Ok, before I continue with the telling of this story, I just want to say one thing. Vampires are not gods. They can get hurt and can be killed. There is a hierarchy in the vampire "society", with newly turned vampires at the bottommost rung, and powerful ancients at the top. Well in this day and age most of the ancients are no longer prowling the planet, thank the gods. But that doesn't mean that there aren't any heavyweights still out there. You'd have to be an idiot not to realize that. Now on a scale from one to ten, the Boys would average out on a number three. Paul and Marko were still in their "baby teeth" stage, while Dwayne was a bit higher up, being older and all. David could be considered a four for many reasons, but mainly for his cruel intelligence that was his greatest weapon. He wasn't the oldest vampire around, but he knew how to manipulate the people around him to get what he wanted and he was about as ruthless as one could get. Clearly someone that you didn't want to piss off. But despite all this, David wasn't perfect. Hell no one is. Let's face it. I'm not, you're not and neither were David and the others. They each had their own flaws and weaknesses, just like the rest of us pathetic humans. One of David's was his authority. He wasn't an egomaniac like some would like to think; he just never could stand it when he had his authority challenged. Hence the loving relationship between himself and I. Now this character flaw is going to cause all sorts of grief in what you're about to read, just like my bad habit of sticking my nose where it doesn't belong. You would think that two mature, intelligent people like David and myself would put our differences aside and actually work together for a change, especially when we knew we were way over our heads. Well, that just goes to show you how stupid we really are.
It took under ten minutes for the boys to reach the boardwalk and during that short time span both David and Fay were working out a plan…separately mind you. By the time the five of them reached the main strip, Fay had cooled off enough so that she no longer had the desire to throw David into the nearest bonfire, which was a good thing. It was interesting to how the boys reacted to the upcoming run-in. They were still as loud as always, but Fay couldn't help but shiver slightly at the feral gleam in their eyes. Tonight, there would be some serious bloodshed and they all knew it. David wouldn't have it any other way.
"Where did you say this guy was?" David called out to Fay as they maneuvered their way through the vast crowd of people. It was fall and yet the boardwalk was as busy as always. Everyone wanted in on the final few weeks of decent weather before winter set in. Even though they were on the west coast, it still got a bit on the chilly side come November.
"All I know is that he is supposed to be on the Boardwalk. Other than that, I'm about as clueless as you are." Fay said as she eyed the crowd carefully, watching for any irregularities in the mass of night lovers.
"Tryin' to find this dude is gonna be interesting." Paul muttered to Marko as they came up along side David and killed their engines. "So what's the plan fearless leader?" He asked David as they all turned and looked at him expectantly, except for Fay who was busy searching from someone in the crowd. David glowered at Fay for a fraction of a second before he looked over at Paul. Fearless Leader? Oh brother…
"Well since this was Fay's idea, I suggest we do what she says and try to avoid an all-out street fight if we can help it. Like we hadn't thought that one up a good six months ago." David said casually as he calmly got off his bike, adjusting the collar of his jacket as he did so. Fay wrenched her eyes from the crowd and zeroed in on David. If looks could kill, David would have been reduced to a pile of ash in a nanosecond.
"Look, if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have had a clue that there was another vampire trespass…" Fay started before David simply turned his back to her and looked off into the crowd. Fay stared at him, flabbergasted, while Paul and Marko exchanged a quick glance and got off their bikes, making sure to dismount on the other side as to not be in range if and when Fay went spastic. Dwayne couldn't help but cringe when he felt Fay's nails dig into his rather tender back.
"Ah, the back, the back," Dwayne muttered under his breath as he grabbed her hands and pried them off of his still healing backside.
"Sorry Dwayne." Fay growled as she slammed her foot down on the cracked pavement and swung her leg over, getting off the bike in a flash. After all of her hard effort and throwing her reputation into the dirt, it seemed that her slight victory over David and the agreed truce counted for diddlysquat. Before Fay could build up enough steam to thoroughly scorch David and the surrounding innocent bystanders, the boys included, Marko came to the rescue.
"Umm Fay? Is that one of yours?" He asked timidly, or as timidly as a fully-fledged, blood-sucking vampire could possibly sound. He pointed to what looked like a walking piece of road kill that was quickly slinking its way towards the five of them. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that the scruffy, half-chewed, one-eyed alley cat was indeed a living mammal and was on good terms with the currently temperamental witch.
