DISCLAIMER: Everything you recognise belongs to Warner Bros., Joel Schumacher, Janice Fischer, James Jeremias and Jeffrey Boam. Everything else is mine.

Rated 'M' for strong language and vampire stuff.

Heathens

"Those things will kill you one day."

Generys was attempting to blow smoke rings with the cigarette she'd bummed off of Paul. Suzie was lying next to Jasna, her head in the older female's lap. It looked like the alcohol she'd consumed was finally catching up to the petite girl. Jasna was playing with Suzie's hair, putting tiny braids throughout her dark, crimped mane. Sometime around their third round of Never Have I Ever, Remy and Paul had caught Generys' attention and that had somehow led to everyone else getting pulled into the game. Now they were all seated around the bonfire, about twelve rounds in, waiting for Suzie to take her turn.

"Maybe," Generys shrugged in response to Remy's statement. "But today is not that day." She extended her led and nudged Suzie in the side. "Come on, Suz. Have you got one or not?"

"Okay, fine," Suzie groaned. "Never had I ever stolen anything."

Everyone drank. Remy had finished off the last of the bottle of whiskey two round ago and was now drinking the vodka that was being passed around. It wasn't that great, but it wasn't awful either – cheap, but somewhat halfway decent. It certainly was enough to help Jasna achieve her goal of getting wasted. Generys complained about Suzie being a goodie-two-shoes.

"Am not," Suzie pouted.

"Well," said Remy, coming to her defence, "considering the aim of the game is to get everyone else to drink, I'd say that one wasn't half bad."

Generys snorted but didn't complain any further.

"All right, spill," she ordered. "Mine was a pair of earrings."

"We've got to pick just one?" asked Marko, who'd seated himself between Remy and Suzie.

Generys arched an incredulous, but elegant, brow.

"Well aren't you just the little klepto."

"It's not just me," the Lost Boy retorted.

Suzie rounded on the others, though she immediately shut her eyes and looked like she regretted the hasty movement.

"Really? Do you guys just like stealing stuff for shits and giggles or something?"

"Or something," David smirked.

Generys rolled her eyes and threw her arms up in the air.

"Fine. Be that way. Jas?"

"A Barbie. My foster parents couldn't afford one."

"Wow, you started early," Generys snickered. "What about you, Remy?"

Remy flashed back to the famine that had swept through her homeland right before she first met Belteshazzar.

"Food," she replied.

Suzie frowned.

"You pulled a dine and dash?"

"Not exactly."

"Well I've got one," said Marko before Suzie could pose more questions. "Never have I ever been able to lift my leg over my head."

He smirked as Remy scowled, calling him a cheater as she took another swig from the bottle. Generys and Suzie drank too. Dwayne looked at Jasna.

"Aren't you going to drink?"

"No," she retorted, defensively. "Not every female with the cirque is flexible as all fuck."

Jasna's words were slightly slurred; not obviously so, but noticeable enough for Remy to know that she and the boys were probably the only sober ones left. Generys may have looked fine, but she'd started smoking and Remy knew that was her tell. Remy had forced herself to actually relax some time around their sixth round, knowing it'd be suspicious if she showed no visible signs of being affected by the alcohol. At some point she'd laid down on her side, still facing the bonfire, doodling in the sand. Dwayne held his hands up, leaning further out of Jasna's reach should she decide she wanted to smack him to emphasize her point. There was the slightest hint of a smile lurking at the corner of his lips.

"My bad."

"So can we get a demonstration?" leered Paul, who was seated on Remy's other side, eyes flickering between the three females who'd lost that round.

"Sure," Remy smiled sweetly at him. "For the low, low price of an admission ticket."

"How about a private show?" pushed the Lost Boy.

Generys laughed, a sound low and warm, like a shot of scotch on a cold winter's night.

"You couldn't afford us, sweetheart," she purred.

