood to the underside of the stone before you put the ring on. It ties it to you. So nobody else could wear it but you."
Edana handed a ring to each of the Lost Boys. David and Marko took their gloves off from their right hands. The ring finger on their right hand was punctured using a sharpened thumbnail. A drop of blood fell to the underside of the stone. The rings grew warmer for a moment. Once the rings cooled down, the boys slid them on their right ring fingers. "There, you're all set," Edana retook her seat. David and Marko put their gloves back on, it was a little snug but not uncomfortable. The rings fit their fingers just fine, and the stone was small enough to not look too gaudy.
The clock on the wall chimed 9 pm. The girls were wanting to get on the road before sunrise. Home is nowhere near California. "As fun as this has been, it's time for us to head out," Ada stated. "Silver," Ada pointed to the room she vacated earlier. "Oh, right," Silver jumped down from the bar and went to grab what she had been working on. "We fixed all of Max's documentation. You boys can do what you want with it. Burn the place down, sell the store, trash the cars to your undead heart's content." Silver told David. She handed him the stack of papers. Silver had put David's name on everything.
The girls made their way outside. Dwayne, Marko, and Paul follow close behind them, not wanting to be inside Max's house any longer. David took a little longer. He could see the outline of where Thorn had been laying before Max's death caused him to disappear. Thorn was Max's guardian, not theirs. So when Max died, Thorn returned to Hell.
David rolled the stack of papers up and stuffed them inside the inner pocket of his trench coat. He joined his coven, his brothers outside to say goodbye to Ada and her coven. "Will we see you again?" Dwayne asked them all. The girls shared a look, it was Ada who answered, "I don't know. Maybe? Now that Max has been dealt with, we're heading home. To London. You're welcome to visit. But it will be at least 20 years before we travel again." Three heads could be seen nodding in agreement.
The boys watched as Ada and her coven drove away. David had pulled a cigarette from his pack and lit it, "Still plenty of night left. Let's go to the Boardwalk." He was met with three very enthusiastic cheers and laughter. All four felt lighter, free, now that the leash has been severed.
Huh?
It had taken some time for David and his boys to test out the rings. It was Marko that stepped into the small ray of sunshine that came through a crack inside the cave. They even had two Surf Nazis tied up in one of the back rooms in case they needed the blood to heal, and a rope tied to Marko's waist to pull him back into the dark. When Marko didn't catch fire, he moved to the exit of the cave and cautiously took a step outside. The rope was given slack as he moved past the exit and into the sun. Marko tilted his face to the sky and basked in the glow of the sun. It was a nice day for the beginning of October with not a cloud in sight.
Edgar and Alan were stacking the latest shipment of comics onto the racks. They were shocked to see the Lost Boys walk into their shop during the daylight. They were sure the four bikers were vampires. Seeing all four of them walk into their shop, past the salt line, past the crosses hanging over the door, and the garlic hanging from the ceiling near the cash register threw that theory out the window.
"What's the matter, boys? You look like you've seen a ghost," David smirked at the Frog brothers expression of shock. Paul and Marko had picked up several of the vampire comics and were scanning them while laughing. They never got to read what was said about vampires. Some of the things mentioned were right, but they kept laughing. They didn't want to show any sign to the Frog brothers that they were in fact vampires. After the Lost Boys left the comic shop with a few new comics, the Frogs' had to rethink everything.
All in all, everything fell into place. David signed over the video stores to Maria. She had worked with Max for a few years and was able to run both stores smoothly. David had explained Max was like his adoptive father. It was why Max was so irritated with him and his boys. He also told her, Max had died suddenly and left everything to him but he didn't want to run the stores. Maria only agreed with David was a silent partner. That way he still profited from his 'father's stores. David agreed if only to appease the girl. The house and vehicles were sold, and the money was deposited into the bank accounts now in David's name.
The Lost Boys bought an abandoned farmhouse on the outskirts of the beach town. It once belonged to old man Hughes, but he died shortly after his wife several years ago. With the daylight rings, they didn't have to worry about sleeping in total darkness. Of course, they still had the cave. The farmhouse was to keep up appearances.
Over the years, they still wondered how Ada, Edana, Gabby, and Silver are doing? If it wasn't for them, David and his boys would have been dead. They would be forever grateful to Ada. They had forever. Maybe one day, they will find them and show their appreciation. But for now, The Lost Boys are going to party all night, and sleep all day.