Author's Note: This will eventually be a series, so to speak. I hope you all like it! R/R...I love reviews.
Smiling as he paced in front of the woman before him, her blue eyes wide and so full of fear he could smell the lingering scent five leagues away, he kneeled down in front of her, bringing his hand up to cup her small and feminine chin that raised up to force her eyes into meeting his. "So--have we been correct?"
The words were soft yet a crude smirk followed after the words had escaped his mouth as he looked towards her, his own bright sky eyes invading hers as he tried to make her talk. He knew she would tell, for his warning had been simple--speak or die. And she had been very good with this so far.
Shifting her eyes away from him, she pulled her chin to the side so it would be released from his hold as she looked down at the dirt beneath her, as if second-guessing what she should say. She knew what he wanted, and although she knew she would have to tell him something, she was uncertain if it should be the truth. Pulling her head up high, her gaze darted to the limp bodies that were carried by two other members of the group before she nodded, mind hollow. "Yes--those are the ones," she muttered under her breath.
The man before her smirked once more, a harsh chuckle surpassing his throat before he stood up once more, looking towards the only one present that was freehanded before nodding towards him. "Bring the bottle," he commanded with no tone or emotion present, eyes turning towards the children with a slight glow of anticipation in his eyes. Oh, how he had a plan for them.
The other blonde nodded before shifting himself up from his spot where he had been leaning against a cave wall, instantly making his way towards the 'sacred' glass bottle.
As the first walked towards them, though, both of those exchanged an uneasy look as they returned their gaze to him. "Hey, man. Don't you remember our rules? No killing kids, because then you decrease the population and there's not enough blood in them to hold you over?" the third blonde one asked, pulling a hopeful look on his face.
"Paul, I'm not going to kill them. Those others did a good enough job themselves," came the distasteful reply, commenting towards the other pack that visited the town frequently over matter of times to have a few meals of their own, just to make a small change of those they had been feeding on at their own city. "I'm giving them life," was his last respond with another chuckle, taking the blood filled bottle with a grin on his face, the liquid matter shaking lightly.
Before he could take a step any closer, the usual silent, brooding member of their group spoke up, looking down at the nearly dead girl in his arms. "David--they're just kids..."
David paused in his movement, looking with a frown towards his friend before taking the top off slowly. "Soon enough, they will have aged to be more than that. Thanks to our little friend here," he commented, nodding towards the woman who was now watching in a silent fear as he smirked once more, "we know exactly what is coming. And with them, we will win."
Noticing that his words had little effect on either of them, he shook his head. "Paul, Dwayne--you will understand," he said in a slightly disappointed voice, taking the young boys' chin in his hand and forcing the mouth open, allowing the substance to slide slowly down his throat as the other two turned in slight anticipation from the familiar coppery smell yet refused to show any sign of giving in.
As they watched the little boys' eyes flutter open, David pulled the bottle away before nodding at Paul. The usually excitable blonde merely nodded, eyes still stuck on the now panicked look of the child as he walked away, looking towards his lone for help as the boy began to ask the ever familiar questions. "Who are you? Where are my mommy and daddy?"
"Marko," Paul whined, frantic as he had no idea how he was supposed to answer these to David's standards.
"Hey, little dude. We're your bros, now!" Marko said, bounding up to them as he tried not to show any remorse for what had happened. Yes, he wasn't keen on the matter, but he had been turned after David, and he had been used to his thoughts and ideas by now. "You're at the one and only Vamp Halen Hotel, Marko at your service," he stated, giving a dramatic bow and grin, watching as the small scent of fear disappeared for the moment, although he noted that it would soon return as the girl was awakened, watching the process out of the corner of his eye.
"Yeah, and I'm Paul--call me Polo as some think is funny," he commented, shooting a glare at a now laughing Marko, "and you're in for a major noogie battle."
The boys eyes widened as he noticed the small threat and he nodded viciously, as if to agree not to even whisper the slight name calling. "Good," Paul grinned at him, ruffling his hair a bit. "Then what do we call you? George Washington?" he questioned, suddenly trying to turn his tone to serious.
Shaking his head, the boy smiled and tried not to giggle like many other little boys do. "No, I'm Poe," he declared, pointing a thumb at his chest.
"Poe, now where did you get a name like that?" Marko asked, sending a warning glare at Paul who seemed about to laugh while he was in the process of setting Poe down on the couch.
"Well, my older brothers are Edgar and Alan. My mommy and daddy named us after a poet!" he said, obviously proud at his name being shared along with his other brothers. "And that's my sister Emily!" he added, pointing over there shoulders to where Dwayne was now bringing an awakened girl over while David busied himself with the woman, pulling her up from her wrists that had once been bound together. "They named her after one, too! Her name was Emily Dickinson!" he grinned, acting as though he was exceptionally happy for knowing that information.
David, of whom had been busying himself with dragging the woman towards one of the old hotel rooms that still had a door, smirked to himself. He knew those poets well enough, for each had been famous for one thing in their poems--death.
Shoving the woman roughly inside one, her curly hair flying and eyes widening as she landing against one of the Old Victorian styled chairs, he gave her a nod before shutting the door, padlocking it behind him before turning back towards where the rest were located and getting themselves introduced to the little kids.
Emily still hadn't spoken, settling for burying her face inside Dwayne's chest although she didn't seem that willing to trust him either, merely just going for the ostrich approach--she can't see them, they can't see her.
"Well, it looks like someone's not being social," David said bluntly, walking up to the group as he smiled towards Poe who was taking in the attention like a sponge. "I'm David, and that's Dwayne," he said slowly, knowing how much it could be for youngers kids to understand. Leaning forward so he was next to the young boys ear, he grinned. "Would you like to play a game?"
