A branch snapped, hard and sharp in the silence of the night. It was followed by a desperate whimper, a groan and Marko frowned, his eyes finding the source of the interruption. As he paused, holding his thumb against the rim of the brown beer bottle he'd been idly circling, another whimper escaped trembling lips before silence once again descended. The man's body slackened and his breathing increased desperately, sweat pooling on his brow despite the night being relatively cool. Blood glistened on his neck and cheek, saturating his dark shirt. If there was much blood left, if the wound had been just a bit bigger perhaps what was left of it would have been soaking into the ground.
His girlfriend lay unconscious, her breathing even and calm despite the blood covering her pale and limp body.
Her death was looking like an easier one.
The man had obviously over exerted himself with his pathetic little attempt to crawl away and Marko gave a derisive scoff, "she's wearing your promise ring, no? I suppose I can't blame you for leaving her. You guys didn't get to the vows, right? No, 'in sickness and in health, better for poorer, richer for worse' keeping you two together, huh?" he took a swig of his drink, "gotta save yourself, right?"
"Pl-plea.." the plea didn't quite escape his lips and the man shuddered again, falling silent.
"You're both dead" Marko told him idly, looking down at his bottle, "but right now, she's got more chance of pulling through. If the cards weren't stacked against you, I mean"
The man groaned, the sound coming from deep within his throat.
"Tell you what" he took a swig, "let's make a deal. You crawl back here, accept what's gonna happen to you...and I'll let her live"
The man sobbed once.
"No tricks. You can't hear it but her pulse is pretty steady. Healthy, even. Girl's got a will to live, I guess. Crawl on back here, take her place and I'll dump her outside a hospital. This is your chance to be noble, man. Most people never get it. You can be the hero...you gave her the ring for a reason, right? She's gotta be worth something, even if it isn't marriage?"
The man choked another sob, the gurgle sending some thick blood out and over his lips.
"You're dead" Marko reminded him, "don't you want to at least die a hero?"
The man, with a shivering tremor, brought his hand forward and made to crawl again, to move away from his murderer and the scene of his attack.
Marko sighed, shaking his head in disappointment before taking another drink.
"What were you expecting?"
Marko looked over to David and gave a half shrug, "exactly that"
David gave a nod, took a drag of his cigarette and leaned back against the fallen tree; the girl's hair close to his boots.
Marko took another drink of his beer and glanced at her prone figure, the cheap little ring annoying him.
It was a little gold band with a twinkling diamond glittering in a heart setting. A cheap trinket, really. Not even a real diamond, not even real gold. Had he told her it was? He doubted she would have cared if she knew the truth. Marko knew it was the meaning, the gesture behind the ring that had touched her. He knew because even though her clothes were a bit tatty, the ring was bright and shining.
She took care of it, more than she took care of her other belongings.
The ring symbolized his love for her and for that reason, she cherished it.
She cherished him.
Well. She had cherished him.
They didn't have a future; they barely even had the present.
For those two, from here on out, it was all past tense.
Still, Marko knew all about them. Even without knowing them, he knew what the deal was. The girl had put all her faith in her sad little boyfriend, all the love she could dreg up had been given to him. When Marko had been feeding on him, lazily and brutally, she hadn't run, she hadn't fled. No, she'd stood there and screamed for him, begged them to stop.
Even when David had turned his ice-cold eyes on her, she had still cried for her whimpering boyfriend.
Stupid girl.
"He doesn't give a shit about her. Push comes to shove; shit gets real and it's every man for himself"
The man groaned weakly again, still trying to muster the strength to crawl away, unintentionally emphasizing Marko's words.
"When has it ever not been that way?" David asked dryly, his cynicism a little softer than Marko's.
Marko nodded, silently conceding that the ice-blonde was right.
"She would have snapped to her senses and run to save herself in the end" David continued, sounding close to bored, "they always do"
"One always does" Marko replied, shaking his head, "someone else often dies pining after them, dies desperately begging for the others life, not knowing the reality of their feelings. Like her. She's dead and she doesn't know how little she actually meant to him. She died crying for him and for what? She should have been crying for herself"
"Does it disappoint you?"
"No, it doesn't disappoint me. Perhaps when I was mortal but not now" he said honestly, "it's just the way it is"
It was an admittedly depressing fact of life but not one that affected him. It wasn't one that he really cared about but he had been thinking on it. With everything going on around him, it was hard not to consider the concept of love.
"So, this is what you were thinking about earlier?" David asked, "I did wonder. You're good at keeping your thoughts to yourself"
Marko grinned. His was an ability to be jealous of, that was for sure. The pack could barely keep any secrets from each other but he'd always been able to do so.
