"You know Michael came in at like, 4am?" Sam said, taking a fairly sizable bite of overly buttered toast.
Crumbs fell onto the plate he was holding.
"He woke you up?" Elizabeth asked, sipping some orange juice. She stretched forward a little and placed the glass on the floor, swapping it for a plate.
"Yeah. He was dragging his feet. It was so zombie-ish" Sam shuddered a little, "seriously, it freaked me out"
"What?" Elizabeth said, pausing as she lifted a slice of reasonably buttered toast from the plate.
Surely this had to be Sammy overreacting? He was just annoyed at being woken up?
She frowned a little in disbelief.
Sammy was a story teller and Michael was...well, Michael.
"Nah, that doesn't sound right" she said, shaking her head, "sorry Sam but come on? This is Michael we're talking about. You sure you weren't dreaming?"
She moved to take a bite of her own toast but her brother spluttered indignantly for a moment.
"Listen to me here! I'm not joking - Nanook growled, right in my ear. Right there-" he pointed to his ear, "-and Nanook never growls. He's a good boy. And his fur is all up, like a cat and his muscles are all..." he clenched his fist free fist, "and then I heard this shuffling down the corridor, right? I try and get out of bed and Nanook nips me! He tried to pull my shirt to stop me, I guess? Whatever that was, he was real unsettled and so now I'm kinda freaked and this weird shuffle is getting closer, you know? So I make it to the door and I peek out and it was him. It was Michael. He was kind of staggering to his room, his head was down and he was all...I dunno, slouchy as he walked. His jeans were all dirty and dusty..he was literally slumping and swaying and he couldn't really walk so well, so he dragged one foot and then dragged the other. When he got to his door he just slumped on it for a few seconds.."
Elizabeth moved her uneaten toast back to her plate.
Jesus that was freaky.
It also sounded too detailed, too real for it to be a dream, unusual though it was.
"Was he drunk?" she asked, looking at Sam, concern washing over her face.
What else could it be?
"Beats me but it spooked me...I...I caught a glimpse of his face, Liz..when he slumped against his door. His cheek was all smushed up against it and" Sam shuddered a little, "he looked euphoric but..but..tainted"
"Tainted?" Elizabeth asked, eyebrows raised.
Goosebumps had erupted over her arms.
What a specific choice of words.
"Well, maybe..it's difficult to describe. Maybe tainted isn't right? I-wrong, OK? He looked..wrong. Like the euphoria was...bad for him"
Elizabeth shifted, feeling unsettled "that's horrible..you're kinda freaking me out now"
Sammy was never that articulate and she found that she trusted his words, feeling a bit spooked by them.
"Tell me about it. I spooned with Nanook the rest of the morning and that was one tense dog, let me tell you" Sam shrugged, taking another bite of his toast and nodding his head in the direction of the sleeping mutt.
No, not sleeping. His eyes were definitely trained on them and their food.
The lace curtain danced with the cool breeze and Elizabeth glanced out the window.
Another perfect day in Santa Carla.
"Sam that's just...really unpleasant" Elizabeth said, shaking her head with a grimace.
She wasn't sure what else there was to say.
It was freaky. She finally bit into her toast, thinking as she chewed.
"Yeah. It was still dark, too. And he was just like…I dunno he was lumbering along..." he repeated with a nod.
He shuffled his body a bit too, rearranging himself more comfortably. He had brought breakfast – just toast and juice – up to Elizabeth's room. He'd arranged the food on a bright, 70s formica tray with orange and brown flowers painted on it and honestly, it had been a really sweet gesture.
They had seated themselves on Elizabeth's bed, cross legged with Nanook waiting beside them on the floor.
"Is he up? Did you ask him about it?" she asked, once again with a little grimace, "that's so not like him?"
She stuffed the half of the toast in her mouth, handing him her place and he stacked their now empty, toast covered plates and placed them on the floor.
Nanook inched towards them.
"He's still sleeping. Mom would be pissed if she knew" Sam said.
Lucy had left while Sam was making the toast and she wouldn't be back until late tonight.
"Yeah, I guess so" Elizabeth said thickly through her mouthful of toast.
"Can't you try and be a woman?" he asked her dryly, watching as her cheeks bulged like a hamsters.
She swallowed, smiling at him brightly.
"Yeah, yeah. Cute"
She let out a sigh, stretching back against her headboard.
