"You son of a bitch!" Michael roared, breathing heavily from the exhilaration and then the fear that was coursing through him, "are you trying to kill me?!"
He scrambled to his feet, slipping a little against the pebbles and broken stones that made up the ground of the cliff. He was so angry, so disoriented from the thrill of the ride, then the fear of the fall. He'd followed them all the way up a cliff and he would have gone straight off. Up a god damned cliff! What were they playing at? The wind was so strong and he was so shocked it was almost impossible to get any traction and he stumbled again, his knee hitting the ground.
He was so buzzed, so...thrumming with energy and so damn furious.
As Star slid off David's bike with a graceful, silent ease, Michael finally righted himself.
Without giving time to pause, he launched himself at David, furiously landing a hard blow to the boy's cheek. As two of the others moved to restrain him, Michael pushed them away angrily, smashing his cut and sore palms against their chests, the noise of their buttoned, decorated jackets mixing with the howling of the wind.
Star yelped a pained, "NO!" but she went ignored but everyone.
Besides, in his indignant rage, Michael only had eyes for David.
He felt like he was one of them while they were riding. He was one of their group. He'd met their challenge. He'd raced with them, their equals. Their bikes wove between the pier and trees, even each other. They had whooped and cheered and it was all for nothing.
He was just a joke to them.
Assholes.
"Just you!" he challenged David, fully meaning it. He pointed his finger at the still seated blonde, "I mean it. Just you"
As the blonde with the wild hair laughed, David smirked.
He raised his eyebrow, seemingly unbothered by the hit he had taken, "how far are you willing to go, Michael?"
"Stop-" Star said, stepping between David, the two boys taking a step back to accommodate her.
She looked at Michael and shook her head as David laughed.
As he slunk off his bike with the cool and practiced confidence he seemed to exude, David passed Star and Michael without so much as a second glance.
He acted as if they were so beneath him and Michael stared at his retreating back.
The other boys followed suit, leaving without words and heading towards a lone, decrepit and horribly rickety looking staircase descending down towards the raging sea. There was a sign, a tattered and beaten danger sign, surrounded by threats of legal action notices but they didn't seem to care.
Michael rubbed his neck. He couldn't imagine those jerks caring about anything.
"Coming?" David challenged coolly without looking back, his voice almost lost in the wind.
"Fuck this" Michael muttered, shaking his head. He never usually swore and he grimaced a little at what Sam would say if he could see the scene before him.
Leather jacket, racing his bike, swearing…it wasn't him.
Michael had tried to play with the big boys and had lost.
The adrenaline, the anger he'd been filled with seemed to just dissipate as the four boys disappeared down and out of sight.
He felt small and tired.
No way was he going down there.
They were clearly psychos.
He looked at Star, hurt and reproachful.
He wished he could be as cocky and confident as the others, as David but that wasn't him.
That wasn't his style.
He was embarrassed. He'd been embarrassed in front of her and it stung.
He sighed.
He was an idiot to think he could get a girl like Star.
Why was she with these guys, anyway?
"I'm out, Star-" he said with a shake of his head, looking at his fallen bike. He made a move to right it but he was stilled by her.
"No, no Michael" she said, jumping forward to hold the collar of his leather jacket, "don't. You were so amazing"
He glanced down at his bike and looked at her again in barely concealed disbelief as she continued, "it's just their style"
Why was she defending them?
"What? Attempted murder? I'm not into this whole macho thing Star" he shook his head "...I just wanted to spend time with you not..not drag race. I don't play these games…"
"Then don't. Come and spend time with me" she whispered, the length of her arms pressed against his white t-shirt. He could feel the material of her skirt pooling around his boots.
He sighed softly with an equally soft shake of his head.
That's all he'd wanted. That's all he'd wanted since he first saw her.
"What's down there anyway?"
"Home" she said, still standing close, still holding his jacket. He felt the warmth of her breath just graze his chin as she spoke, before it was lost in the cold wind.
He tilted his head, enjoying her presence, her body pressed so close to his but he was still torn and she hurried, "no really. It's not bad, Michael. It's nice down there and the guys..they just, they're kind of a..a tight group"
"Yeah?" Michael asked through a small, disbelieving laugh, "I feel like that's a huge understatement"
He brought his hand to rest softly on hers.
She didn't move to pull away.
"Yeah..but you made it this far. The bike thing was their kind of challenge, it didn't mean anything"
Her voice was so husky, so thick.
He sighed.
"How do you know these guys, anyway?"
"They're just friends" she shrugged softly, looking at his mouth as she rubbed her thumb over the smooth leather of his jacket.
There seemed to be a lie in her words, something hidden deep within them but he was distracted by the movements of her thumb.