"To a degree" he answered, not wanting to talk about the intensity or depth of his thoughts.
Some of them involved Star.
"Want to share?"
Marko gave David a thoughtful look.
In the silence of the night, sitting with his friend and leader, he'd been thinking. Thinking a lot, thinking hard and he figured part of the reason he was so annoyed with the dying man was because his pathetic attempt to get away had broken him of his thoughts. It was rare that he had this kind of time. Being in a pack, being as close as they were, living with Paul...quiet time wasn't actually that easy to come by.
He relished the chance to just relax in the night, to meditate in the silence with David and his friend certainly sounded a little less bored, but still.
Some things didn't need to be shared.
"It's nothing. I was just thinking"
"About?"
He could tell David was curious. The two men were similar in many ways.
Marko wasn't intending to share his thoughts; often times he didn't need to. He wasn't looking for validation or opinions but David had asked - twice now - so he would indulge his friend.
"...shit like that" he waved his hand towards the girl. Her breathing was a little less healthy, now, "..and Elizabeth, Star. The nature of love, as it were"
"Oh?"
He nodded.
"What, exactly, about our mortal charge?"
There was a bit of biting sarcasm in David's voice and Marko grinned sardonically, "this is getting old already. What's she gotta do?"
"Die"
Marko scoffed, "so she's got to deal with your attitude until-"
David looked up, sharply, "until?"
Silently cursing himself, surprised that he'd been the one to almost let it slip, he shook his head.
"She's been marked. She's seen what he is, she let him -begged him - to bite her. Safe to say, she's in, David. As in as you can be while still having a pulse"
"And until she's in in, until that little pulse of her isn't thudding away, I'll be keeping her at a safe distance. You all seem to switch off when I say this, I'm getting tired of repeating it" his eyes were cold and penetrating, "so, I take it that you know when she's going to turn? She has a plan?"
"I don't know anything"
"Liar"
He nodded, "yes but it's not my information to give out"
"Jesus Christ"
Marko shrugged.
It was what it was.
He knew David couldn't believe he was choosing to keep Elizabeth's information to himself, that he was choosing to not tell David but he could also tell that David wasn't entirely surprised by it. If it was Paul, maybe he would have pushed a little harder. If it was Dwayne...well, those two had no secrets but Marko?
He was loyal to a fault and David knew it.
Him not knowing didn't pose a danger or threat to the pack, so Elizabeth's need for privacy trumped David's knowledge as leader.
That's all there was to it in his book.
Even letting slip that he knew something was a step too far and he would be apologizing to Elizabeth whenever he saw her next.
"So, what were you thinking?" David queried, not keeping the question from his voice, "about her?"
Marko appreciated David not trying to hide his interest. He would have been insulted by anything less, he wouldn't share his thoughts with an uninterested party.
"Her has a name"
"Yes"
A twig snapped again and Marko looked at the man in annoyance. He barely had the strength to crawl, to speak, to moan but he sure seemed apt at making branches break, interrupting his thoughts and conversation.
It was close to pissing him off.
"I was thinking about the nature of a mate" he said, looking at David once more, "..this girl and her love for him. Every other feed who's fled from someone they supposedly love. I started thinking about Star who-"
"-there was no love there"
David's voice was cold and Marko nodded.
That was true.
It wasn't love, it never was love but there was affection, there was genuine care.
Not long lasting, more complex than any of them could ever appreciate but the fear and hate that had festered, that seemed to define their relationship hadn't been there at the start.
"Painful to talk about?"
"I assume there's a point to her being in your thoughts?"
Marko nodded.
"Then it's an acceptable pain but let's make one thing clear: it was never love"
"No. It wasn't love but there was something, something like it. Star had hoped for it, anyway. In the beginning, there was an undeniable attraction between you.." David said nothing and Marko continued, assuming he was content with the topic, "...but that attraction alone wasn't enough. Then, of course, there's the rest of us. We've dated but nothing more. None of us have had a relationship, as such. Not a long one, anyway. We've certainly never loved. We haven't really cared. Paul came the closest to caring and that wasn't much. So far, we just have casual encounters. I don't know what the future holds but it doesn't look likely we're going to start going steady with a cute little mortal, does it?"
"Is that what you want? A relationship?"
"No" he shook his head.
He was content with what he had: women when he wanted them, space when he wanted it.
"So, what does it all matter?"
"It doesn't matter, not to me. But you asked what I was thinking about and this is it. This is what I was thinking on. It was Paul, by the way"
"What?"
"The longest relationship. The longest any of us have spent with a girl. The time he spent with her was, what? Half a year?"
"Nine months"
"She ended it with him" Marko pointed out.