"Oh come on," Paul persisted, leaning over so he could teasingly trail his fingers along Remy's ankle and up her calve. "I'm sure I could – "

But they never got to find out what it was that Paul could do. Feeling his hand along her leg, Remy had reacted instinctively and kicked out, her foot connecting squarely with his jaw. As his head jerked back from the blow, she shot up and glared at him. Shocked silence descended around the bonfire.

Time seemed to move in slow motion as Paul reached up to dab at his lips, his fingers coming away with blood. Remy heard Suzie gasp but didn't turn around. She eyed the Lost Boy warily, wondering how he'd react to getting kicked in the face. It wasn't like she had meant to hurt him. She just really didn't like being touched; especially by someone who was practically a stranger. Paul turned to face her, something cold and hard flashing behind his eyes when he met her gaze. The sight of blood did not throw the others into a frenzy like she had half expected it to, instead everyone seemed to be carefully still, as if waiting to see who would make the next move. Strangely enough, it was Marko who broke the tension.

His bark of laughter shook the girls out of their surprise and Generys and Suzie soon joined him. Their high-pitched laughter was almost hysterical, as if their relief at the diffusion of the situation made the whole thing funnier than it should have been. Or maybe it was just the alcohol and the weed. Jasna smirked at Paul.

"We should've warned you she doesn't like being touched," the dark skinned beauty drawled.

Remy was surprised to hear a deep chuckle amongst the laugher, even more so when she traced the source of it to Dwayne. He caught her staring and surprised her again by winking at her. Across the bonfire, David looked like he was hiding a grin behind his cigarette. It was a bit hard to tell with him puffing away like a train engine.

Paul worked his jaw from side to side, still eyeing Remy disgruntledly. His tongue darted out to lick away the blood on his busted lip.

"You pack one hell of a kick," he grumbled.

"And she knows how to dislocate shoulders," added Marko, calming down a bit. "Maybe we should stop messing with her."

"So you have been messing with me?" accused Remy at the same time that Generys asked, "Who's she been fighting this time?"

"This time?" David echoed. "So you're saying she gets into fights often?"

"More often than she'd admit to," said the redhead, attempting another wobbly smoke ring.

"I thought Mr. Belteshazzar made you promise you wouldn't get into anymore fights after the last time," said Suzie, squinting drunkenly at the other girl.

"What happened last time?" asked David.

"Well, it was really Leander's fight," slurred Suzie. "But she ended it. The other guy would up in the hospital; blood everywh – "

"Suzie," warned Jasna, cutting the other girl off. She may have been buzzed, but Jasna had enough sense to realise that they were starting to become far too loose lipped for their own good.

Remy didn't like where this was going. Playing drinking games hadn't been a good way of learning anything about the Lost Boys at all. So far everything they'd admitted to had been harmless and easily guessed at, whereas, thanks to her lightweight mortal friends, she was feeling more and more exposed as the game continued.

"No, please go on," encouraged David. "This sounds interesting. And surprisingly violent."

"Surprising?" laughed Generys, ignoring the look Jasna was shooting her way. She waved her cigarette at Remy. "Don't let that cute face fool you. Under all that is a vicious little thing that'll tear you to pieces if you so much as look at her family wrong."

Marko smile was all teeth.

"Really now?"

All eyes were on her and Remy did not appreciate the attention one bit. Jasna looked far more sober that she had been a moment ago, having realised that they were straying into the type of dangerous territory that might not only get the cirque in trouble but bring their ringmaster's wrath down on all their heads. David took a long drag of his cigarette; his lips quirked in a lopsided almost smile.

"I get that," he said, carelessly flicking the ash off the end of his cigarette. He waved his hand in the general direction of the other boys. "If anyone even thought of hurting my brothers I wouldn't be all that nice about it either."

"You guys are brothers?" asked Suzie incredulously.

Generys squinted at each of them.

"I really can't see it," she said, tossing the butt of her cigarette into the bonfire. "Unless you guys have one of those blood pacts going on?"

"Something like that," smirked Marko.

