Title: A Vampire's Word
Author: ImhotepsGoddess
Summary: The sequel to David's Revenge. Laddie is heartbroken after the Pack leaves Santa Carla. When they return, will they find themselves no longer welcome in his life?
Disclaimer: As we all know, the WB owns The Lost Boys and all of the characters therein. I still own Annabelle, and now I own Sela and Alex, too! Beat that!

David's Revenge mini-recap: David didn't die and sought revenge on all of the "good guys" in the movie. He met the spirit of a vampire named Annabelle and brought her back to life using Star's body as a vessel. They became mates. All of the major characters except Lucy, Grandpa, & Laddie (and Nanook) were killed. The Lost Boys were brought back to life. (Sela's new, I haven't done a story about how she was brought into the Pack yet.)


Prologue

Ten years ago the Pack had promised Laddie that he would always be welcome among them. That one day they would come for him and he would take his rightful place beside them. Five years ago the Pack had left and Laddie cried. Imagine a boy of 15, sobbing pitifully into his bedclothes. Paul had come that night, for Paul was always closest to Laddie. He had told him that the Pack needed to leave for awhile, that packs often split up for a year or two to experience solitude. Not even David and Annabelle or Dwayne and Sela were staying together and they were mates.

With each word Laddie seemed to turn in on himself, tears filling his eyes. He begged Paul to make them change their minds. Not to break their promise. Paul told him that they would never break their promise, that if no one else *he* would come back for him. But as happy as Laddie was to hear that, he still wanted all of the Pack to welcome him into the family.

That night Laddie cried himself to sleep and he didn't leave his room for days, barely speaking to Lucy who he called "Mom," or Grandpa. He was never the same again.



Part 1 -- 1996

Laddie, now a young man of twenty, sighed bitterly and ran a hand through his shoulder length, light brown hair. He had changed a lot since that night so long ago. He was no longer the happy bubbly boy he had been. Multiple silver hoops hung from both ears and a small thick hoop pierced one nostril. He had taken to wearing mostly black; to match how he felt inside sometimes, he said. Black leather, spiked cuffs circled his wrists and a large, silver ankh hung from a leather cord around his neck.

He leaned on the counter at the video store and started into the night. But it was night at the Santa Carla Boardwalk, which meant that the bright lights and crowds that still flocked there every summer almost made it seem like day. He could never bring himself to leave Santa Carla. Lucy tried to push him to go to college but he had refused. So she put him to work here. Yes, the video store was still there, where it always was except it had been Emerson's Video Place since 1986, soon after Max died. And since there were no other rental stores in Santa Carla, people still came.

Five years, Laddie thought sadly, five years since they left me here all alone. He always quietly hoped that the next time the door opened the Pack would come swaggering in. That he would hear their motorcycles gunning down the street. He had a motorcycle too, now. He wanted so badly to ride with them, just once.

Laddie heard the bell on the door clang and his head snapped up. He lowered his head in disappointment when he saw it was only his best friend, Alex. "Please, Laddie, at least *try* to look happy to see me," he said jokingly.

"Sorry Alex, I don't know when I'm gonna stop hoping....," he trailed off, a hint of sadness in his dark eyes.

"That those mysterious friends of yours are gonna make their big appearance?" Alex finished, strolling over to the new release section and picking up a box, scanning the summary on the back cover.

"Dude, when are they gonna stop makin' these "Children of the Corn" sequels?" he mused to no one in particular.

"Yeah, pretty much," said Laddie, ignoring the second question, "It feels like I've been watching that door forever. I don't know if I'll even want to see 'em now."

"Well, I wouldn't," Alex said, his light blue eyes becoming serious. He put the tape back and slid on a stool behind the counter, "If my "friends" just left me cold out-of-the-blue one day, I don't think I'd welcome 'em back with open arms."

"That's just it Alex, they're more like family to me than friends." Laddie tried to explain.

Alex crossed his arms over his well-worn Nirvana (the band) t-shirt and shook his head, his black ponytail swinging back and forth. "Friends, family, whatever. You just don't *do* that. Hey, *especially* if you're supposed to be family."

Laddie looked down at a scratch on the counter and rubbed his finger across it absently. Was Alex right? If it happened that the Pack came back, what *would* he do? Nothing made sense anymore.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt your immensely exciting brood session, but I gotta go," Alex said, jumping off the stool and heading out the door.