"Yes. Her solider came back from liberating Europe or whatever he was doing" David shrugged, as if it was of little interest to him, "so what?"
"No" Marko said, reminding David with a shake of his head, "he wasn't coming home for a couple of years, remember?"
David frowned, nodding, "...you're right"
"She wrote Paul that short and sweet Dear John, didn't she? Out of the blue, saying how they weren't supposed to be together?"
"Well, yeah, she was fucking cheating with him"
Marko barked a laugh as David grinned.
She had been cheating.
There were no two ways about it.
She hadn't kept her so-called true love a secret from Paul and Paul hadn't given a shit about it either way. He was in it for the fun at first, then he grew comfortable with her.
Talking about her fiancé made her happy and he liked to see her happy.
He said he liked seeing the dimples on her face her when smiled.
He followed it up by saying he liked the cute little dimples on her ass, too, just in case anyone thought he was getting too sweet.
Her fiancé was a soldier, tall, strapping and handsome. She carried a photo of him in her purse, a locket from him around her neck. He had a locket, too. She'd told Paul proudly, told him how it was a gold locket filled with a picture of her and a cut of her hair. She'd been proud of him, proud to talk about him and Paul would listen. He'd lie in bed with her, both of them smoking, their clothes flung over the furniture of the cheap and isolated motel room and she'd go on about her love, about his heroics. She'd talk about his letters, talk about whatever he was doing in Europe. Killing Nazis or whatever the fuck was going on. Paul's hand would be snaking up her back, tracing the lining of her spine and she would smile, lean up to kiss him all while extolling the virtues of the man she had promised to marry.
She wrote her soldier romantic letters without fail, professing her love for him, her intention to wait for him. Describing her loyalty, faithfulness. Writing how she couldn't wait for him to return...all the while spending her nights with Paul.
She seemed to love being with Paul.
She said she loved being with Paul but was in love with her fiancé.
She had differentiated between the two men quite clearly.
They didn't go out in public together but a few times, Paul had taken her to a club or bar out of town and the others had joined. She'd fit in with them quite easily and Paul, while he hadn't been in love with her either - felt love at all, really - he'd certainly liked being with her.
Once, he'd confided in Marko that it wouldn't be the worst thing if her fiancé got a bullet for his troubles overseas. He wouldn't mind consoling her. Her fiancé wasn't due to come back for a while, they could have easily spent a couple more years in their affair but it hadn't happened like that. He hadn't died, come home early, got an honorable discharge. They hadn't been found out; they hadn't felt threatened by exposure.
She had just ended it.
Out of the blue.
When she'd called it off, Paul had been caught off guard.
They had all read the letter she'd given him. She seemed to like writing; the letter itself was two articulate and sappy pages long. It was actually quite concise but cliché as hell. Even Paul had been embarrassed by how down right romantic it had been but all four of them had read it and there was an underlying knowledge to it, a tone they had all noticed.
The girl really did think their relationship wasn't designed to last, affair aside.
She didn't know what he was but she seemed to know they weren't compatible.
Except, they were.
They really were.
She was gorgeous, full of life, vivacious but smart, too. Kind of ahead of her time, really. She could goof around with Paul; she could laugh with him. She could keep up with him but she could keep him grounded, too.
Paul hadn't loved her but he'd certainly liked her a lot. Spent a hell of a lot of time with her.
He hadn't been ready to end, he had known they weren't in it for the long haul but he'd been content to keep on seeing where it would go.
Yet of the blue, she had called it quits.
She had said that it was something she had been considering for a while, she'd said that the nature of their relationship had been playing on her mind. That was followed by the usual spiel, the shit that was supposed to soften the blow but just degraded the integrity of her arguably articulate rejection. I like you; I'll always care for you; I'll treasure what we had. The useless little platitudes, reassurances did little for Paul. He wasn't going to cry himself to sleep but he had been shocked at the abruptness of it all.
She'd kept her thoughts well-guarded.
"She said that even in another life they wouldn't have made it, didn't she?"
"Yes. Which was apt. I always thought she was pretty dramatic, to be honest" David grinned, "good tits though"
"Exactly Paul's type" Marko looked down at his empty glass, his eyes trained on the figure of the girl by David's feet, "but not entirely stupid. She knew. She knew that their brand of love, the feelings she had for Paul were bullshit...just like their love is..."
As if she had known they were speaking about her, the girl on the floor twitched, her hand rustling the leaves a little.
David was silent for a moment before murmuring a quiet, "heavy thoughts"
"Mm"
"And where does Elizabeth come into it?"
