David woke up tired, he'd only had a couple of hours sleep as he'd been ploughing Star's head all night telling her what Laddie's blood would taste like, how much she wanted it and he encouraged her to drink her fill of the boy. The way he was feeling tonight, the only thing that would make him happy would be to go out there and see the kid dead and Star naked and licking her fangs but he wasn't counting on it. The last thing he needed was to have a kid hanging around them. He released his grip on the bar and almost immediately, Dwayne dropped down beside him and he walked out ahead of David without saying anything to him. David followed, leaving the other two still hanging upside down asleep. The boys walked out into the main cave and Laddie came trotting over to Dwayne like a little puppy dog and the kid began to grate on David already, he wasn't in the mood to deal with the little shit. Dwayne sat down and David sat opposite him and Dwayne threw him a cigarette.
'He's alright. I'll watch him.' Dwayne had picked up on David's distaste of the boy and silently told him he'd take him under his wing.
'No, he's her problem. She wouldn't kill him, she can deal with him.' David replied and Dwayne inhaled his smoke and decided that he would watch out for the kid regardless of what David said. Dwayne once had seven younger siblings and he had really owned the older brother role, he actually found it nice to have the kid around.
David lit his cigarette and, as he blew his smoke out, he noticed Star coming inside from the entrance of the cave and it go his back up. He wondered how long she had been out there and he gave her a filthy look as she walked back in. She knew he didn't like her being out there in any kind of light where he couldn't get to her and now he was fucked off. He was in a foul mood anyways but this tipped him over the edge and he wanted to leave. Paul and Marko had appeared and they looked as tired as David felt.
'We're going out.' David said putting on his over coat picking up on Star's thoughts, she was judging him on the fact he wore the same coat every night and questioning if he ever wore anything else.
'No I don't.' He answered her aloud and directed his comment straight at her and just by the look on her face, he knew he'd shocked her. 'Now, let's go.' His tone left no uncertainty that he was not to be fucked with tonight.
'Bro, what's our rush?' Paul asked him as they began to climb out of the cave.
'I wanna get the fuck out of here.' David barked and Paul smiled, sensing David was in the mood for some brutality and Paul loved it when David was ready to fuck shit up. They were nearing the top of the cliff and David glanced around and saw Star and Laddie were missing. Fucking hell, he was seriously not in the frame of mind to deal with her shit right now.
'Star!' He impatiently called out for her and within a minute he heard her and Laddie coming up behind him.
'Yeah…' Paul placed his arm around Marko's shoulders, 'He's feral tonight, time to play!' Paul laughed and Marko smiled at him. Marko was just happy to have the old David back and to not have to hang around her for once, he jumped on his bike starting it up, and Dwayne followed suit. David, however, didn't mount his bike, instead he stood in front of his ride waiting for the other two.
'Laddie, ride with Dwayne.' David barked at the kid, once they'd caught up and Laddie headed over to Dwayne while David watched Star. She cautiously walked towards him and she hesitated when he hadn't got on his bike as she approached. When she was close enough he stepped forward and pulled her to him, his hand firmly on her back to hold her in place and he kissed her. He was putting her back in her place with the harsh kiss, she would do as he wanted her to when he wanted her to do it. It was a power play and he had to remind her who was in control and, as he let her go, he stared pure death at her and he got on his bike and she got on the back.
0o0
They parked their bikes just outside the second entrance to the Boardwalk and David's mood lightened a bit knowing he was off to cause some damage but as he walked onto the platform, he heard laughing and hollering to the left, behind him.
'Baby sitters club now?' He slowly looked around and saw Greg and his fuckwit mates mocking and laughing at him and had no one been around, David would have had his heart and intestines splayed all over the concrete but David maintained his very thin composure and kept walking, the boys taking his lead and following him.
'Seriously, we gotta terminate.' Marko projected to the boys.
'The guy's a cunt.' Paul added.
'Enjoy making those school lunches, you pussies!' One of Greg's crew called out and it took everything David had to not react. His tether was so thin it could snap at any second.
'We will, it's just a matter of time and now is not that time.' David responded and headed down the path. 'Right, time to ditch the bitch and hunt.' He said and the boys smiled as he turned to Star.
'Take him and get something to eat. We'll meet you in the arcade in two hours. Don't be late.' He made it clear and he turned and left her with the kid.
'What are we hunting for? Slash or gash?' Paul asked him laughing, excited with the prospect of letting loose and David chuckled.
'What do you want Paul?'