"Tomfoolery!" Fay exclaimed as the scrawny feline picked up its pace and bounded towards her. Instead of stopping at her feet, the cat gracefully leapt up onto the seat of David's bike with a gruff meow, looking up at them all with his one good eye. His bent tail flicked crookedly to the side as he carefully turned, positioning himself so that he could watch both Fay and David at the same time. David sneered in annoyance at having one of Fay's pets park its ragged rear end on his bike. God, could this woman get any more annoying?
"You got to be kidding me." David snorted as he plucked the rolled joint from behind his ear and lit it with the lighter that Paul handed to him. Fay, wisely choosing to ignore David, muttered something in some foreign tongue to Tom, who seemed to nod in response. Once again Paul and Marko exchanged a look, but Marko just shook his head.
"Don't ask." He muttered quietly to Paul and took the joint that David handed to him, taking a puff before handing it over to Paul.
"This is why I've always been a dog person." Dwayne said as he swiped the joint from Paul just as the vampire was about to inhale.
"Hey!" Paul snarled and tried to grab it back, but Dwayne just chuckled and moved out of his reach, rolling the joint between his fingers. Giving Paul the finger, he clamped the flimsy paper between his teeth and breathed in. The tomcat, which had been sniffing the wind during all of this, turned his one good eye onto Dwayne and eyed him with a hungry, demented look. Fay looked over her shoulder to see what Tom was staring at and saw the joint. It was amazing how she could have kept a straight face.
"Dwayne, you know that joint's filled with catnip right?" Fay asked him, taking a step to the side so that she could block Dwayne from the cat's line of vision.
"What?" Dwayne started, looking at her a tad bit confused. David and Marko were also looking at Fay, one with a look of pure murder and the other with a surprised expression. Paul, on the other hand, had to stifle his laugh as to save himself from getting punched in the face by a very pissed-off head vampire.
"Yeah. That's catnip you're burning." Fay said, who seemed completely innocent and unaware of the sudden hostile atmosphere on the outside, but on the inside: Cat Lady (3), David (don't really care).
"Can you tell me why that joint is filled with cat dope?" David asked, keeping himself perfectly and utterly calm when all he wanted to do was wrap his hands around Fay's throat strangle the living daylights out of her before throwing her off a cliff. Let's see if a cat can land on its feet on the jagged rocks of the Santa Carla surf from 40 feet in the air.
"Oh because I thought that it would piss you off." She told him frankly before turning her attention back to the alley cat. Dwayne looked down at the joint and horked a wad of spit onto the ground, his actions mirrored by Marko.
"Well congratulations, you've finally succeeded." David growled darkly, his blue eyes growing cold and hard while his face remained expressionless. When Paul noticed the change in the vampire leader, he instantly quit chuckling to himself and averted his eyes. Ok, now Fay was pushing it. You should never play with fire if you don't want to get burned.
"Alright. It seems that our friend has been roaming up and down the boardwalk for the past hour. Tom says that he's supposed to be near the midway, can't miss him." Fay said as she took the joint from Dwayne and let the cat fondle it, his reward for having stalked the rouge vampire for the last two hours.
"Thank you Tom." David said as he reached over and knocked the cat off of the back of his bike before turning to the others. "Paul, Marko, close in from the food court and keep yourselves out of sight." David said to the two as they nodded and slipped away, getting swallowed up in the crowd as David turned to Dwayne. "Dwayne, take the opposite way through the shop lane and follow him. Don't confront him until I give the say so. We're going to try to drive him off the Boardwalk before we give him a Santa Carla welcome." David said, adjusting his gloves as he kept his eyes on the crowd, the wheels of his mind turning.
"Pincer movement, I'm on it." Dwayne said with a snap of his fingers as he turned to go. "C'mon Fay." He said as he started to walk away.
"No, Fay's coming with me." David said instantly, catching Fay's startled look out of the corner of his eye. Dwayne was about to say something, but looking at David, he knew better than to question him. If David wanted Fay with him, he was going to have Fay with him and Dwayne wasn't fool enough to call him on it. He didn't like it, but David wouldn't pull anything in the middle of a packed boardwalk when they had an unwanted vampire trespassing on their territory. He was too careful and cautious. But then again this was David and God only knew what went on in his mind. After a moment, Dwayne nodded his head and catching Fay's pleading glance, he turned and walked off towards the corridor of clothing and knick-knack shops, just as David had instructed.