"They-" he jerked his head to the dying man, "-got me thinking about the nature of a mate. Paul's girl cheated on her supposed true love. She admitted to loving Paul, in a way, but that wasn't enough. Star wanted love so damn bad but even she couldn't fake it. This fucker would choose a slow death trying to get away rather than embrace it so his supposed love could live" he scoffed, "bullshit. All of it, total bullshit...but Elizabeth? Elizabeth would die for Dwayne. She wouldn't just beg; she would have thrown herself at us, fought us. If we said, 'you die, he lives' she would have accepted it without a second thought"
David nodded, "I can see her doing something stupid like that, yes"
"And he'd do the same for her"
"No doubt"
"This mortal idea of love, it's horseshit. Paul's relationship with that girl was bullshit. Her relationship with her admirable little soldier was bullshit. What you had with Star..." Marko met his friend's eyes and shrugged, "that was bullshit, too"
"Thank you. You know that she's always been my favorite topic of conversation"
Marko gave a little shrug, just a small lift of his shoulders.
He wasn't going to pussy foot around David or his feelings towards Star, complex as they were. Painful though he knew it was for him, he respected David too much to be anything other than direct.
"I think the only way we'll ever experience love, the only true kind of love there is...is with a mate. Mortals will never experience it...unless they're a mate themselves, that is. Like Elizabeth" David stilled, eyebrows raised a little and Marko shrugged again, "what Dwayne and Elizabeth have is the real deal. I think it's the only deal...you should have seen her, man"
"You should have seen him" David nodded, "and I think you're right"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah"
"Weirdly depressing, isn't it?"
"Yes, in its own way" David replied dryly, "though I'm sure Dwayne would disagree with you"
"Liz, too"
"Does it bother you?"
"What?"
"This depressing idea of love you've been mulling over"
Marko grinned, shaking his head, "no, not at all"
Truthfully, he didn't want a relationship or a girlfriend or commitment. He had what he wanted, when he wanted it. He didn't need to experience the kind of fake love that others did; he was perfectly content with the way everything was. He liked Elizabeth a lot, he was happy for Dwayne but even if it was amazing, even if those two wouldn't change it, he didn't want his life upended at that moment, either.
He would have said no to a mate, too, if given the chance.
"I told you I was thinking, not caring. Does it bother you?"
"No. I've had enough of all of this to last me a century"
Marko nodded, "how about Star?"
"That bothers me a lot"
"Yeah.." Marko said, looking at the man - close to death - and the girl, who still needed a little push to take her there, "that's what I figured"
David said nothing.
"Do you regret her?"
"...no. I regret what happened, I regret what she did...how it ended...but I don't regret her"
"Knowing what you do, would you change it if you could?"
"Of course," David replied, his voice softer, "she endangered the pack. She betrayed us, she left us. No matter how good it was at the start, no matter what my feelings were...that's inexcusable"
"Betrayed the pack, huh?"
David said nothing, not admitting that she'd actually betrayed him. Instead, he asked, "do you really think Elizabeth would die for Dwayne?"
"In a heartbeat"
"You think she'd be willing to die for him?" David asked, kicking the girls limp head with the toe of his boot, glancing over at the barely moving body of her boyfriend.
"No" Marko said with a shake of his head, "if we gave her the same offer we gave him, I think she'd beg us to reconsider, instead. She'd beg until we killed her. She wouldn't choose"
"Isn't that better than choosing herself?"
"No"
David grinned, "everyone says I'm cold. I really do wonder how often they have these conversations with you. I think Elizabeth wouldn't recognize you if you started speaking like this. She thinks your an angel"
Marko laughed and the man gave a shuddering whimper.
He was holding onto life quite admirably.
"I enjoy these moments with you though, Marko"
"Same here"
David grinned, both men sharing a silent and sincere moment before the ice-blonde raised his eyebrow, looking around the small clearing they were in, "I get the feeling that we've lost Paul"
"And Dwayne"
David nodded, "perhaps it was cruel for me to send him to find Paul"
"Nah" Marko grinned, "he's so serious sometimes. This is good for him"
"It's good that he doesn't have blood pressure to worry about"
Marko shrugged, "it was our fault to assume Paul would be available"
"Available" David rolled his eyes, his grin wide, "like he has such a busy social schedule"
Marko laughed, "I mean we all know Paul. You can't just spring a pack meeting and think he'll turn up. You've got to give him advance notice-"
"-advance notice" David grinned, finishing Marko's sentence with him. Paul requiring notice of meetings and discussions was a long standing inside joke within the pack, "well, it's one of two things: he's either fucked or being fucked"
"Off his face, probably" Marko agreed with a nod.
