Final Destination Meets The Lost Boys
The Cici Academy Would Like To Thank: Dharke…appreciated, as always. Wow. Almost twenty different emotions – you really felt it, uh? And you are SO wrong on the pages front…actually, that chapter totalled 8 pages on MS Word. 4 of them were Carter and the other 4 were Alex/Clear…and this chapter, wow, it's 10 pages…and every page has Carter! Let this cheer you up then. *tongue*. And for the last time: Cici not going soft on A/C! Just you wait until the next chapter! Heheh. I like to threaten, but when I get around to writing chapter five, I'll probably change my mind again…I'm so fickle.
And hello to a new reviewer - Nickolaus Pacione – it's always good to see someone new interested in my fics. I like to get other's take on things…I classified this as a horror/parody. Okay, so maybe parody wasn't the correct word as all I've done is alter the Lost Boys characters for FD ones…I'm surprised at myself for coming up with original scenes that did not exist in TLB, never thought that one imaginable…and thank you for your kind comments regarding my imagination…
Chapter Four
Carter sat directly opposite David in the underground cave. Marko had been gone for little over an hour, and time had seemed to slow right down. Carter had barely muttered more than a dozen words the whole time Marko was gone. The minutes seemed to tick by at an agonisingly slow pace. David had let him in on some more Santa Carla secrets in an attempt to keep Carter 'entertained'. Must like the sound of his own voice criticised the voice inside Carter's head. What does Terry see in him?
Glancing across behind David, Carter eyed the girl, her features semi-eclipsed by the shadows. She herself had not said a single word after they had arrived and that, in turn, made Carter feel uneasy. In the silence that followed, he watched her watch him. He tried to give her his best smile, however she didn't seem to react. A smile, any kind of smile – whether a grimace or smirk – was all Carter was looking for. For some reasons unknown to him, he had to wonder why she was so quiet.
"Feeding time!" boomed Marko's voice, startling Carter slightly. Looking up to the cave entrance, he saw the punk dance down the rickety stairs; his hands completely occupied with Chinese take away bags. Well, least they have good taste in food identified Carter. "Come and get it boys!"
"Chinese," noted David, taking a cardboard box from his mate. "Good choice." Those words echoed in Carter's ears. Jeez, was David reading his mind now? The blond turned his attention to Carter. "Guests first."
He leaned over, a box of rice in his gloved hand, and offered it to Carter. Carter eyed the box, then looked at David.
"No." declining, Carter held up his hand.
"What, you don't like rice?" responded David.
"Well, it's not that I don't…"
"Tell me Carter," interrupted David, somewhat rashly. "How could a billion Chinese people be wrong?" He smirked, his joke rousing a couple of laughs from Dwayne and Paul. Carter laughed half-heartedly, playing along. He reached over and took the box of rice from David, who sat back smugly.
Picking up the chopsticks, Carter fished around the rice trying, unsuccessfully, to gather up a reasonable amount to eat. Carter was never a practical man, he would much rather prefer to eat his rice with a fork. It was like living in the dark ages – which pretty much explained the punk's underground lair.
"How are those maggots?" David asked casually, watching the newcomer closely. It took Carter a second to realise that David was in fact talking to him. He glanced up at the peroxide punk, nodding his head in a manner that silently asked David to repeat himself.
"Maggots, Carter. You're eating maggots, how do they taste?"
A scowl appeared on Carter's handsome features. Maggots? Had he heard that right? He glanced down into the box, expecting to see rice, but his eyes widened as he saw the rice moving…he was eating maggots!
Carter gagged and began spitting out the remainder of the maggots in his mouth. The box dropped onto the floor, the chopsticks jingling on the ground. The punks burst out into hysterical laughter as Carter shoved his fingers in his mouth, trying to get rid of all things crawly.
"Leave him alone," came Terry's voice, sounding surprisingly weak.
Looking down to the container, Carter's eyes focused after his dizzy spell and he saw that the 'maggots' were rice once again. Feeling somewhat cheated and a little embarrassed, he glanced up at David, who had a solemn, regretful expression on his face.
