Marko returned with the food and Michael blinked as his greeting seemed to echo loudly through the cave.
How long had he been gone for?
Michael blinked, looking at Paul as the energetic blonde made his way around the rim of the fountain, arms extended as if he were a tightrope walker.
Was he moving really slowly? Michael couldn't tell.
He looked down at the joint in his hands, surprised by how much he'd smoked.
With a smile, he held it out to Star but she shook her head, her curls moving as she did.
"Star doesn't smoke" David told him, relaxing on an old wheelchair.
"Oh.."
Star seemed to have lost her confidence a little but Michael found it endearing. It was sweet, how shy she seemed. Different from the sultry confidence she'd exuded when he was watching the piercer earlier at the boardwalk. He smiled at her, and she returned it softly. She was sat on the soft but firmly cushioned sofa, watching silently, her hair pouring over her shoulders, under which a hint of soft pink shawl could be seen.
She was so enigmatic.
Paul came and easily took the offering instead and Michael grinned at him as he did.
He turned away from Star sheepishly, wondering if anyone had been watching him study her.
How long had he been offering her the joint? He didn't know.
Time was speeding up and slowing down.
Maybe he should have gone easier with the weed.
"Feeding time – come and get it, boys!" Marko whooped, stepping towards them with a grease stained box.
David grinned, "Chinese? Good choice!"
Everyone but Star fought to receive a white carton of food and they settled comfortably in a loose circle, the remaining items resting on the rim of the fountain.
When he offered his own box of rice to her, Star smiled thankfully, "thank you Michael but I don't really...I don't like Chinese food"
One of the boys snorted a laugh and Michael looked up, trying to figure out who exactly it was but his head was so foggy.
Yeah. He'd smoked too much.
"How about you, Michael?" David asked, stabbing the contents of his box with his chopsticks, "You don't like Chinese food?"
Michael shook his head, "No, I do.."
David laughed, "How can a billion Chinese people be wrong, huh?"
Some of the others boys snickered and Michael smiled, too.
The sound of waves and the soft rock music – Paul had turned it down – filled the room as did the sound of their chewing. As the conversation stilled, comfortably so, Marko asked, through a mouthful of noodles, "you like it here?"
"Here?"
"Santa Carla"
"Yeah" Michael shrugged, "I used to come here as a kid-" he took a bit of his rice "-but I dunno. It seems different"
"You grew up?" Marko suggested and Michael shrugged.
He couldn't pin it down. There was a different vibe about Santa Carla but Marko was right – he had grown up. As a child, he'd visited with his parents and Sam, they'd spent their time at the beach and in nice hotels, with Grandpa when he was clean shaven. There had been no Liz, no boardwalk, no late nights. That must be all there was to it.
He'd grown up. Things were different when you were a child.
"Guess so"
Michael took another bite of rice, "so uh, how long have you guys lived here?"
Paul laughed, "Hundreds of years"
The others laughed with him and Michael did too.
Shaking his head at the joke, though he didn't understand it, he grinned.
Star shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"You sure you don't want some?" he offered her, holding out his carton once more.
"You're sweet, Michael" she said with a gentle smile "but I'm OK. Really"
"She told you, she doesn't like Chinese food" came the low voice of the dark haired boy, before he added thoughtfully, "or maybe it's the maggots?"
As Star tensed, Michael did a double take at the speaker, but he was sitting comfortably in the shadows.
"What?"
"Maggots" David replied with a cold happiness.
Marko scoffed a laugh and Michael tilted his head.
What?
"Maggots, Michael!" David said "you're eating maggots, how do they taste?"
Michael paused, frozen.
He could feel it. He could feel movement, crawling...wriggling in his mouth.
Fighting nausea, he glanced down into his carton and flung it to the floor, spitting as he did.
His carton, his mouth...crawling with maggots.
Spitting more, spitting until his mouth felt dry, he felt both sick and hot as the laughter of all the boys surrounded him.
"Michael..." David shook his head through a soft chuckle and Star cried out, "that's enough!"
As Michael glanced at the floor again, ready to vomit...he once again froze in his seat.
It was just rice.
There, on the floor, spilling out of his damaged carton was a mound full of white, fried rice, speckles of egg mixed in. Nothing more.
He looked up at David as the laughter slowly came to an end.
"Sorry about that. No hard feelings though?"
Michael shook his head, feeling numb.
Was it the weed?
Was it..
He wiped at his mouth, flicking a fleck of rice away from his lip.
"No..."
"How about some noodles, huh?"
David extended his carton towards Michael in a conciliatory gesture and he nodded slowly, willing to accept them but recoiled in horror, another wave of nausea washing over him.