She was so soft. Everything about her was delicate.
"Come on" she smiled up at him, another soft, promising smile, "you made it here...so what if you lost the race? You won me..."
Michael moved his other hand to stroke her windswept hair gently before brushing the backs of his cold fingers against her equally chilled face.
You won me...
"OK" he whispered with a nod.
She smiled and stepped back. He instantly missed the space between them.
Leaving his bike where it fell, he allowed Star to lead him down the stairs. The metal gate blocking them had been broken at the hinges, the rust gathering there suggesting that they'd been broken for a while. Grandpa told them numerous times that Santa Carla was a poor place, he guessed there wasn't enough money to keep up with things like this. Michael frowned a little, wondering why he was thinking about the town and his Grandpa as the girl before him was easily moving away.
He shook his head.
Stepping onto the first surprisingly wide stair, he felt more confident. So what if the town didn't have money for maintenance. The stairs were sturdier than they looked, a little slick towards the bottom but he was surprised at how easy they were to navigate, at how easy it was to follow the deftly moving girl before him.
"Home's a cave?" he asked, pausing when he saw exactly where the steps led to. With each step down the steep cliff, he had felt his reluctance, his hesitance ebbing away but, as he glanced towards the looming darkness before him, he felt some unease wash over him again.
It wasn't a particularly big opening, he would have to crouch to enter.
It didn't look safe.
Was there a danger of flooding?
There was debris and seaweed and all manner of gunk lining the stones but Star just glanced back at him, "trust me.."
He smiled and shook his head, thinking back to his little brother once more, remembering what Sam had said that first night but it didn't bother him this time. It was different. This wasn't just sex, he wasn't some hormonal kid..this was love.
He knew it was.
He nodded.
It was just a cave and who cared about a bit of dirt anyway?
As Star ducked down and out of sight, Michael glanced at the crashing waves directly below him.
It was still a long way to fall.
"Just led him straight to the slaughter, huh?" Dwayne scoffed from his place on a grand, broken fountain, "you must really like this guy"
"Isn't that what you're planning for his sister?" she snapped back, grimacing a little as she caught herself.
She wasn't looking for another fight.
Not tonight.
She liked Michael. She did like him and she knew it was real. She knew it was nothing like what Dwayne felt for the Emmerson girl but he had no right to mock her. Her feelings were genuine, too. She'd heard their murmurs, their quiet discussions. They would never talk to her about it, they seemed to hate her as much as she hated them these days but still…she heard things. It was hard not to, living in such close quarters..
She was sincere in her feelings, that much she knew. Her feelings were true, no matter what they insinuated.
Dwayne stared coldly at her, as if he could read her thoughts, and she glanced away.
It was never a good idea to challenge any of them, "he won't..he won't be like you..me, it's not like that. Michael can take it.."
He was strong. He could survive a brief friendship, interaction with the boys.
"Yeah, just like you could.." Dwayne sneered.
She blinked. Stung.
God they were cruel.
They hadn't always been.
She shook her head.
It would be fine. Rubbing the long sleeves of her jacket thoughtlessly, Star took a breath, trying to quell the guilty pit forming in her stomach.
Michael's sister was different, she was built for it. She was designed for the life Star couldn't take. When the girl took her place, David would let Star go. God, she wished Michael didn't have a role to play but he did. It would be brief, it would be..it would be painless.
Star took a breath.
It was out of her control, she reasoned silently to herself but when it was done, David would release her and Michael's role would be over, too. They would be free together. She could be with him, she could be part of his family...but first, he had to come and join hers. It would be short, he wouldn't suffer like she had..he would be fine.
It would be for such a short time...then they would both be free.
It was a fair price for freedom.
She'd suffered for so long.
It was the only way.
"This is it, Star" David said icily, his eyes cold and unforgiving, bringing her out of her thoughts. She could feel all their eyes on her, "this was what you wanted, this is what you agreed to. We all know how much you love backing out of stuff-" his smirk was hard, "-but if you fuck this up, it's over. For you and him"
As Star nodded and made to move past the scowling boy, he grabbed her arm in a vice like grip, "I'm deathly serious"
"I won't mess it up" she whispered huskily, afraid to meet his eyes, "I want this as much as you do"
David laughed, a hollow and humorless bark, "you have no idea what you want, little girl"
He let her go.
"I'm bringing him in for fucks sakes, there's only so long he can watch the waves" Marko growled, looking at Star with total disdain, "I can't babysit you the whole time. Get a fucking handle on it"
"I am!" she replied sharply, ripping the black jacket from her body.
She hated it when any of them touched her. They made her skin crawl.