"Alex!" Laddie called, making him turn and stop at the door, "Umm...thanks for the advice, man."

"No prob. Anything for my best bud," Alex replied, grinning widely.

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With the video store quiet again, Laddie decided to reorganize the horror section, just to get his mind off of things. At the letter "U" he was finally feeling relaxed again. Then he saw the next title: "Vampires." Just seeing the word brought his mood crashing down again. Maybe Mom will get here soon so I can go home, he thought glumly. Fifteen minutes later his prayers were answered. Lucy walked through the door, looking cheerful and bright as usual. She looked at her adopted son in his black clothes, with his multiple earrings and nose ring and sighed. The Boys had taken a toll on him, whether they were here or not. He probably, no definitely, would be happier if the were here, a fact that made her quite unhappy.

"Hi Mom," Laddie said, not trying to hide the way he was feeling.

"Laddie, honey, I wish you would at least *try* to be happy. It's not so bad here, is it?"

"No, it's not. It's just that, you know, they *promised*. And they *left*. It hurts."

"I know, but they're vampires, Laddie, you expected them to keep a promise?"

"Mom, vampires live by their word. Of course I expected them to keep their promise."

Lucy knew there was no reasoning with him. But perhaps he *did* know more about vampires than she chose to believe. Maybe he was right about them being true to their word. After all, they had never gone after her or Grandpa, ever. Sometimes they were downright cordial to them. It had always confused them but not Laddie. He seemed to expect it.

"Mom?" Laddie called, breaking Lucy out of her thoughts, " Can I go home now?"

"What? Oh, sure, honey. Go home, get some rest," Lucy said, waving her hand in dismissal.

"Bye, Mom, see you later!" he called, pushing the door open and heading out to his motorcycle. Climbing on, he roared away.

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David stood in front of an old, abandoned mine, waiting. He had sent out the call and soon his Pack would come. He had chosen this place in the heart of the California wilderness because it would provide the privacy they needed to get reacquainted and because the tunnels of the mine would offer good shelter when dawn came. He heard a rustling and whipped his head towards the source of the sound. When he saw the flash of chestnut brown curls his undead heart leapt. He reached out with his mind and sure enough it was she. Annabelle, his mate. But he wouldn't call her, no; he would wait for her to appear on her own. Then there she was, stepping out from behind the trees and walking towards him, the softest smile on her beautiful lips. She stopped mere inches away from him, their bodies almost touching but not quite. Tentatively she reached her hand up and brushed her fingers lightly over his face. As it happened all those years ago, he caught her hand and gently pressed a kiss to each fingertip. But they would not give in to passion on this night. This night was for Pack and Pack alone. So instead of pulling her roughly against him, he just enveloped her in a loving hug full of longing and tenderness.

Annabelle broke the silence first, pulling away from him slightly and looking into his eyes, "I missed you so, David," she murmured.

"And I you, Annabelle," he replied, pronouncing her name slowly and deliberately.

They heard a whistling of the air above them and smiled when they realized that it was another member of the Pack.

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Soon all were there. Except one. Dwayne had his eyes closed, trying desperately to feel if his mate was close. Paul put a hand on his shoulder and he didn't resist. "She'll be here, man," Paul said softly.

"Yes, we would have felt it if she were gone, "David added confidently, "you even more so if the mate-bond was broken."

Dwayne just nodded silently. Suddenly his eyes snapped open and he began to look around wildly, finally stopping to look in one particular direction. "I feel her!" he said, as much excitement in his voice as he dared. They all turned in the direction he was looking and saw a figure weaving in and out of the trees. It was definitely her. Marco grinned and clapped Dwayne on the back. "See? Nothin' to worry about," he said happily.

Dwayne's mate Sela burst through the trees and landed gracefully on the ground. She shook the leaves and twigs out of her red-gold mane and smiled at her family.

"I am so sorry I'm late. I was in England when I got the call and flew as fast as I could to be here," she said, a wide smile lighting up her pale features.

Dwayne was the first to get to her and lifted her up in his arms, swinging her around in circles. The rest of the Pack watched the happy reunion of the mates with expressions of joy on each of their faces.

Later, as they sat on makeshift chairs deep in the tunnels, Paul decided to bring up the promise. "What about our promise, David," he asked the Pack leader.

"We will keep it. We return to Santa Carla tomorrow night."