"Sorry about that. No hard feelings, uh?"
Carter acknowledged his apology with a simple response: "No."
"Why don't you try some noodles?"
Carter looked at the box David was offering him. One glance, and Carter felt sick. Inside this box was something worse than maggots…worms. Brown, slimy icky worms that made Carter's stomach tighten immediately into knots. He put a hand to his stomach to steady himself. Half dazed, Carter drawled sickly: "They're worms."
"What do you mean they're worms?!" David asked, incredulous. He grabbed the box from Carter and searched the box…picking up the chopsticks, Carter swallowed hard.
"Don't eat those…!"
Too late, David had put the 'worms' to his mouth and began eating. Focusing properly, Carter did see that it was noodles and not worms. David's cruel joke from before was obviously having major side effects. And now, everything food related that was offered to Carter would make him imagine gross concoctions.
"They're only noodles, Carter."
Carter winced. He didn't like how David kept repeating his name, as if not mentioning it would make him somehow forget it. He watched as David put the carton of noodles to the side.
"Leave him alone." Came Terry's voice, this time a lot firmer. From behind, Dwayne demanded she shut up.
"Aww, shut up girl!"
Carter wanted to punch his lights out for the manner in which he had just spoken to Terry but instead remained silent, intrigued to see what would happen next. David snapped his fingers at Marko who approached him from behind. Leaning over, David whispered something into Marko's ears. Carter couldn't quite make it out as Marko came back just as quickly as he had went. He returned with a bottle of wine in his hands and handed it down to David, who was still seated. Carter leaned back as David popped the cork and pursed his lips, taking a giant swig. He pulled the bottleneck away from his face abruptly and shut his eyes in ecstasy. Carter watched him carefully, wondering what effects this 'wine' was having on him.
Feeling his eyes on him, David opened his and looked Carter straight on. His mouth opened slowly and he offered the bottle to Carter.
"Drink some of this Carter," he requested faintly. "Be one of us."
One of us? Carter looked at the others, who had now determined expressions on their faces. They started chorusing Carter's name, much like the cheerleaders had done back in Phoenix when Carter was the football team Captain. Terry removed herself from the shadows, wanting to intervene. She stood behind Carter as he accepted the bottle from David. He wanted to taste it. He wanted to get that powerful feeling David had experienced only minutes ago from the special tonic.
"Don't." Terry warned quietly, "You don't have to Carter."
Carter began to draw the bottle to his mouth, but Terry laid a hand on his shoulder. Carter didn't even flinch at her contact. "It's blood."
Carter scoffed slightly, smirking at Terry. He wanted to taste the power David seemed to have. He wanted to become one of them just in order to get Terry.
Whatever, one of them was.
"Blood? Yeah, sure." And with that he put the bottle to his mouth and began to drink the wine. The delicious liquid poured into his mouth and he swallowed languorously, savouring the taste. Terry's hand dropped from his shoulder as she backed off, now clearly frightened that Carter had taken David's 'wine'.
David applauded Carter's actions. "Bravo! You're alright Carter." He took his hand and shook it, giving him a slap on the back. He moved away as Paul stepped up to him, also slapping him on the back. "You're one of us, bud."
Terry disappeared further into the shadows, holding her little brother, Laddie, firmly within her grasp. What have you done, Carter?
---
Later that night, David, Marko, Dwayne and Paul took Carter out on a motorcycle trip. For several hours they roamed the quiet night streets, their engines now surely rousing the neighbourhood. The thrill of getting caught was exhilarating to Carter. He was relieved he had finally found some guys in this shitty town who were just like him: game for a laugh and daring in every aspect. Little did Carter know, that David had something even more daring planned for him…
The five motorcycles pulled up to an abandoned train station. The lads shut off their engines and departed from their bikes. Carter glanced around at his surroundings, feeling slightly cold. Thank god for his leather jacket, it was the only thing keeping him warm. The night air was calm but cold and Carter shivered slightly. A train's horn sounded in the distance and David grinned excitedly.