The story was a familiar one. They all knew what the deal was. It wasn't a new or particularly rare occurrence. Doubtlessly the blonde was on a bender, getting smashed or high or both and they all knew that he was getting into the mortal spirit while doing so. He hadn't responded to any of their attempts to reach him and that meant he was in the throes of some careless fun.
More power to the guy, Marko thought.
When he partied, he partied hard but Marko had never been able to shut off his thoughts, to disconnect from the pack in the way that Paul could.
He could get high; he could get drunk but he could never fully let himself go with it. He could never forget what he was, the power that he had. Nothing could control him and he knew it, so the drugs were enjoyable but moot at the same time.
Dwayne and David were the same. They could all party hard but they always knew that they were letting themselves let go.
They were always aware.
Maybe the trio were too serious or maybe Paul was too wild but it was a pretty unique skill of his, either way. To just zone out like that, to just switch off? Sometimes Marko envied him...though Marko knew sometimes Paul did hear but couldn't be bothered to answer.
If he ignored the pack, the pack couldn't spoil his fun.
Marko confirmed, "so? Are we calling it quits?"
"...it's been over an hour"
"Closer to two. I'm still hungry so with your permission, I'd vote to say we call this night a loss and move on. We can have a pack meeting later. We can give him his advance notice"
David laughed and nodded, "not entirely a loss, though"
Marko grinned at the compliment. David had suggested a meeting quite randomly but both Marko and Dwayne had agreed, meeting in the isolated clearing far north of the boardwalk. They had waited for an hour before dispatching Dwayne to find the blonde and had been waiting since. It should have been dull but the two of them had managed to pass the time quite well.
"I'm flattered"
It was quite rare for the two of them to be alone for such a long period of time but it was always a pleasure. Times like this with David were few and far between and he enjoyed them.
The two men were similar in many ways; dark, calculating and often quiet. It was good to hang out together.
"So? Should we let Dwayne know?"
David's eyes sparkled, "no"
"He's gonna be in for a long night. You know what Paul is like when he doesn't want to be found. You know how he gets" Marko slapped his thigh, grinning as he made to stand.
David stood with a nod, "when Dwayne finds him, we'll let him know"
"That could be hours?"
"Yes"
"Why are you torturing your friend?"
"I think Dwayne could use a night off. A night of fun"
"And looking for Paul is fun?"
"No, it's probably driving him crazy. Frustrating him. But, when Paul lets Dwayne catch up to him, I'm sure he'll still be in the mood to keep his party going"
Marko nodded, not entirely understanding David's point, "you're right, his parties never end..."
"Exactly. But if we tell Dwayne now, he'll just call it quits, leave Paul to himself and fly to Elizabeth. He should have a night off. He should party with Paul. It's been a while"
"Hey, you said her name"
"Progress"
"So, him or her?"
"Her"
Marko nodded and moved towards the man. Break the neck, dump the body and then start the hunt again.
The leaves crunched under his feet and he smiled.
Dwayne frowned as a drunk girl stumbled into him, bouncing off the side of his arm and stumbling back into her friends. She giggled, the gaggle of girls giggled, and he gave them an impatient, disinterested glance.
Children.
All of them, children.
Little schoolgirls, pathetic and vapid, linking arms and laughing at their stupidity.
And here he was out hunting for his own damn child.
He knew that if he'd been able to see Elizabeth, looking for Paul wouldn't have annoyed him so much. He usually found Paul's antics to be quite amusing, especially when they ruffled David's feathers. It was funny, though he usually kept that to himself. David took his role as pack leader seriously and rightfully so but it was good for him to be on the receiving end of Paul's jokes and games. It kept him loose, stopped him from being so rigid.
If Dwayne had spent some time with his mate before starting his current search, he probably would have been fine about the whole situation but at that moment, he hadn't seen his mate and he didn't like how fast time seemed to be passing by.
Fuck, it wasn't passing by.
It had passed by.
It was over.
There was no denying that he had missed his window to see Elizabeth and have a meaningful night with her. This late, well, early, Elizabeth would be asleep and he wouldn't be able to wake her. He could wake her and he knew she'd want him to do it but it would be a bad idea.
It wouldn't be fair to her.
Interrupted sleep was a killer and she had to play like everything was usual during the day.
She could only lie about why she was sleepy or tired so much. Questions would be asked; secrets would start to unravel.
He wanted to see her but it was too late now.
His window to see her had well and truly closed and he blamed Paul wholeheartedly.
Well, Paul and David.
David should have known better than to send him looking for Paul and really, he should have known better and said no.
His night had been a long one.
He'd been able to smell and sense his wild brother...but the damn blonde had been everywhere, so being able to sense him did a fat lot of good.