'I want it all.' Paul answered eyeing up some hotties in little shorts walking towards them.
'God I love summer in this town.' Dwayne spoke Paul's thought as he checked out the two girls as well.
'Let's gap it up to Mitchell's Cove. I gotta tear something apart before you two get your ends away.' David said as they headed down towards the Pier where no one would see them take flight. They flew up to Mitchell's Cove where they were greeted with a dark empty beach aside from a small group of people sitting around a bonfire down one end, who were well on their way, despite it only being about 10pm. They had drinks with them but Paul knew they were on something else and by the way they were all touchy feely with each other, he suspected it was E and he loved E. There were seven of them all together, two girls and five guys and, from what David could ascertain, two couples and three spare wheels. As they perched in the arms of a tree overlooking that end of the beach, they watched as one couple headed off down a dark pathway lined with trees for some 'private time' and Paul took his cue.
'I'll take the happy couple.' He smiled and he jumped down and disappeared into the forest. The other couple said their goodbyes to their friends then, holding hands, they walked off to the parking lot towards the lone car that was parked there and, without saying anything, Dwayne flew off his branch to stalk his prey, leaving David and Marko to deal with the final three that remained on the beach. They'd cracked open a few more beers and didn't look like they were going anywhere anytime soon which suited David just fine. David could tell Marko was happy being left to hunt with him, before Star had joined them David had included Marko in almost everything he did, primarily because Marko had been such a tough transition and Max had warned him to make sure Marko didn't turn feral. David had never seen anyone go feral and didn't know what that consisted of exactly but he had heeded Max's warning and had taken care with Marko, and during that time he and Marko had developed a certain bond with each other. David jumped out of the tree and Marko landed beside him, then David placed his arm around Marko's shoulder.
'Come on Marko, let's go meet some new friends.' They walked down along the beach towards the head where the three men were and they drew the men's attention as they approached. David and Marko stood in front of them on the other side of the bonfire with their backs to the sea and the men ceased their banter and looked at them.
'Man, that's one serious jacket.' One of them said to Marko laughing.
'Hows it?' The man sitting in the middle asked them.
'I've had better.' David said honestly.
'Let me guess, a chick?' The guy asked him.
'Yeah, that look is totally a chick problem.' The other man chimed in and David raised his eyebrows and half rolled his eyes in agreeance.
'Well, the only way to deal with bullshit chick problems is to get drunk.' The one in the middle said, throwing a beer to both Marko and David. The boys caught them but didn't open them, when suddenly a blood curdling scream echoed out from the bush area behind them and they all turned in the direction of the sound.
'What the fuck was that?!' One of the men asked.
'Wait, wasn't that where Rob and Steph went?' The one who threw the beers said.
'That sounds like Paul.' David said and they turned back to look at him.
'Your mate screams like a girl?' The first one asked and the other two sniggered.
'No, but he makes them scream like that.' Marko smiled at their expressions at David's comment.
'Fuck, it sounds like he's killing her.' The one in the middle said, the smile dropping from his face.
'He is.' David said simply and Marko continued to smile at them biting his thumb nail.
'What?' Just as one of the men said it, a male's severed head dropped out of the sky, landing in between the three men and the bonfire and they stared at it in shock.
'And that would be Dwayne's handiwork.' David added, a smirk finding its way onto his face before it turned very ugly and both he and Marko morphed into their alter egos. 'Now it's our turn.' The boys attacked and Marko latched onto the guy in the middle and sunk his teeth deep into his throat, snapping his neck in the process, while David grabbed one of them and scalped him before he took his fill from his jugular and the last one took off running down the beach. Dwayne went to go after him but David screamed at him that the man was his and he dropped the one he had and shot after the last one landing on him and slamming the guy to the ground. David then began slashing and hacking at the guy's torso with his claws. Dwayne and Marko watched with a morbid fascination as, over and over, David dug his nails into his prey and dragged them through his flesh, snapping ribs and ripping muscle fibres out and by the time he was done, there was nothing but strips of flesh on a broken skeleton with organs spilling out and lying on the sand. David stood up breathing heavy with stringy tendons hanging from his hands. Paul had arrived half way through the carnage and by the end of it, David looked relaxed and satisfied with himself.
'Fuck yeah!' Paul exclaimed and David walked past him pulling out a cigarette.
'Yeah, I needed that.' David lit his stick and looked back at what he'd done, almost as if it was a painting he'd created. 'That was fun. It's gonna be a bitch to clean up though. You guys gotten rid of yours?' He asked.