"Perfect timing!"
"What's going on?" Carter asked.
"Carter wants to know what's going on," David announced to the group. "Marko: tell Carter what's 'going on'…"
"I don't know!" grinned Marko, glancing over at Paul. "What's 'going on', Paul?"
"Wait a minute," paused Paul playfully, hitting Dwayne on the arm. "Who wants to know?"
"Carter wants to know," Dwayne replied, shifting his head in his direction. Carter smirked. Suddenly, David stopped on the tracks, holding up his hand as a signal. Carter looked around, wanting to know what would happen next. He felt a little uneasy, seeing that this 'abandoned' station was still in function. He looked over the tracks to see that below what were, at best estimates, a two hundred foot drop into oblivion.
"I think we should let Carter know what's going on. Marko?"
The blond turned to the youngest lad out of the four and Carter saw that he was standing on the edge of the platform. "Goodnight, Carter." And to Carter's shocked eyes, Marko jumped off the platform and down that drop into the mist below. "Bomb's away!"
"What the fuck…?" Carter muttered, inaudible to the others.
Paul then approached the edge, turning to Carter who stood in disbelief. He gave him two very enthusiastic thumbs up. "Bottoms up, man!" he then dropped down as well. Dwayne also approached and he too, silently, dropped off the edge. Carter was incredulous. Were these guys out of their minds?!
"Come with us, Carter." David soothed, the sickly gesture making Carter's stomach flutter uneasily. He was a daring type of lad, but not that daring. The blond jumped off as well and Carter flew himself to the edge of the tracks and peered down into the mist. He could hear laughing. It wasn't distant, it was close, and it belonged to the boys. Carter squinted slightly, trying to see for the obvious signs of life.
Finally, Carter saw them, all five of them, dangling from the tracks, cheering and whooping in delight at the thrill.
"Carter Horton; come on down!" rooted David.
"Welcome aboard, Carter!" Dwayne added.
Carter wasn't sure what made him reason his next move. Carefully, Carter leaned over the edge, and twisted his body to face the punks. He took a firm grip on the tracks with both hands and began to hang from the tracks. How the fuck do I get back up?
"Fun, huh?" shouted David,
Fun? A dubious Carter asked himself. This was far from his idea of 'fun'. Suddenly, Carter remembered the distant train horn honking in the distance. His hands began to shake like a Parkinson's victim, but glancing up, he realised that it wasn't he himself that was shaking – the tracks were! A train had begun to pass over their heads. Carter gripped on for dear life.
"Don't be scared, Carter!" Marko yelled, noticing his abrupt shift in body language.
To Carter's horrified eyes, one by one the punks began to let go of the tracks and they disappeared into the empty skies below. Carter tried desperately to pull himself up but the fact that the train was still passing would restrict his escape access. It was just him and David.
"Carter, you're one of us! Let go!"
"And do what?!" Carter cried back, watching his feet dangle.
"You are one of us!" David repeated as if somehow trying to get a point across to the stubborn newcomer.
And just like Marko, Dwayne and Paul before him, David's gloved grip loosened and he fell into the night sky. Carter was stunned.
"DAVID!"
Had he just witnessed these five humans fall to their maniac deaths? Had they fallen down into some secret cave, much like their lair back at the Santa Carla shore? Or was he just imaging it all. Carter couldn't decide. He couldn't concentrate on anything else but getting back up onto the tracks properly. The passing train had completed its run and even with a clear, non-obstructive escape route above him, Carter couldn't shift his weight. Instead, the grip he had on the tracks was rapidly weakening. His every inch was panicking…he did not come to Santa Carla to die a stupid death.
But once again, from below, Carter could hear mingled cries from the punks. They were not terrified, nor were they injured. They sounded perfectly fine and to Carter, the idea of letting go was not such a bad idea. His grip was wasted and he fell through into the fog. Falling and falling…for what seemed like an eternity.
Carter fell onto his bed. Somehow, he had managed to make it home. Or perhaps he had dreamt the whole train track scenario. Shutting his eyes and rolling over on the bed, he heard his bedroom door open.