The boardwalk attractions including the rollercoaster, carousel and a bunch of the booths had been visited by him. He'd clearly spent a lot of time there, moving between the rides and games, visiting some of them multiple times and apparently at his own leisure. It had been maddening. Following his trail was like sniffing out an excited dog - back and forth, different routes to the same places, circling back and around and zigzagging around.
The footfall and locations made Dwayne think he'd been entertaining a girl.
From the boardwalk, Dwayne had followed the scent to a café that was surprisingly not cheap and not disgusting - surprising because Paul ate like a pig and liked places that served food fit for pigs - then to a fucking adult video store and a shop that sold tie-dye bikinis and beachwear. Dwayne had wondered if they kept kinky costumes or something in the back because the store itself was a weirdly pedestrian tourist shop and so unlike the blonde himself or the night he seemed to be having but he hadn't deigned to look.
From there, Paul had apparently visited the hot dog stand back at the boardwalk...and since moved on.
"Get his number"
Eyes narrowing, sensing that Paul was near the bar just ahead of him - grubby, kind of old and perfectly his style - Dwayne ignored the giggled hiss of one of the girls.
They had obviously turned around and followed him, ignoring their original plans in the hope of bumping into him again.
Literally or figuratively, he didn't care to find out, though he did make a mental note of their presence.
If he wasn't going to spend the night with his mate, then he'd damn well be satisfying his thirst.
He out walked them easily and stopped outside the bar with a frown, his eyes scanning the buildings around it.
He knew Paul was there.
Somewhere.
...the basement?
No.
He came close to rolling his eyes.
Just a few doors down from the packed little dive was an empty and abandoned lot. It used to be a strip club and before that a 'gentleman's club' and again, before that a smoking lounge. He remembered it clearly, remembered that none of the owners had managed to attract crowds despite the location being a fairly good one. The area was largely empty now - even the girls had stumbled away - but it had the potential to attract a decent amount of footfall. He didn't know why nobody could seem to make that one little lot work as a business but it for the best in the end.
It was a good eating spot for them.
It was like hiding in plain sight.
Well, killing in plain sight.
He looked behind him, knowing that he was alone but checking to be sure, before edging open the heavy and barricaded door.
"Hey, man!" Paul grinned, using the limp wrist of the dead girl on the floor beside him to wave vigorously. The hand flopped backwards and forwards with speed, looking like it belonged on a broken marionette doll rather than a once breathing, living woman, "what brings you to my neck of the woods tonight?"
"...your fucking neck of the woods?" Dwayne asked, staring down at his friend, "I've been all over Santa Carla. Literally, man. The hell are you playing at?"
"Eating" Paul shrugged, dropping the hand. It thudded onto his thigh, "playing. I dunno, do I need to spell it out for you?"
He gestured to the room and Dwayne felt his lips quip, despite himself. It looked like Paul had had quite the night. The whole place stank of drugs, sex and death.
Weirdly, no alcohol but it looked like he'd been enjoying himself for sure.
"You're a moron" he replied bluntly, cutting to the chase and wanting to get the hell out of the dive he was in, "David's looking for you"
"Yeah? I don't see him?"
"He's waiting for you"
"Sent you to do his bitch work, huh? Being number two seems like such a chore"
"Fuck you. Come on. He's waiting"
"Yeah, well. I'll get back to him later. If it was important, I'd know. She's got friends, if you're hungry?"
Dwayne glanced down at the dead girl. He wouldn't be distracted, especially not by the corpse and her apparent friends.
If he wanted to hunt, he knew where to find a group of far more lively victims, "David wanted to have a meeting"
"Shoulda scheduled one then, huh?"
"You didn't answer any of us"
"Been busy"
"Let's go. We're still having a meeting"
"What about?"
"I don't know, we didn't get to it though I assume we were going to address the issue of our Rogue"
"Why?"
"Why? Because there's another vampire on our territory that we haven't-"
"-nah, I mean why don't you know for sure? Why didn't you have the meeting? Why? Why, why, why?"
"I wonder about you, you know that? We were missing a member of the pack"
"Ah. Marko?"
"God, you're funny. Really funny, I swear I'm gonna split my side laughing" Dwayne said flatly, "any second now. Wait for it"
"Sarcasm doesn't suit you"
"Come on, let's go"
"No"
"Paul"
"Dwayne"
His lips quirked again, a small smile breaking free of his stoic mask and Paul's eyes lit up at the sight.
Dwayne knew right then that he had lost.
His patience was wearing, he was annoyed and frustrated but sometimes it was so hard to keep a straight face around Paul.