Generys nodded.

"Sort of like the cirque then," she mused. "We may not be related by blood but we're family. Hell, they've treated me better than my own flesh and blood ever have."

"So what made you guys run away and join the circus?" asked David.

Generys grinned toothily at him.

"We'd tell you," she said enigmatically, "but then we'd have to kill you."

Marko cackled, Paul joining in though his laughter was more sedated. Dwayne chuckled. David looked amused.

"We'd like to see you try."

Jasna shivered at the same time that Remy noticed the by now familiar presence. They were no longer alone. Generys' grin slowly fell from her lips and even Suzie, who as far as Remy knew did not have the same enhanced sensitivity as the other women had, became subdued. Or as subdued as the girl was capable of being anyway. It all happened within the space of a few seconds, a normal person would not have noticed the change at all, but Remy saw how David's brow crinkled in a slight frown. And apparently so did Jasna.

"Did it get cold out here or is it just me?" she laughed with an exaggerated shiver.

"Nah," said Generys, deliberately stretching her arms over her head and stifling a yawn. "It is getting late. We should get back. I need my beauty sleep."

"You look perfectly fine," said Marko with a lazy smile. "I'll toss another log on the fire."

"Aren't you just a little sweetheart?" the redhead purred, returning his smile as Suzie giggled at the exchange. "But we really should go."

"Besides," Remy quipped, actually getting up and dusting the sand off her borrowed dress, "it's way past Suzie's bedtime."

"Hey!" the girl protested.

The Lost Boys reluctantly got to their feet as well. Dwayne helped Jasna up and even shrugged out of his leather jacket so he could drape it over her shoulders. David pulled Suzie up so hard it sent her crashing into his chest. He chuckled. She blushed. Remy rolled her eyes.

Marko started kicking sand over their bonfire. Paul reached into the cooler.

"How about one more for the road?"

The bottle Paul held up was the most needlessly fancy decorated wine bottle that Remy had ever seen. And when the blonde popped the cork, the smell of old blood immediately assaulted her senses. There wasn't enough of it for the others to notice, just like how Generys never noticed her own spiked bottles in her trailer, but Remy knew that it'd only take one sip for the tainted blood to have its effect on the others. And herself for that matter – unless it came from their sire, old blood could kill a vampire; even those that had not fully made the change. Remy wondered how she did not notice the bottle in the cooler before and realised that she hadn't actually had to fetch herself a drink all night, someone else always seemed closer and would just hand her one.

"What is it?" asked Jasna, eyeing the bottle curiously and more than a little suspicious.

"It's just wine," David assured them, though he was looking at Paul with something unreadable in his eyes. Had this not been a part of the plan? It did seem strange that the boys would wait so long before offering them the bottle.

Surprisingly, it was Suzie that shot them down.

"I think I've had enough of mixing my drinks for one night," she said. Though now that she'd mentioned it, Remy did note how the younger girl looked a little queasy. So maybe not that surprising then.

Paul caught Remy's eye, sending her a silent challenge. She could feel the anticipation in the air. It was almost oppressive.

She shook her head and fixed what she hoped looked like an apologetic smile on her face.

"I'm done."

Paul held her gaze for another long beat before shrugging like the entire thing made no difference to him.

"Suit yourself," he sang, taking a swig from the bottle before jamming the cork back into its neck. They left the cooler in the sand but Paul brought the elaborate wine bottle along with him.

They parted ways on the boardwalk, Generys and Jasna taking a full ten minutes to admire their motorbikes before the boys disappeared into the night with a deafening road of their engines. Remy was physically propping Suzie up by this point and made a mental note to not allow the girl to indulge this much the next time. Better yet, she'd try to make sure there wasn't a next time.

It wasn't until they stepped onto cirque grounds that they felt their unseen stalker leave them. Remy thought it was a bit odd that the vampire leader would give up before they'd even reached a private area. But she wasn't going to complain.

Jasna let loose an audible sigh.