"Wake up, Horton!"
Carter traced the voice to that of Alex Browning. His goofy cousin came striding into the bedroom, pulling up the blinds. Carter moaned at the strength of the sun's rays. He shielded his eyes.
"Wake up, it's your mom."
"Mom's home?" Carter asked drowsily.
"No, on the phone, you jerk-off."
Alex picked up Carter's portable phone and dropped it onto his lap. Carter's hand was still cocked in front of his eyes, fending off the scorching rays. "What time is it?"
"Two o'clock. You're even harder to wake up than a fucking mummy."
Carter grimaced at the comparison to a rotting, crispy corpse. Wanting to rid of the sun from his eyes, he stretched out towards his bedside cabinet. "Give me those sunglasses, Browning."
"You need sunglasses to talk on the phone?" Alex asked, picking up a bandana, attempting to put it on to envision what he might look like. "Are you freebasing? Enquiring minds wanna know."
Carter responded with a single elevated middle finger. Alex feigned a hurtful expression at the gesture as the drowsy teenager picked up the cordless.
"Hello?"
"Carter," came Lucy's voice. "Are you still in bed?"
"No," lied her son. "I'm up."
Alex stood in front of Carter and attached the bandana to his head. Thick tufts of his blond hair stood up from the top, making him look quite ridiculous. Even as he laid half-asleep, and half concentrating on the phone, Carter managed to shoot Alex a look. He waved his hand about, signalling that this particular fashion statement was not a good look.
"Carter, could you do me a favour. Max asked me to go to dinner with him tonight after work, and I was wondering if you could stay in with Alex."
"Alex is old enough to stay by himself!" came his exasperated reply.
"Yeah, I don't need no babysitter." came Alex's voice through the phone. Carter pushed him off, not wanting him within several inches of his face.
"Carter, you know I don't mean it like that. I want you to stay at home to keep him company. Have a boy's night in, watch TV…"
"There is no TV, mom." Carter reminded his mother.
"Oh, I'm forgetting about that. Well, just stay at home. I don't want you going to the Boardwalk. You spend half your life down there and it's affecting you."
"It's 'affecting' me?" Carter repeated in an aggravated tone that resembled insulting.
"Yes, it's affecting you," scolded Lucy. "You come home in the middle of the night, you sleep all day…"
Carter sighed dramatically and dropped the phone from his ear onto his shoulder. He turned his head away to evade the nagging motherly voice but even with the phone away from his ear, he could still hear it.
"…I work all day. Alex is always alone and it's been a long time since somebody asked me out to dinner. I'd like to go. Okay?"
Carter put the phone back to his ear, upon hearing her plea. Well, he didn't want his mom to be totally miserable out in Santa Carla. "Okay mom."
"Thanks. It's a real favour."
She hung up. Carter handed the phone to Alex, prompting him to put it back on the charger.
"Guess it's just you and me tonight." Carter grimaced. He saw that Alex still had the bandana on. Alex looked at him.
"What? What do you think? Ya like?"
"Is it supposed to impress me?" he asked blankly.
"No," replied Alex. "Think it'll impress Clear?"
Carter scoffed. "Alex, lemme give you a little fashion advice, alright, seeing as I know my Gucci's from my K-Mart: you wear that, and she'll be convinced you are a circus boy."
Alex frowned and pulled the bandana from his head.
"And what are you?" Carter said exasperated, still reeling from the silly headgear. "Twelve?"
---
Later that night, Alex was sitting in the kitchen staring out the window. He was supposed to be making tonight's dinner with Lucy out on a date with the mysterious Max. Neither Alex or Carter had met the man, but Lucy seemed to be quite taken with him and excited at the prospect of a date. But all he himself could think about was Clear. He wondered when he would in fact see her again. Just then, Grandpa Horton entered the kitchen. Alex turned to see the old man clad in a smart, but shabby suit. His eyes widened as he saw that he had a bandana on his. Damnit, Carter was right!
"Anything in here that might pass for aftershave?"