"Dude, come on. Get your ass up and after the meeting you can-"
"-nah"
"Paul"
"Your voice is pretty husky; you know that man? Must drive Liz wild when you say her name. It's makin' me hot at any rate"
"You know I've been looking for you for hours now, right? David sent me on this stupid chase and because of that I won't be seeing her so-"
"-blue balls"
"What?"
Paul nodded, "that's why you're crabby. It's your nuts. Swellin' up. All your undead cum just building up, you're desperate to let a load out and your mate-"
Dwayne held up his hand, "-be careful"
Paul laughed, his eyes bright, "careful?"
"Use your words carefully" Dwayne expanded.
"I'm not gonna insult Lizzie!" he laughed, the twinkle in his eyes telling Dwayne that's exactly what he was going to do, "she's my girl!"
"My girl, actually"
"Our girl"
"Paul"
"Dwayne"
"Get up. We're going"
"Sit down, I'm staying"
"David wants-"
"-blah blah blah, come onnnnn. David wants to chat; he wants to shoot the shit. Well, he can pencil it in for another day because I want to have fun and that's exactly what I'm gonna do"
"God, you're a brat"
"Yeah. Lizzie likes it though"
"I swear-"
"-she likes a lot of things about me"
Before Dwayne could hoist the blonde to his feet, both men froze, David's voice smoothly sounding in their thoughts.
Dwayne frowned while Paul grinned.
"Well! I received that loud and clear"
"Now that I've found you, you open your mind to us?" Dwayne almost snapped at his friend.
Paul laughed.
"I'm going to kill him"
Paul just laughed again, slouching a little more on the ground.
Both of them had heard David's message loud and clear: let's postpone.
Dwayne couldn't believe it.
He'd found his friend and still he'd wasted his whole night for nothing.
Time he could have spent with Elizabeth instead he'd spent on a pointless mission. Now that he'd found Paul, David was just going to say 'postpone it'?
"Yeah, made you waste a lot of time looking for me, huh? Sucks that he just calls it off like that"
"Son of a bitch"
"Yeah. See, this is why I don't cater to his whims"
Dwayne didn't know what to say.
"I'm gonna kill you, too"
"You know...if you wake Liz up now, that'd be a real dick move on your part. She was lookin' a little dark around the eyes" Paul touched his own fresh and healthy looking under eyes. There was no hint of exhaustion on his own face, "I mean yeah, she looked pretty, she's always pretty but no doubt about it. Our girl looked tired"
"I know"
Dwayne didn't need to be reminded that it would be a selfish move to wake her up at this point in the night.
"...damn. Sucks you can't go and see her now, huh? David just made you waste your night"
"Yeah"
"He's such a cunt"
"You both are. I know you're fucking loving this"
Paul laughed, "so, looks like you're free?"
"Looks like it"
"What a happy coincidence. I'm free, too!"
"Good for you. I'm gonna go see Elizabeth"
"And do what? Watch her sleep? Fap one out while you do? You're such a creep"
"Fuck you"
"Nah, my asshole's not open to you, no matter how blue your nuts are" Paul laughed again, "hang with me. Come on, let's party? I got a bunch of real good ecstasy and some hot girls just dying to join in"
Dwayne shook his head, though it did sound like a good time.
Paul knew how to party.
"If you'd just answered one of us and told us you weren't going to bother listening to an order from David, I could be with her now, you know that?"
"Yeah, but I really don't care. Come on, man. Look! Ok, how's this? We go check in on our girl-"
Paul grinned at the flash in Dwayne's eyes.
"-you can see that she's sleepin' all safe and happily and shit and then we can go and have fun. We'll have a couple of hours left until the sun comes to shuffle us back to our dark and dank sleeping quarters"
"...you're not going into her room"
"I've been there before"
"Great"
"She invited me in, you know?"
"Good for you. You're not going in while she's sleeping"
"I'll wait on the roof"
"...no" Dwayne frowned.
"I'll be good" Paul said, "promise"
"Yeah, your 'I'll be good' is still pretty bad, man"
Paul laughed, "I'll be on my best behavior. Let's clean up here and go?"
Dwayne nodded, "no jokes"
"Wait. I win? You'll party with me?"
"Stay on the roof, don't do anything and yeah. I'm in"
Why the hell not?
It's not like he had anything else to do that night.
Paul laughed, pushing the corpse off his lap, "let's fuckin' get this show on the road!"
Dwayne grinned, shaking his head.
It had been a while since he'd spent time alone with Paul and the blonde did know how to have a good time.
One night wouldn't hurt.
"I fucking love our friendship" Paul said, hoisting the girl over his shoulder, watching as Dwayne scooped up her friend, "yeah, you're pretty palatable"
"Palatable? Please, the pack'd be a depressing mess without me"
Dwayne laughed, "think so?"