"Oh! I didn't tell you this, Grandpa's going to take me for a drive later so I'm stoked about that" Sam said with a grin, effortlessly changing subjects, "so that means you can deal with Zombie Mike instead"
"God, no thanks. I'm surprised you got up to look, to be honest. I'd have been right under my blanket..." she pulled a face "and no offense but what's special about that?"
She didn't see why he was excited about going for a drive, thinking about their clunky car.
They'd visited the boardwalk, she had been down to the residential area with the supermarkets and they had both been to their local beach.
What else was there to see?
"It's the coolest car you've ever seen! Well, not you but you know what I mean" he poked his sister with his toe and she grinned, batting away his foot.
Elizabeth wasn't in to cars. She couldn't think of a duller subject.
Well..maybe comic books.
"Coolest car?" she asked with raised eyebrows.
There was absolutely nothing cool about it.
"You're thinking of our car, dummy!" another toe poke "I'm talking about Grandpa's car. I saw it this morning. He keeps it in the garage, all wrapped up. It's genuinely so out of this world. Vintage"
"Hey, enough of the stinky feet! Where are you going to go?" she asked with a smile, flicking his foot.
Maybe she would tag along.
"The next town over. He said he never goes to town here but that he wants to get some supplies and he promised me a huge comic book shop. I mean, I have to go with him to get stuffing supplies" he winced a little, "but I get to go in the sweetest of cars and should come back with some comics. It's a good payoff...right?"
OK, then. So no tagging along.
"You don't wanna come, do you?" Sam stated rather than questioned.
"No really" she smiled again, "it sounds like it's more up your alley than mine. Besides, you'll come back with a comic and I'll come back with another…decoration" she glanced towards the window again and there, perched beautifully beneath it was a beautiful, snowy but unmoving and waxy eyed rabbit.
Nanook was loudly licking the plates clean and Sam bent down to collect them, "Knock it off, Nanook!"
He stepped off the bed, "I'll bring you back a comic. Your favorite of all the reading materials" he promised with a little laugh.
"You're too funny" Elizabeth deadpanned, also stepping off the bed and swiping up the two glasses.
It wasn't until mid-afternoon, when Lucy rang, that Michael emerged from his room.
He entered the kitchen, dressed but scruffy.
"Hey, sleepy! So what did you get up to last night?" Elizabeth asked him amicably from her spot at the kitchen table.
She was flicking through a magazine but upon hearing his approach she'd shut the cover, far more interested in his version of events and what he would have to say for himself.
She looked at him, really studying him from head to toe.
He looked very fragile but otherwise fine. No cuts, bruises or piercings and he was carrying his feet. No zombie shuffle to be seen or heard.
"Huh?" Michael asked, pouring himself a huge glass of water.
He was wearing sunglasses.
"Did you find a job? Or did you find alcohol or what?" she was smiling at him but there was a hint of confusion marring her face. She didn't want to jump down his throat - she had a bad feeling Sammy would be doing that anyway, but she did want to know what was up with his display in the early morning.
It kind of freaked her out just hearing about it.
"Oh yeah.." he grimaced after sipping the water before dumping the full glass back in the sink, "no. I made some friends, actually. What's up?"
"I could ask you the same thing"
"Huh?"
He plopped down at the table.
"The glasses…?" she replied, gesturing to them.
"Yeah my head is just pounding right now" Michael rubbed his neck awkwardly, "I guess I got too carried away last night"
Elizabeth smiled at her big brother, "it's nice that you made friends, Mike. I'm glad you had fun" and she meant it, "I was just surprised...I don't think I've ever seen you hungover?"
He said nothing and she shrugged a little again, she really didn't want to attack him but she felt like it should be addressed, "but I gotta say..I'm glad I wasn't the one to run into you this morning" she gave him a look and opened the magazine again, "Zombie Mike sounded scary"
Michael frowned a little.
Was he hungover? Just what did he drink last night?
"'Zombie Mi'-" He suddenly jerked forward with a grunt, nudging the table a bit and making Elizabeth's cup of tea shake.
Sam had crept up behind him and with a loud 'BOO', jerked his shoulders.
"Sammy!?" Michael rotated his body, trying to land a hit on his brother, but his head hurt too much and he winced, not even coming close to making his target.
"Ohhhh sorry there buddy!" Sam laughed taking a seat next to him, "feeling sensitive? Hangover got you down?"
Elizabeth was laughing a little too, trying to be discreet about it.