Tomfoolery kept himself by Fay's side as she stood there, arms crossed over her chest, trying to keep her growing uneasiness from showing. Ok, maybe switching the joint with one full of catnip was a bit much, but the guy had it coming. It was only catnip for Christ's sake!
"The next time you try pulling one of you little stunts, you better hope that you have one of your nine lives to spare." David said quiet as he grabbed Fay by the arm and kicked Tomfoolery out of the way as the cat tried to come between the two of them.
"You touch that cat one more time and you better pray that you have more than two balls David cause if you don't, you'll be singing a G sharp for all of eternity." Fay hissed under her breath as she tried to wrench her arm out of his grasp, but to no avail. The vampire had a grip of iron and Fay wasn't about to get into a tug-of-war with the guy while she was tottering around on spiked stilettos. Tomfoolery growled and was about to attack David but Fay ushered him off with a swift command before the cat could sink his claws into David's thigh. She would rather put herself in danger then endanger one of her own cats. Tomfoolery looked up at her, but when she repeated the command, he raised his tail and slunk off into the shadows.
"That I'd like to see." David said, his voice never going above a whisper. He didn't have to raise his voice for Fay to figure out just how furious he was; it was all in his tone. And for once, Fay didn't have a decent comeback. Without saying another word, David dragged Fay into the crowd, keeping her arm locked in his grasp. Fay winced slightly when the pressure he was placing on her elbow became unbearable, but David didn't slow his pace nor loosen his grasp.
"You know what? I really despise you." Fay growled softly as they shoved through a group of fourteen year olds that were standing in their way. The look that David shot them nearly sent them running as Fay twisted her arm and yanked downward, breaking his hold.
"Oh really? Well at least there's something that we both can agree on." David muttered back, giving Fay a cold side glance as he kept his eyes on the crowd, constantly searching for the other vampire.
"Will you cut the crap already? Enough of this male dominance bullshit. I honestly pity the poor woman that brought you into this world. If it were me, I would have smothered you at birth." Fay said, still keeping her voice low. David just looked at her and didn't even bother responding.
"Do you honestly believe yourself to be the end all be all in this world? Well, here's a newsflash for you David. You're not so get over it. I swear it's only going to be a matter of time before a stronger vampire comes here and knocks you down a peg or two. And then what? Hmm? And then what David?" She asked him, a small frown appearing on her face as she resisted from being pulled along by David. David's teeth were clenched to the point that she could here them grinding above the music of the boardwalk as he tried to block out the sound of her voice and concentrate on locating the damn vampire. Failing to do so, he spun to face her so fast that she stumbled back a few steps, grabbing onto a half-empty garbage bin to keep herself from falling over.
"Will you honestly shut the fuck up already? Are you finished yet? So help me if you say one more world I'll fucking rip…" David swore at her as he raised his hand as if to smack her right then and there. Fay didn't flinch as her eyes followed the movement of his hand but when a voice interrupted David's outburst, they shifted to the person who had suddenly appeared behind him.
"Um, pardon me," Said a voice that caused David to slowly lower his arm and turn to see who the hell had just saved Fay from getting knocked into next Tuesday. "I'm sorry, but would either one of you happen to have the time?" The man asked, looking down at David and Fay with a curious expression on his face. David wasn't a small guy, but the man seemed to tower over him. He was what, six foot three, six foot four?
"What?" David said, coming to face the man. He didn't have to see Dwayne standing off to the side by the vending machines to know that the guy standing in front of him was none other than their rouge vampire. But David couldn't quite believe it. Large glasses, obviously non-prescription, a beige suite and blue high-collared shirt, the man looked more like some Californian businessman than a vampire. A Californian businessman with a large white dog.
"The time. I apologize for the intrusion. Are you all right?" He asked Fay who had paled to the point that her skin was the same shade as David's. Fay just stood there, staring at him with huge eyes, like a deer caught in headlights and didn't respond. Instead, she looked down at the dog that was staring at her intently and shrank back a bit when it growled at her.
"Who are you?" David said, keeping it to a quite command as to not draw attention to the three of them. He kept his eyes on the other vampire's face, never blinking as he made it perfectly clear that whoever he was, he wasn't welcome. And David managed to do that with a simple stare. Talk about talent.