Poe nodded eagerly, eyes suddenly lighting with excitement. Ever since he was a young child, he had always enjoyed playing games of any sort. "What kind of game?" he asked, nearly to the point of bouncing.
David grinned and put up a hand to calm the boy before shaking his head. "First of all, you've got to get your sister to talk, alright?" he questioned before he witnessed, without a response, Poe bounded forward to where Dwayne, who had heard the instructions given, set Emily down.
"Emily!" Poe said obviously happy about where they were. "Did you hear David?" he asked, a slight pause before he remembered the vampire's name. "We're going to play a game!"
If hoping his excitement would rub off on her, Poe was greatly mistaken as she took a step back, shaking her head. "Poe--remember the bad guys?" she asked, referring to what had happened to them before as she brought her hand to her neck. The wound, although dried over, was obviously still fresh as she rubbed it a little before pointing at his neck. "We were supposed to watch Superman tonight..."
Paul suddenly grinned, looking up at the others as an idea formulated in his mind. "Hey, little dudes, you can play Superman with us!" he said, trying to persuade the others that he wanted to get them to give in rather than know the truth. He knew that David wasn't the best at playing games, especially if they weren't pranks, and he knew eventually someone would get hurt. But he knew a very easy way to stop it--get them excited in something else.
From the spark in Dwayne's eyes, he caught on immediately but David didn't seem to get a grasp on it. A frown caressed the leader's face before he suddenly grinned, an idea sparking in his mind. "Excellent," he murmured under his breath.
Marko frowned as well, looking up at the others with a puzzled look. "How are we going to play Superman?" he whispered to Paul, who rolled his eyes. "Come on, man, use a little imagination! We fly!" he said, trying to spark enthusiasm into the younger kids as he stood up on top of the fountain in the middle of the room, jumping off while shooting out his arms as if to soar through the air and fly away, flapping as idiotically as he could.
Getting a mountain full of giggles from the ecstatic Poe and even a little grin from Emily, he whisked the little boy away, taking him easily to the air with his supernatural strength. Giddy with excitement, Poe extended out his arms with a little smile.
"It's a bird! It's a plane!" Paul began, having loved the show as a mortal and, though he wouldn't admit it, he still watched it whenever he could in Max's video store.
But before he could finish, Emily jumped onto the couch with a grin. "It's Superman! Me next!" she cheered, she herself now over her small shyness as she watched her brother having a bit of fun. Bouncing on the cushions, she hopped up and down anxiously.
Marko, having caught along with it, was quick to race forward and bring her into his arms, tossing her into the air and capturing her back into his hold before she could drop. Thrusting her into the air, he laughed slightly as she took a quick peek towards her brother as if to make sure she was doing it correctly before her own arms were extended at her sides.
Dwayne watched silently as he was paused, unsure of exactly what he should do before his eyes automatically turned to David when he noticed a sudden movement. Not really nervous of what his leader would do, for he knew that no matter what the children would need to be kept alive, he was just wary of how these two were to be initiated. After all, David sometimes went too far, as he noted with two dead initiates.
Paul was on the startled side as David tore Poe from his grasp as the head of the pack smirked towards the boy. "How would you like a little test run?" he asked, a raised eyebrow.
Marko, hearing what was going on, brought Emily down to rest on his chest as all the other three looked towards him uncertainly. "Dude...are you sure that's a good idea?" Paul questioned. Although neither of them were lenient to little kids just because they were younger, it was their Pack's morals. No killing of children. It made things more complicated, and usually more people who would miss them, which could cause problems. And although they weren't going to give them up to their family again, they were already half vampires. That made them family, and that created a strong, physical bond. To kill them would be blasphemy to the whole beliefs of the undead.
"Of course it is," David said, looking eagerly at the boy before turning to his fellow vampires and frowning at their glares. "I will not allow anything to happen to them, we will be there if anything goes wrong. Just think, it will be like a mother robin pushing its young out of the nest."
Exchanging a weary glance, Marko finally nodded as he knew that if they created an argument it would just end up worse. "Alright, then. Let's go," he said, trying to bring back his old enthusiasm. Laughing throatily, David grinned as he watched the other two follow him and Marko out of the cave, Paul now having a hold of Poe once again, their hands together as he helped him up while Marko had Emily still held in his arms.
As they walked towards the bike, Marko nervously held back, going over to Dwayne hurriedly. "Hey, man. My bikes too small to put someone else on it," he muttered, looking towards David who was thankfully gunning his bike up, unable to hear their words. "He'll want her to ride with him, and he'll end up...er...she'll bite the dust," he whispered lower now, looking down at Emily in his arms who was too fascinated by the bikes to hear their words. "She's family now, man. Could you take her?"
Looking towards the girl, not really sure how to be around a child, Dwayne finally nodded in defeat. "Alright," he stated, nodding shortly. "Emily, here, you can ride with me," he said, getting her attention. She turned to look at him, her brown eyes wide as she nodded softly before being set down by Marko who gave his friend an encouraging nod before turning towards his own bike.
Dwayne sighed before nodding towards his bike. "Alright, then, let's go," he said, watching as she walked up to him as he finally reached his own bike. Helping her up slowly, he saw her uncertain look. About to say something of encouragement, he heard someone call the girl's name from ahead and he looked forward to where Poe was seated behind Paul, looking back with a grin and a wild grin.
"Emily! We're going to go for a ride!" he said, obviously having never ridden a motorcycle before and finding the prospect exciting.
Dwayne looked to see Emily looking at her brother nervously, she having a more fearful thought on the matter and he sighed, knowing it was going to be a long ride. "Here, hold onto me tightly, okay?" he asked, turning to look at her as she nodded, holding onto the sides of his jacket as he gunned his own engine and following after the rest of the Pack as they pulled out as well, eager for the air.