Sam was ruthlessly energetic.
"You earned it, bro. Revenge for my morning wake up"
"It did sound creepy…" Elizabeth said with a small nod.
"Sorry" Michael held up his hands, "I got no idea what you're on about here"
"You dragged yourself down the hall like a member of the living dead" Sam told him bluntly, sniggering a little as he did.
Elizabeth wasn't sure where the joking and bravado had come from but she supposed it was better than anger or fear. At least he was being nice to his brother.
"Really?"
"Yeah"
"Damn. Sorry, Sammy. I must have had way too much to drink..."
What else could it have been?
He couldn't remember.
All he could remember was Star.
"Why did you tell mom you were looking for a job? She wants us to make friends and-" Sam asked without pause and with a little bit of an angry hint to his plaufyl words before being interrupted by a concerned Elizabeth.
She didn't like that Sam was starting to tread the war path but something occurred to her. Michael had been drinking?
"-wait, did you ride back?" she asked seriously, her magazine closed once again.
"I-uh" did he?
"Dude…" Sam said, shaking his head with a deep frown.
"I don't reme..." he trailed off, feeling like he shouldn't admit to his lack of clear memory, "..but my legs are shot. I think I pushed my bike home. And, anyway, I was keeping my eyes peeled for jobs" he lied.
He didn't like the third degree he was receiving.
"Long way to push"
"You really didn't drive?"
Michael shook his head. What was with the twenty questions anyway?
"Can we not discuss this now? I had fun and I'm starving. What are we doing for lunch?"
"There's leftover steak in the fridge. Shame you slept through breakfast.." Sam said, reading the cover of the magazine Elizabeth left resting in the middle of the table. He pulled it towards him, "you wanna cook up some for us, too?"
Michael scoffed but didn't say no.
"So, uh...Sammy's going on an adventure with Grandpa?" Elizabeth told Michael after a long and a little tense silence.
Michael had said nothing as he watched the steaks sizzle in the pan and Sammy had been reading the Agony Aunt column of her magazine with such a deadpan face it was clear he wasn't taking anything in.
Actually, Sammy seemed a little upset as he looked down at the magazine and Michael seemed annoyed as he frowned down at the steaks he was cooking.
She wanted to lighten the atmosphere, it had changed so fast.
So much for not attacking Michael.
"You can come too, Mike" Sam added, looking up.
"I'm good but thanks" Michael said distractedly.
"Gonna hit up the boardwalk again, huh?" Sam asked, a little serious.
He didn't like the idea of Michael going back there.
"I guess. I didn't really have any plans" Michael replied, looking down avidly at his steak.
He had plans to go there, all right.
He was going to see Star. He knew she was waiting for him.
He moved one steak from the pan and flipped the other two.
"Oh cool, cool..." Sam replied with narrowed eyes, "so you and Liz can hang out? She's free.." Sam said, staring at the back of his brother's head, his tone light but challenging.
"Uh-" Michael stumbled.
"We can ride the roller coasters and grab some dinner" Elizabeth told her older brother, while looking at Sammy with a little frown.
She was always happy to spend time with Mike but why was Sammy volunteering her?
Whatever Sammy was playing at, she didn't want to involve herself.
Michael was plating the ungarnished steaks.
"Uh. Uh yeah" Michael nodded, turned around and deposited two plates on the table, "Sure. No that would be nice. Good idea, Sammy"
He kind of remembered Star saying she would like to meet Elizabeth.
Wait...did he? He wasn't sure. It all felt so hazy.
"It'll be fun, Mike..." Elizabeth told him, looking at the steaks. They looked to be medium-rare and Mike had left off all seasoning.
"For sure" Sam confirmed, a little happier now. If Michael was with Elizabeth, he wouldn't drink, he wouldn't be late, he'd brush his damn teeth…he wouldn't be weird.
Michael sat back in his seat and began tucking into his steak.
As he cut, red liquid oozed onto the stark white plate.
"Ew, since when do you eat rare steaks?" Sam asked, scrunching his nose.
Michael laughed, nudging his brother. He took a bit bite, the meat squelching in his mouth, "you're so uncultured, Sammy!"
"Whatever...I'm just glad you got mine right"
Well. At least his hangover seemed to be going, both Sam and Elizabeth thought.
A/N: Michael isn't a half vampire...yet. As the boys laughed before, it'll take more than that little drink but he's definitely getting a taste of what could come!