"Know so. Christ, you, David and Marko? Jesus. We all know I'm the fun one. You three...Jesus" he repeated, shuddering, "Santa Carla wouldn't know what hit it. Now come on, stop wasting time! You've wasted half the night already"
"I'm already regretting this"
"No backing out now, man. Let's go check in on Liz"
"Five minutes"
"Don't give-"
"-shhh you'll wake her up"
Dwayne punched Paul in the shoulder and the blonde laughed quietly in the night, swatting his friends hand away and pointing down to the room below them.
"Hurry up"
"Not a sound" Dwayne warned, jerking his body away as Paul made to give him a slapping little swipe. The blonde had blood on his hands from dumping the bodies and Dwayne didn't want to get any on Elizabeth's window, room or bed.
"Four minutes, thirty seconds"
Dwayne turned and dropped down from the roof, not bothering to acknowledge his friend. He knew Paul was only half joking with the time limit and as he slipped open the window, he glanced upwards once.
It was clear.
Paul was keeping his word.
Sliding into the room, the first thing that caught his attention was the smell of garlic. The room was warm and comfortable, kind of surprising considering it was the attic room and looked like it should run cold, and part of that warmth seemed to make the garlic smell a bit more potent than he guessed it was.
As he approached the bed, he couldn't stop smiling.
Pasta sauce and garlic.
She must have had a good dinner. She was lucky to have a mother who cared enough to go through the trouble of cooking like that, most people in Santa Carla didn't. It comforted him to know she was being looked after when he wasn't there. He reached out and gently righted the blanket she was buried under, making sure it was covering her whole body. She was wrapped up warm, looked nothing short of snug in her bed. He could see a thick sock poking out of the end of the blanket and he assumed that they were her older brother's, once upon a time.
They were too masculine to be her own.
He wanted her to wear his clothes, to sleep in his old tees and wear his socks, his jacket.
He wanted to reach out and touch her, too, but he didn't want to risk waking her.
Her hair was fanned over the pillow but it was messy, a little bit knotted and he could imagine her tossing and turning, finding the sweet spot on her pillow.
The way her arms were spread out but her legs curled up tightly under the blanket made him grin.
She was breathing deeply and evenly, her eyes moving under her closed lids and he wondered what she was dreaming about. Her face was relaxed and she looked peaceful, at ease and he knew he was making the right choice in not waking her up.
She needed sleep. She was only mortal.
She mumbled something, just a brief parting of her lips and again, the smell of garlic came to him.
She must have eaten a lot of it and again, he grinned. He wanted nothing more than to hold her, to curl up next to her and press his body against hers and he knew that tomorrow, the night would be theirs.
Reluctantly, he turned to leave but paused as he spotted the aged, browned page of a book poking out from under her pillow. The page was bent a little awkwardly and he knew she'd fallen asleep reading it. He peered at the it and had to clench his fist to stop himself from reaching out for her.
It was Dracula.
She had fallen asleep reading Dracula, eyes scanning the notes and annotations he had made.
She had been waiting for him.
He reached out, wanting to touch her, wanting to see her mark-
"-hurry up"
"Get out" he hissed immediately, Paul's disappearing blonde hair barely a blur in the dark sky, framed by the window.
Dwayne turned back to Elizabeth but she hadn't stirred at all.
He couldn't say he wasn't disappointed but, with a smile and a shake of his head, he turned to the window.
"Sweet dreams, beautiful lady" he murmured, wanting to kiss her but again, knowing he really shouldn't wake her.
Paul hadn't gone far and when Dwayne had the upper half of his body out of the window, the blonde's hands had clamped onto his shoulders, hauling him out of the room in a less than soft way. They tussled for a moment and Dwayne shoved him to the side with a silent laugh, dropping down off the roof to slide her window carefully shut.
When he returned, Paul was grinning widely.
"Longer than five minutes"
"No, it wasn't"
Paul laughed, "whatever. Why'd she smell like garlic?"
"No idea" Dwayne replied with a grin.
"She's got a healthy appetite, hey?"
"Like you don't?"
"No, I do. That's why we're such a good team. Lizzie and I are destined-"
Paul didn't finish his sentence but laughed as Dwayne launched himself at the blonde. As their bodies collided, sending them both propelling through in the air, Dwayne let his friend go.
"Come on, let's get going"
"Let's get fucked up!"
A/N: Dwayne and Elizabeth are going to reunite and they're going to bang and it's going to be very sexy and hard and Dwayne's going to be very dominant about it all, so there's a heads up for you all haha. Stay safe!