"Tell me I wasn't the only one who felt that," she muttered.

"You weren't," said Generys. "Remy? Suz?"

"What was that?" asked the petite contortionist.

"I'm actually surprised you felt it at all, Suzie," admitted Jasna.

"Hey!" came the indignant reply. "I may not have been around magic as long as you guys but I have enough sense to know when something doesn't feel right! That didn't feel right at all."

"Remy?" Generys asked. "You're the magic weilder. What was that we felt?"

Remy cut a glance at the other women keeping in step with her and a stumbling Suzie. They looked worried. No, that wasn't it. They looked scared.

"That wasn't magic," she replied quietly. "Not really."

"That was evil," growled Jasna.

"Dramatic, aren't you?" scoffed Generys, though her voice wasn't as mocking as it could've been.

"What was it then?" snapped the sword swallower.

"Should we tell Mr. Belteshazzar?" Suzie asked sleepily. She tripped over her own feet and almost dragged Remy down with her.

"He already knows," grunted Remy as she righted the other girl. Jasna stopped in her tracks.

"He knows?" she repeated. "He knows that that – that – thing is out there and he hasn't moved the cirque the hell out of here yet? Why?"

"Remy, what's going on here?" Generys demanded.

They'd reached the trailer that Suzie shared with the twins by this point. Jasna wordlessly took her off Remy's hands to enable her to unlock the door, but Generys stepped in her way. The determined expression on the redhead's face told Remy that she wasn't going to back down until she had some answers. But then something behind her caught Generys' attention, causing her eyes to widen and her spine to stiffen.

"Mr. Belteshazzar," exclaimed Generys, respectfully.

"Ladies." Belteshazzar smiled warmly at each of them. "Late night? Or should I say early morning?"

Remy tried to keep the scowl off her face. She didn't like Belteshazzar sneaking up on them. She liked the dark glint in his eyes even less. She was pretty sure he'd heard Generys' question.

"Just out making friends," she answered carefully. "Like you told me too."

"About time." He somehow managed to make those two words convey a world of meaning: threat, pride, affection, smugness, and possession. Remy wasn't sure if the others read the same undertones in his words, but they certainly looked uncomfortable.

A heavy silence stretched out for a tense beat before Jasna blurted out, "Excuse us, Mr. Belteshazzar, but we should really let Suzie go to bed and sleep this off."

Remy turned from Belteshazzar to look at the other women. Suzie looked far more sober than she had been mere minutes ago. Generys was struggling to keep from frowning. Jasna simply seemed like she'd rather be anywhere else at the moment. Respect, doubt, and the growing traces of fear kept the others from making a move, despite the excuse Jasna had made.

'They know too much.'

Remy had to physically stop herself from snapping her head round to glare at Belteshazzar.

'They know nothing,' she mentally hissed back.

'They're asking questions. They're scared. You know they won't just let this go.'

She knew what he was going to ask.

'No.'

Belteshazzar shot her a warning look.

'It needs to be done.'

'I won't do it.'

'Remy.'

'What's wrong with letting them know?'

'It's not safe.'

'Safe? For who? Them? Or You?'

'I'm doing what's best for the cirque.'

'This has nothing to do with the cirque! This is about fucking vampires!'

'Vampires that are a threat to the cirque!'

'Then you shouldn't have brought us here!'

'I thought you'd want to know what happened to your family.'

This time Remy fully rounded on Belteshazzar. Some part of her registered that the others were staring at the two of them and realised that they had been quiet for too long. But she was too focused on her anger at this point to care.

'I want to know what you were doing there that night.'

Belteshazzar narrowed his eyes.

'Saving your life. Or have you forgotten?'

"Well. Goodnight then!" It was Jasna again, eager to get away from the uncomfortable situation. She didn't know what was going on but she was pretty sure she didn't want to be there right now.

"Yeah," chirped Suzie with a false brightness. "I'm beat. Goodnight, Mr. Belteshazzar!"