"What, Carter didn't give you any?"
Grandpa scoffed. "No. That boy is so protective of his things."
"Don't I know it," Alex mused and went back to the window. "How about some Windex?"
Grandpa's face brightened. "Yeah! Lemme try some of that!"
Alex stifled a laugh, amused that Grandpa wanted to use fucking window cleaner as an aftershave substitute. He handed him the bottle and the old man sprayed some onto his hands and dabbed it to his cheeks. Alex tried to keep from laughing, but keeping in comical laughter was a hard thing to do. Carter appeared at the doorframe behind Grandpa.
"Have a big date tonight, Grandpa?" he asked. He stood with the sunglasses still on his face from this morning. Alex raised his eyebrows when he noticed that the sunglasses were in fact, an abysmal attempt at hiding…a pierced eyebrow? Carter had pierced his eyebrow…since when? Alex was sure he hadn't noticed it this morning…
"I'm dropping off some of my handiwork to the Widow Johnson."
"What'd you stuff for her; Mr Johnson?" he chuckled at his lame joke. Grandpa shook his head at his grandson, disappointed with the crude joke.
"I'll see you two guys later."
He gathered up several boxes of "handiwork" and shuffled out the back door. Alex threw Carter an offended glare in response to the morbid gag. "That wasn't funny."
Carter made a face at his cousin.
"I'm gonna make you a sandwich."
"Don't bother."
"And loose the eyebrow piercing. It's not you, it's definitely not you."
"Fuck off." Carter said harshly, taking off the sunglasses.
"Y'know, all you do is give attitude lately," Alex sighed, then screwed up his face, realising that his attitude problem was not a new phase he was going through. Carter Horton does attitude so well. "Not that you never did before…"
Suddenly, blinding headlights filled the dimly lit kitchen. Alex spun around as the lights evaded every inch of the kitchen. The sound of revving motorcycle engines kicked in, making Carter peek out the window. He couldn't see a thing for the blinding beams. He knew immediately who it was.
David.
Carter walked towards the door much to the protests of Alex, who stood behind him, transfixed by the scenario about to unfold. "Don't open the door, Carter!"
Using his foot, the stronger cousin kicked the back door open and as if on cue, the revving stopped and most of all, the lights had disappeared. To Alex that was impossible. The motorcycles sounded so vivid as if the bikes were right out in the front yard. Cautiously, Carter poked his head out the door, looking for any signs of intruders. Instead, he found nothing. Alex approached him from behind.
"What's going on Carter?"
Carter didn't give his cousin a reply; instead he closed over the door and walked right by the blond teenager. "I'll be in my room."
Alex sighed and glanced to Nanook. The dog panted contentedly, as if the disturbing noises of motorcycle engines had not bothered him in the slightest. Alex walked back to the window to take another glance outside – just to make sure.
---
Carter sat in his room, head in his hands. What was happening to him? First he moves to one of the most boring places on earth, then he meets the girl of his dreams and the baggage of her egotistic boyfriend and his cronies. Carter had hung around the dangerous type before back home in Phoenix. He had witnessed fights and shootings but none of that compared to the sickening feeling that occupied the pit of his stomach. Maybe I do need that sandwich after all.
Carter stepped out of his room, preparing to shout down to Alex – ask him for that sandwich – but he could hear a high pitched noise coming from the bathroom. Listening a little closer, he traced that high pitched voice to that of his goofy cousin, singing along to some song on the radio. Rolling his eyes distastefully, he headed down the stairs to feed his hunger.
Opening the fridge door, he took out a carton of milk and put the carton to his lips. Just then a sudden, excruciating pain hit his chest and he doubled over in agony. The carton of milk hit the floor and its contents spilled out to the left of Carter's knees.
Holy fuck, he muttered to himself, gripping tighter at the neckline of his t-shirt, as if trying to squeeze out the pain. The pain shot down from his chest and into his stomach. He tried calling out for Alex, but his name never escaped his lips. Carter managed to drag his broken form over to the stairs in the hallway. Shifting his weight, he got on his feet and started up the stairs, heading towards the bathroom.