'Barbequing on the grill.' Paul said.
'Yeah, mine too.' Marko added and Dwayne just nodded, not divulging where he had disposed of his kills. David breathed in deeply and nodded, looking at his cigarette.
'Fuck, it's got blood on it.' He said, holding up his cancer stick with his blood-soaked hand. 'I hate that.' He flicked his ash off onto the sand and looked out to sea.
'Dave, what's with the kid?' Marko asked him and David semi rolled his eyes.
'She was supposed to kill him, an easy meal, but instead she called my bluff and I turned him.' He tried to suck in more smoke but the cigarette was way too wet and had gone out so he threw it away. 'Man, I tormented her all fucking day to kill the little prick but she wouldn't.'
'Yeah, we heard you. You could have cut us out of that one.' Paul added. 'You don't get hair like mine without your beauty sleep.' Paul said and Marko laughed.
'Your hair is a fucking mess Paul.' David said.
'Mullet. That's all I'm gonna say.' Paul responded with his hands in the air.
'The chick's got a will of steel to hold off like that.' Dwayne said.
'Yeah.' David began picking strings of veins and bits of flesh out of his nails. 'I'll break her. Be sure of that.' David walked off to clean up the crime scene he'd left on the beach while the others cleaned themselves up and then they headed back to the Boardwalk to meet with Star and Laddie. The boys got back to the Boardwalk and as they walked down the path towards the arcade, they passed a group of girls peering into the carousel. They turned their heads as the boys got closer and David saw Greg's girlfriend Shelley looking at him and he kept her eye contact and half smiled at her and he continued walking.
'Isn't that Greg's bitch?' Marko asked him.
'Yep.' David smiled, if Greg was going to fuck with Star, David would give him a taste of his own medicine. Arriving at the arcade, David looked around and couldn't see Star or Laddie anywhere and he sighed in frustration at their tardiness. He had told her to meet him and to not be late and he was late, it had been two and a half hours already.
'Where are you?' He called to her and when he got no response, he could feel his annoyance rising again but he pulled it in check. He wasn't going to let her get to him anymore and David stood with Marko looking out at the crowd walking past and Marko nudged David's arm as a girl with dark wavy shoulder length hair came into view.
'Hot.' Marko said not taking his eyes off her as she stopped to linger at a stall and she looked back at him out of the corner of her eyes. David looked at her and there was something familiar about her and then he clicked, she was Max's new employee.
'She works at the video store.' David said to him and Marko looked back at him.
'With Max?'
'Yeah.' David said watching her, wondering if she would recognise him.
'Does she know?' Marko asked.
'Doubt it.' David said as Laddie appeared next to Dwayne and David turned to see Star standing away from them in the doorway. He gave her a look that compelled her to come to him without saying a word and she did.
'Will you play Air Hockey with me again?' Laddie looked up at Marko and Marko glanced down at him and, ignoring him, he went back back to staring at the girl.
'Marko's too busy chasing pussy.' Paul silently teased Marko. 'Better get her quick little brother otherwise I'll catch her first. Once they have a piece of Paul, they forget all the rest.' Paul laughed and Marko gave him a dirty look.
'Yeah, they also get Gonorrhoea.' Dwayne added laughing. 'Sorry kid, Marko's busy but I'll play Street Fighter with you.' Dwayne told Laddie and they walked over to the other side of the room to the game and Dwayne slotted a quarter into the machine and they began to choose their fighters. Paul moved over next to David and almost immediately a fight broke out behind them and they all turned their heads to see what was going on. They were all fairly disinterested after what they'd just seen David do but Paul loved a good fight so he watched for a bit but quickly got bored and they all watched Marko's girl finally walk away. The fight intensified and a loud smash rang out along with the waft of fresh blood, it was unmistakable and made all three of them turn to see the damage. Had they not just fed, their reaction may have been different but the relatively small amount of blood did nothing to them and they were mildly amused more than anything else at the scrap. David looked over at Star and he saw her eyes were dilated and she was staring at the wound on the man then she looked up at David and he couldn't help himself.
'Yum.' He said to her, widening his eyes mocking her and both he and Paul laughed. He watched her close her eyes in disgust and when she opened them she looked over at Laddie and her face changed to one of shock. Following her gaze, David was surprised to see Laddie standing next to Dwayne with glowing, red ringed yellow eyes. This was something David had definitely not been anticipating.