"I'm sorry, my name is Max. And you are?" Max asked, holding out his hand to David who completely ignored it. "Thorn, stop it." He said firmly, yanking the leash that was in his other hand, forcing Thorn to sit. "I'm sorry. Thorn gets a bit edgy when he's surrounded by strangers." He said, giving Fay a small smile, one that she didn't return. Her eyes were glued onto the white Shepard that hadn't taken its eyes off of her and it took every ounce of self-control to keep herself from hissing out loud. Max's smile faltered a bit when the lack of response was drawn out. David was still staring him down while Paul and Marko appeared in the crowd, watching Max from their spot by the ring-toss booth. The tension in the air seemed to mount tenfold with each passing minute, with neither party saying anything.
"Been here long?" Dwayne suddenly said as he strolled casually towards Fay, his hands in the pockets of his jacket. If his sudden appearance surprised Max, he didn't show it.
"No, I actually just arrived here a few hours ago." Max said pleasantly as he looked over at Dwayne who came to a stop beside Fay. He glared down at the dog before looking Max over slowly.
"Really? Well isn't that interesting." Paul said as he and Marko came stalking up from behind Max, both of them going around him and coming to stand beside David. Thorn growled once more, but this time Max didn't reprimand him.
"Welcome to Santa Carla." Marko said as he rested his elbow nonchalant on Fay's shoulder, giving Max a toothy grin. Max nodded his head in thanks, the sudden gathering of ranks not fazing him in the least bit.
"So, is it just you five then?" Max asked, looking at all of them with a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Surprised?" David asked, his voice cold and unnerving. The presence of all four vampires was overpowering to say the least, especially when they were ready and waiting for the opportune moment to tear this guy limb from limb. But Max seemed to be immune to the dangerous tension that was in the air.
"Actually I am. From the talk that has been going around, I had actually thought that there would be more of you. Oh well, better for me then wouldn't you say?" Max said with a hearty chuckle, laughing at his own joke. From an outsider's perspective, Max would appear to be a considerate, thoughtful, well-to-do middle-aged man who was just out walking his dog. No one would have ever guessed that he was just as dangerous and as ruthless as all four of the boys put together. Oh how appearances can be deceiving.
Paul tensed slightly and was about to say something when David moved his hand ever so slightly. Paul took that as a signal to shut up and say nothing and that is what he did. But Max had been watching and couldn't help but smile sadly.
"Ah you kids these days. You never cease to amaze me. The immortality of youth, what a priceless thing to have." Max said, regarding them in a fatherly manner. They thought themselves untouchable, kings of the world but he knew better. Two of them were merely children that still had free rein over themselves, not even a year old. The brooding one was more mature but probably had not even seen another vampire over the seventy-year mark. And their leader? He was different. He held himself with the presence of a natural leader, which was easy to see. But inwardly, Max smiled to himself. They were just kids. It was a gang of kids that had caused all the whispering and the rumours that had been going around about the rise in activity on the east coast. Max had come fully expecting a serious and more challenging opponent, but instead he had found a pack of undisciplined youths. Well, it seemed that he had his work cut out for him. Their leader would be a tough nut to crack, but if he resisted Max would have no choice but to do away with him. And the other three? Well, once the head was cut off, they would be easily cowed. It wouldn't be the first time that he had taken over an existing pack of vampires and made it his own. And if the others refused to give in, well, Max was just going to have to start afresh in Santa Carla. It would take time, but at least he wouldn't have the headache of trying to control a bunch of mutinous underlings. And the girl? Obviously the pack pet. Even the youngest of vampires sought out companionship so it was no surprise to see her hanging around the four boys.
"Indeed." David said, not moving an inch as he sized up their unwanted visitor. It was obvious that this Max was more than he appeared to be, but David had faith in his skills and the power of numbers was on his side. Taking this guy down would be a challenge, but he and the boys have faced worse before. Or so he thought. If he hadn't been so wound up and agitated, the result of arguing with Fay, he would have realized that the dog by the vampire's side that he had ignored was no ordinary dog. But even the best of us tend to make mistakes now and again. Like I said before, no one is perfect.
"Well Max, why don't we go somewhere a little more private so we can continue our discussion about the wonders of youth without being disturbed?" David asked casually as four pairs of gleaming eyes glared at him with such intensity that Max couldn't ignore it any longer. Max regarded them from behind his bifocals before nodding slowly.
"Yes, I'd like that. How about we go for walk along the beach and you boys can tell me all there is to know about Santa Carla. Sound good to you?" Max asked them all as his dog rose to its feet. Paul and Marko smirked at the same time while Fay shifted nervously behind David, her eyes going from the dog, to Max and then to Dwayne.