"Goodnight," replied Remy in as calm and even a voice as she could manage. She surreptitiously flicked a finger towards the trailer door, unlocking it so that the others could retreat inside. Since they lived in the trailers, they were technically private homes. And as far as she knew, neither Suzie nor the twins had ever invited Belteshezzar into their trailer so they should be safe once they were inside.

"Just a moment, ladies – "

"Get inside," ordered Remy, cutting Belteshazzar off.

They didn't wait to be told twice. Generys practically pushed Jasna and Suzie into the trailer, shooting Remy a wary look over her shoulder. Beltezhazzar made to take a step towards the trailer but Remy slammed the door shut behind the women. His eyes flashed dangerously. It was all the warning she had.

A sharp pain pierced her skull, causing her to grab at her head and cry out in agony. It felt like someone had taken a red-hot poker and thrust it between her eyes, twisting it and turning her brain to mush. She had only experienced this once before, early on in her relationship with Belteshazzar, before the cirque, when she had disagreed with a kill he had made. It had been a child, a little street urchin no one would've missed. She had been furious. They fought. And he had demonstrated to her the kind of power a sire held over their sired. He had been sorry then, had let up the mental assault after only a minute, and had promised he wouldn't do it again.

"Remy, Remy, Remy," Belteshazzar tsked. "Why can't you just do as you're told?"

He was looking down at her, though she couldn't remember when she had ended up flat on her back. His eyes had turned vampiric yellow, rimmed with red. His elongated incisors flashed in a sympathetic smile as her scream finally faded away.

The curtains rustled as the girls peaked out in horror at them through the dusty window, and the light came on in another trailer. Someone opened their door, shining a torch into the darkness and demanding to know what the hell was going on. Her screams had woken people up. Remy barely noticed this past the pain that was still pulverising her mind. But Belteshazzar had.

"Now look what you've done," he sighed, kneeling down next to her. "I really wish it hadn't come to this, Remy."

He grabbed her chin, tilting her head back so that she could see the girls, Kakra and Zesiro included, staring at them. Generys looked livid, her tattoos rippling across her skin in her rage. Jasna was holding Suzie, trying to calm the younger girl down. The twins seemed torn between confusion and fear.

"You have two choices. Either you wipe their memories of this like you should've done to begin with, make them forget why they were asking all those questions tonight, make them forget what they've seen. Or I can kill them. And whoever else is coming this way."

She noticed the heavy footsteps then. Whoever was approaching was one of the cirque's larger members, someone who could put up a fight; a fight that might attract even more attention and bring others out of their trailers.

"So what will it be?"

He eased up on the mental attack, releasing her chin to gently stroke her hair as he waited patiently for her answer. But there really was no choice. The cirque was family.

"I'll do it," she gasped. "I'll do it. Just don't hurt them."

His pleased grin was predatory.

"That's a good girl."

Belteshazzar helped Remy sit up just as Angus came up to them, a torch in his hand and a cautious look on his face.

"Mr. Belteshazzar. Remy," greeted the strong man. "Was that you? What's going o…"

The words died on his lips as Belteshazzar turned to face the man, his unmistakably vampiric features appearing far more shocking under the artificial light of the torch. The girls were banging against the window, yelling at him to run. He took one step back before Remy threw out her arm towards him, stopping him in his tracks. She tried to blink away the residual pain still gripping her mind. She needed a clear head or she ran the risk of turning him into a drooling vegetable. She could smell the terror rolling off of him in waves.

"Remy," Angus squeaked.

Belteshazzar was stroking her hair again, attempting to be a more calming presence in her mind this time. His lips brushed the shell of her ear as he whispered sweet nothings, his yellow eyes never leaving Angus.

"Do it," he breathed.