Inside, Alex was singing away as if he were auditioning for the next American Idol. Albeit, very badly. He was definitely not a singer that was for sure. At the foot of the shower was Nanook, he was lying on the tiled floor, yawning sheepishly. That was until his expert ears picked up Carter's scent coming up the stairs. The dog immediately sprung to attention, sitting up and watching the bathroom door carefully.
On the other side of the door, Carter's breathing had increased into a frenzied, uneven pace. He could feel that his eyes were glazed over and had become bloodshot. His sweat glands had broken out and he was damp all over. His shaking hand reached for the door knob and when he opened it he was faced with Nanook's growling countenance. Carter attempted to growl back at the dog and upon doing so, Nanook leapt up and latched himself onto Carter. The door slammed shut and Carter fell down the stairs directly behind him.
Hearing the commotion, Alex stopped the running water and grabbed a fresh towel. Quickly drying his face off, he opened the shower door and stuck his head out. He was surprised he heard the slamming of the door over his loud music. Glancing down, he saw that Nanook was gone. Jumping out the shower, Alex picked up his robe, slipped it on and tied the strings securely around his waist. He shut off the radio and opened the bathroom door. He saw that all the lights in the house were out. A power cut? He thought, but immediately remembered the music playing earlier. Stepping out into the darkness that was the hallway, he squinted to try and find some form of light.
"Carter, are you there?"
He took several steps down the stairs and repeated Carter's name, hoping for a response. He blindly searched the wall, looking for a light switch. Finding it, he flicked it upwards and stared in horror as he saw Carter hyperventilating on the floor, clutching at his bloody hand.
"Nanook," Carter spluttered, looking up at his cousin with fearful eyes. Alex's eyes widened in recognition of his beloved dog.
"What about Nanook?" Alex demanded, shifting a hand through his soaking hair. "What did you do to my fucking dog, you asshole?"
"Nothing!" coughed Carter, trying to catch his breath. "I didn't hurt him. He bit me. This my blood."
Nanook's head became visible, he sat behind Carter anxiously panting and letting out several soft growls. Alex motioned for him to come over.
"Why did he bite you, huh? He doesn't bite! Not without a reason. What did you do to him?"
Carter slowly stood, making sure he got his facts right. "He was protecting you."
Alex was going to retort with a foul-mouthed tirade but his expression changed from one of anger into complete amazement. Looking past Carter, he glanced at the large horizontal mirror. He could see himself but not Carter. Something whack was going down.
"Look at your reflection in the mirror."
Carter turned to the mirror, see what was so goddamn important. His eyes too, took on a look of amazement – and yet strangely, wonder. He saw a fully visible Alex, but his own reflection was wearing away. He was almost invisible to the eye.
"You're a creature of the night, Carter." Alex announced. "Just like out of a comic book."
Alex started backing away, holding onto Nanook's collar. "You're a vampire Carter," he said, inching closer and closer to the stairs. "My own cousin, a goddamn, shit sucking vampire! Oh you wait 'till Aunt Lucy finds out!"
With that, the fledging teenager turned and make a sharp exit up the stairs, Nanook following at his tail. From the corner of the room, Prince growled at his own master, seeing something different in him. Carter spun around to see Alex running up the stairs.
"Browning, wait! Browning!"
Carter chased up the stairs after his terrified cousin. Alex ran towards his room, grabbing onto the door handle with both hands. "Stay away Carter, you fucking blood sucker!"
"Alex, wait! Lemme talk, I need to explain a few things! I don't know what's happening to me!"
"You saw clearly what was happening to you downstairs!" retored Alex, slamming his door shut. "Just stay away Carter. I don't wanna be a fucking vampire!"
Carter sighed dejectedly and crossed the hallway into his own room. Picking up a handkerchief, Carter wrapped it around his hand to stop the blood from the wound Nanook had made in the centre of his right palm. He dropped down onto his bed only to hear his heartbeat, thudding powerfully in his ears.
What the fuck is happening to me?