"Of course." David said, slightly amused. They all knew what a "walk along the beach" meant.
"Good. Shall we?" Max asked as he stepped to the side, moving out of the way to allow a couple to pass him.
"After you." David said with a slight inclination of his head.
"Why thank you." Max said, giving David a small, knowing smile as he turned and headed for the beach. Thorn padded quietly by his side, his ears pressed back in warning as Paul, Marko and Dwayne stalked behind him, sharing hidden looks and knowing smiles. David snorted and started after them just as Fay reached out and grabbed the back of his jacket, stopping him.
"David are you crazy? Do you know who that is? You can't do this! You're going to get yourselves killed! Are you nuts! Call it off! You can't fight him like this." Fay jabbered quickly before David could say anything. There was no love between the two of them, but Fay couldn't believe what the four of them were about to do. Didn't they have any idea of who they had just challenged so openly? They must not because if they did, they would be thinking twice. Fay wasn't one to loose her cool, but even a blind man could have told you that she was scared. Scared silly if you ask me. She didn't even stop to breath as she rambled on, pleading…actually pleading with David to reconsider. David, however, just sneered and yanked his jacket out of her hand.
"Go home Fay." He growled, ignoring her protests as he turned and walked off, leaving her standing alone in the crowd.
"David don't! You don't know what you're doing! David…you….gah! DAVID!" She shrieked loud enough to draw stares from the people walking around, but David didn't even look back. Within minutes, he was swallowed up by the black shadows as he stepped out of the light of the boardwalk.
"They're dead. They are so dead." She said to herself as she continued to peer into the shadows, hoping that in any moment the boys would come back and that this was all just a sick, sick joke. "Oh God…what do I do?" She whispered as she angrily grabbed her hair and pulled it away from her face. The man who had so calmly agreed to go with the boys was none other than the nineteenth century Austrian Baron known as Maxim Ilion Von Ruben, a name that was known in many of the vampires, werewolves, witch and warlock circles. Fay, who knew a thing or two about vampire history, knew that this Max was considered to be one of the worst home wreckers still in existence. Home wrecker as in slaughtering entire households to feed his twisted fantasy about having the perfect family. He was notorious for butchering parents in front of their children and then turning the children in order to raise them as his own. After a while, his "children" would either end up killing themselves or end up being killed by him, and when they were all gone, Von Ruben would vanish and appear in a distant country and start the process all over again. And now he had chosen Santa Carla as his new place of residence and whatever it was that he was planning, Fay knew that it was going to be bad. Very, very bad.
Fay almost didn't recognize him from the paintings that she had seen of him. Maybe it was the way he was dressed or maybe it was the whole "friendly next-door neighbour bachelor act", but if it hadn't been for his dog, Fay wouldn't have recognized his face until it was too late. That dog, if that was what you wanted to call it, was a vicious, man-eating hellhound that guarded its vampire master with its very life. For the past century, Maxim always had a white dog by his side. Maybe this Thorn was Maxim's original hellhound, Caligula, or maybe it was a new one, Fay couldn't tell. Judging by the boys' reactions, they didn't know that Max had a hellhound on the end of the leash, but Fay did. Being half cat herself, a hellhound was a natural threat and enemy and if this guy had a hellhound as a second shadow, she didn't want to have anything to do with him. Yet the boys had probably just stepped into a trap so Fay knew that avoiding all contact with the baron was not going to happen. But now what? The boys clearly had no idea as to just how dangerous Max really was and she didn't have the power to take on the vampire herself. Butting heads with David was one thing, but toeing the line with a vampire that could easily dismember her in a heartbeat, magic or no magic, was something completely different. It was sheer suicide.
"Damn you David, you pig-headed, mule-eared idiot." She swore when she made up her mind. They had no chance at beating this guy outright, but maybe if Fay could surprise him, they would be able to drive him off long enough for them to come up with some sort of plan. It was chancy but what choice did she have?
Fay hurried across the boardwalk, swearing with every step she took. The stilettos were making it difficult to move at a pace faster than a walk and when she reached the sand, it was hopeless. The metal heels just sunk right into the soft sand and she was forced to drag her feet in order to stay upright.
"Oh for fuck's sake!" She snarled as she clawed at the tight leather straps that were tied around her legs. As she unlaced the shoes, she let out a high-pitched whistle, once, twice, but didn't wait to see who would come. She slipped the shoes off, holding one in each hand and took off at a run, praying to whatever god that was out there that she wasn't too late.