Remy reached into Angus' mind, finding the threads of his memory and carefully unweaving them. She tried to pour some of the calmness that Belteshazzar was feeding her into the strong man, removing his newfound fear of them. She reshaped his memory of the last few minutes, turning her screams into the kind of howls Fillin or one of Sylvie's animals might make in the middle of the night. She erased his memory of stepping out of his trailer and seeing herself and Belteshazzar. And then she lulled him to sleep. He would wake in the morning with a slight headache but not recollection of what happened that night. When she pulled out of his mind, Angus collapsed, unconscious but safe from Belteshazzar's wrath.

"Good," Belteshazzar cooed. "And now the others."

It took Remy twenty minutes to wipe the girls' memories of what they had seen, and another five to do a mental sweep of the surrounding trailers just to make sure no one else had witnessed anything. By the time she was done, Belteshazzar's arm around her shoulders was the only thing keeping her upright and she was struggling to keep her eyes open. She felt his other arm slide under her knees to pick her up. He cradled her to him, pressing his nose into her hair.

"Why can't you just do what you're told to begin with?"

"You," she gasped, fighting to get her words past her dry throat, "you don't…hurt…family."

Belteshazzar sighed.

"I'm your family, Remy," he spoke against her hair, his teeth running along her skull.

Remy wriggled in his arms as he stepped over Angus, trying to reach out for the unconscious man.

"I'll come back for him," Belteshazzar reassured her. "You need to sleep."

Remy struggled weakly in his grasp but he simply tightened his hold on her, gently shushing her. She fought to stay awake but with everything that had happened that night, she had fallen into a deep sleep long before Belteshazzar lowered her onto her bed. He noticed the slight furrow of her brows and reached out to try to smooth them out. But even in her sleep, Remy turned away from his touch. He stayed long enough to make sure she was comfortable before forcing himself to leave. He knew she wouldn't appreciate him inviting himself to stay the night.

As he closed her door behind him, Belteshazzar looked out into the night, listening for any sounds that might've been out of place, making sure that everyone else in the cirque was still fast asleep. He went back for Angus, just like he had told Remy he would. Fortunately, he had been inside the strong man's trailer before so there was no difficulty in returning him to his bed. Belteshazzar conducted one more sweep of the cirque before finally heading back to his trailer, thoughts of how Remy would react in the morning circling in his mind. He wondered if he had finally pushed her too far. She'd seemed to accept his secrets before, but this time it had come at the cost of those she cared about. He supposed he should be glad that Leander hadn't been one of their victims tonight. If the boy had been there, Belteshazzar knew that Remy would've fought tooth and nail to protect him; even from herself.

Belteshazzar had been so focused on the girl in his arms, was so wrapped up in his thoughts of her that he never noticed the four pairs of red-rimmed yellow eyes watching them. He did not notice them following them from Suzie's trailer back to Remy's own. He did not sense them watching as he carefully tucked her into bed. Neither did he notice when they quietly left the cirque's grounds to report on what they had seen that night.

A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry this one took longer than I had initially anticipated it would. Honestly, I kind of had a moment of doubt about this story. Like I knew people were reading it but I only ever heard back from three people each chapter (four the last time), and I just kept thinking I must've been doing something wrong and that people didn't really like the story. Silly, I know, because even I'm not the best at reviewing everything I read. But still…

The biggest thanks go out to FlowerChild23, PlaidPajamas01, arienna89 and Starcrier (whose review came at a moment when I just needed to hear something encouraging). You guys are beyond amazing. Thank you also to everyone who's put Heathens on their favourites or alerts list.

This particular chapter kind of took several turns that I hadn't expected it to. For one, the plan had been for David to get punched in the face but Paul ended up copping it instead. Oops?

On an unrelated (sort of) writing note: I'm thinking of starting a . Anyone on here have one? I've read up a bit on it and I know that there are different membership tiers and patrons donate monthly or every time a creator produces something (in my case it'd be new chapters). But would I be able to accept commissions on there too? Or is that a separate thing? If I were to open commission slots, would anyone be interested in one?

As always, I'd love to hear back from you guys. Your encouragement keeps me going!

Love,

Scribbles