"He was going to leave before I stepped in" Marko all but hissed, "use whatever shred of feminine charm you have because I'm getting dog shit tired of doing your work. You want it. YOU work for it"
"What do you expect me to do when you're trying your best to antagonize and scare him?!" Star snapped.
"He's gonna be hypothermic at this rate" Paul lazily intoned.
She shook her head.
"Watch your tone" David growled as Star passed him, moving to her little nook and scooping up a rich, beautifully embroidered shawl as she shoved the jacket on her wrought iron bed frame, "you're not out yet, Star. Don't forget your place"
She draped the shawl over her shoulders, closing her eyes briefly as she did.
She hoped they were kinder to the girl.
"Late to the party, bud!" Paul shouted cheerfully and Star took a breath.
Michael was coming down.
Time for the show to start.
With another deep breath, she moved towards the steep steps that the boys had carved into the rocks years before her and smiled tightly as Michael landed with a small grunt.
He looked around the room in awe.
"Wow..." he murmured.
"You like it?" David asked, approaching him with a smile.
"It's..yeah it's amazing"
He smiled lightly at Star as his eyes met hers, as he looked up at the entrance to the cave.
It was like something from a dream.
He didn't feel so tense among the boys down here, he felt nervously cautious but..damn if this wasn't the most amazing place he had ever seen.
"Paul, music?" David suggested, watching as Michael took in his surroundings.
As rock music blared to life, Michael took a step forward, glancing at the wild haired blonde.
He grinned and gave a sloppy, two fingered salute and Michael nodded cautiously back, slowly forgetting their altercation from moments before.
He was still taking in the area.
The cave was huge. Candles lined almost every surface, from the huge and ornate ruins of a fountain in the center to the rows of makeshift shelves and tables. There was a fallen chandelier that had candles wedged in the spaces where bulbs would have once rested and there was a plush, torn sofa. There was bunting hanging from the ceiling as well as tattered curtains of varying sizes and colors. There was graffiti covering almost every surface but old paintings, too, just visible in the dimness of the soft, glowing candles.
It was unreal.
How had they furnished it? How..it was amazing.
"You live here?" Michael asked in awe as he touched a hanging wind chime.
"Mhmm..." David replied, watching closely.
"I can't believe it..." Michael stepped further into the room, Star matching his steps.
"This was the hottest resort in Santa Carla about eighty years ago..." David told him softly, a smile on his face, "you wouldn't believe the movers and players that flocked here. Hard to believe Santa Carla used to have that kind of cache, really"
He smirked, sharing a glance with Paul but Michael was too busy studying a damaged carving of a mermaid.
There was a soft cooing and Michael glanced up, the boy with the curly hair was tickling a pigeon as if it were a dog.
How could such a place be real?
As Michael peered at a painting just beyond the torn sofa, David continued, "it was a real beauty. Luxury like you couldn't dream of...too bad for them, they built it on the fault"
Star moved to sit on the sofa, watching Michael closely.
He was so absorbed in the room and Star frowned a little, hoping he wouldn't become absorbed with them, too.
She knew how addictive they could be, their lifestyle, their exclusivity.
She prayed he didn't get sucked into it, like she had been.
Dwayne shifted in the shadows.
"The fault?" Michael asked, turning to face David.
He nodded, "yeah. In 1906, when the Big One hit San Francisco the ground opened up and this place took a header" he clapped his hands together, the black gloves met, making a dull, echoing sound throughout the cave, "straight into the crack...so now it's ours"
"Yours?"
David nodded.
"You..you live here?" he asked in disbelief.
David nodded again.
"Your parents let you?"
At his question, all the boys burst out laughing and Michael glanced at them all. There was no mocking in their tone and he relaxed again.
"Parents?!" Paul boomed.
"What are those?" the dark haired boy chimed and more laughter followed his words.
Slowly, Michael sat down on an old slab of stone. It was smooth and had a design carved onto the side. He wondered if it was an original feature, from the hotel. He glanced behind him. Maybe the old mermaid carving was, too?
"Are you hungry?"
Brought out of his thoughts, Michael stumbled, "Uh..we were going to get food…"
Michael looked at Star.
"Eat it here. Marko?" David said, his eyes dancing.
Without a sound, Marko easily released the pigeon he had been holding. As it fluttered away, he nodded with a smirk of his own and deftly left.
"See, Michael..that's what I love about this place" David said, moving towards Paul, "you ask..and then you get"
He took a long drag on a cigarette and held it out to Michael.
"Little appetizer?"
Michael glanced at the rolled cigarette, glancing up at David when he realized it was a joint.
With a slow smile, Michael nodded.
He liked it here.
He liked it a lot.