It was filled with squirming, fat, wet worms. Thick and slick and...Jesus they were going to spill out of the carton...
"Don't eat-tho-those are worms" he whispered, looking away in revulsion.
"Worms?" David scoffed and brought his extended hand back, "Worms?"
He easily removed a huge, wriggling cluster of worms with his splintered chopsticks, bringing them to his mouth with an eager excitement.
"Don't eat that-" Michael warned, jumping to his feet and reaching for David's arm but...
They weren't worms.
Michael froze once more.
"They're only noodles, Michael" David said, as he chewed on the crispy food.
Michael snatched the carton away, looking into the contents are the other boys laughed around him.
Just noodles. A mixture of regular and fried noodles, coated with oil and stuffed neatly into the white carton.
Star shook her head, "stop it, stop it!"
The boys sneered and laughed, Paul telling her dismissively to "chill out".
"It's just a joke, Star" David told her, barely glancing at her from his seat.
"...Michael can handle it" came the cold, somewhat challenging addition from the boy in the shadows.
Michael jutted his chin a little.
He could handle it.
He could handle them.
He rubbed the back of his neck, watching as Paul ground the stub of the joint into a stained and dirty glass ashtray, "guess that was pretty heavy stuff...huh?"
Paul grinned, "you have no idea"
"Marko..how about the wine?" David murmured.
"Wine?" Marko smiled, looking towards Michael, amusement dancing across his face.
"You like wine, Michael?" Paul asked through a wide grin.
"I love wine" Michael said, looking at them.
"You want some wine?" Marko asked.
"Can you handle some wine?" the dark haired boy added.
"It's "strong stuff"" Paul warned.
"I can take it" Michael shrugged.
He could beat them at their little game..
"So get the wine!" David boomed and Marko laughed with a shrug, "he wants the wine!"
The boys laughed, Michael laughing too.
He was on their level now.
He wasn't going to be the butt of their jokes anymore.
As Marko stepped towards David once more, he was holding an ornate bottle.
Star tensed, "no..no. No that wasn't the-" she looked at Michael, then at David, fumbling over her words, "you can't. Don't-not the wine"
David smirked, "he wants the wine, Star"
"I want the wine" Michael laughed, grinning as Paul slapped him on the back.
David opened the bottle and took a deep, deep inhale, eyes flickering with ecstasy as he did.
What kind of wine was that?
Michael sat straighter.
The bottle was obviously old, covered in jewels and some golden casing..
"the richest wine you'll ever sample..." David murmured.
"NO!" Star jumped up, her eyes wide.
As she came to rest behind Michael, her small hands on his shoulders, she shook her head, "Michael, don't..don't fall for this"
Michael glanced over at her, gently resting his hand over her own, "I'm fine" he assured her but Star shook her head, speaking over him. Staring at David, her eyes dancing with tears, her voice thick, "you're doing this, stop it. Stop making him-this wasn't part of the pl-"
David laughed before she could finish.
Paul and Marko began to chant his name softly.
"Just a sip, Michael" David whispered, holding out the bottle.
"Don't" Star repeated as Michael took it in his hands, "Michael, don't...it's blood"
"Yeah" Michael scoffed, "Blood"
No way was he falling for more mind games.
David's words echoing in his mine, Michael took a small, tentative sip of wine, the riotous explosion from the boys merging with David's cheers.
Holy fuck.
Michael almost dropped the bottle.
Holy shit.
"Just a sip" Marko grinned as he easily took the bottle from Michael's slackening hand, "just a sip doesn't hurt anyone..."
"Takes more than a sip...right, Star?" Paul added, his eyes dancing with dark delight.
"This wasn't...we didn't agree to this..." Star whispered, a tear falling down her face as she stepped back.
David laughed, watching as Michael danced with Paul and Marko, the music blasting loudly once more.
"..just a sip, Star" Dwayne said darkly and she jumped.
When had he moved so close to her?
"...a few more of those little sips and he's just like you..." she felt Dwayne's breath on her cheek and she froze, clutching her shawl tightly around her body, "better not fuck up, huh? I don't get my girl..." he shook his head, watching as Michael stumbled around with Paul and Marko.
More tears fell down her face and Star pushed away from him, stumbling herself to her nook, her bed.
As she watched the scene before her, her eyes caught David's.
They were going to use Michael's mortality to make sure she played her part, to make sure Michael played his part.
That was more than she agreed to..she was never supposed to be responsible for his role, too..
She wiped at her eyes.
They really were monsters.
A/N: I very much like Star, she's a character I have always supported and liked! Thank you for your lovely reviews. You genuinely are the best motivators!