'Dwayne, get him the fuck out of here.' David projected to Dwayne and Dwayne looked down at the kid and was quite shocked at what he saw. He picked the kid up and told him to close his eyes and they left out of a side entrance. Everyone in the place was distracted by the fight so no one noticed the boy and for that David was relieved but he now knew how careful he was going to have to be where Laddie was concerned, which added a new dynamic to their situation. Having a child vampire wasn't something he'd actually thought would come to fruition. David walked out past the two security guards who had broken up the fight and he stared the older of the two down, the guy had become less and less tolerant of David's antics on the Boardwalk as time had gone on and David smirked at him as he left. They headed back to the entrance of the park when suddenly Max appeared in David's head.
'Where are you?' He demanded.
'Leaving the Boardwalk.' He reluctantly responded. In the mood he was in, Max was the last person he wanted to have to deal with.
'Meet me at Neary's Lagoon.' They had just walked out of the entrance to their bikes and David stopped and contemplated ignoring Max's request.
'Now David.' Max ordered and David turned to the boys, deciding who Star was going to ride with. Laddie would ride with Dwayne so he turned to Paul, but the last thing he wanted to do was to encourage Paul so he looked over to Marko and then he thought twice about him too, remembering how much Marko had an inherent dislike of her and if she rode with Paul, at least she would make it back to the cave in one piece.
'I have to go and see someone. Paul, take Star back with you.' David picked up in his peripheral vision how unimpressed she was but he didn't care, instead he got on his bike and left to go and meet Max.
0o0
Max was already there when David arrived and before David had even got off his bike, Max strode over to him and belted him hard across the face with his fist, knocking David, and his bike, to the ground. David whipped his head around to look at his leader and saw him fully turned, which made him halt his instinct for a reaction. Rarely did David ever see Max in his true state anymore and whenever he did, he knew not to fuck with him.
'I have fucking had it with your insubordination!' Max roared at him as David staggered to get to his feet.
'What have I done now?' David asked moving his sore jaw and tasting his own blood in his mouth.
'A child? A fucking child?! Are you fucking kidding me?' Max was furious and David wondered how he knew. 'You turned Marko while you were high, I said no more and then you turned a female. A fucking female, after everything I have told you over the last century. And now a child. I ought to tear your fucking head off. You think you can do whatever you want, that you aren't answerable to anybody for your actions. Well I'll tell you something, you little shit, you answer to me and the jokes on you David, because all of these new fledglings are under me. They always have been. It was always my blood in the bottle, you may have topped it up but my essence was always there and you better believe my blood is a lot stronger than yours. They are all mine, even your precious Star.' David couldn't believe what he was hearing, he'd thought he was well on his way to heading his own pack but in one foul swoop, it had been taken away from him. 'And I told you to stay away from Maria, that means Marko too. You're really fucking me off David.'
'Yeah, I can see that.'
'Don't get smart with me. Push me again and you'll force my hand and you won't like what I will do. William didn't.' David stood there stoic and unemotional to the scalding he was receiving. 'And turn Star or kill her. Her lack of commitment is dangerous.' Max disappeared into the cloudy night's sky and David picked up his bike and put it on its stand. He walked over to the edge of the Lagoon pulling out a cigarette and rubbing his jaw again, Max had actually hurt him but if Max thought he was going to alter David's trajectory, he was wrong. David was more determined to do whatever he wanted to do and the old man wasn't going to change that. There was no way he was going to let him get his hands on Star, she was his and just as he had that thought, he flicked his half smoked cigarette into the water and he turned and got on his bike.
0o0
He hid his bike with the others and made the short track through the bush to the cliff top and when he got there, he found Paul and Marko sitting on the edge of the cliff smoking a joint and laughing.
'Davey!' Paul called out to him once he spotted him.
'What are you wasters doing?' Seeing his boys made him feel better.
'You're just jealous.' Paul said sucking in a large toke from the unusually large joint.
'Hanging out.' Marko said.
'Talking of Marko's love of a certain video store assistant.' Paul laughed eliciting a punch in the arm from Marko.
'Shut up.' Marko told him and Max's words ran through David's head again and he almost told Marko that she was off limits but he didn't, he did wonder if Max wanted her for himself though. Then he thought fuck it, Max could tell him himself if he was that adamant about it.
'Her name is Maria.' David said leaning down and plucking the joint out of Paul's hand.
'Hey!' Paul overreacted and Marko looked up at David. 'Oh, Marko and Maria. Sounds like a match made in Heaven. Or in Hell in your case.' Paul laughed, he was mashed.
'Just be careful. She's close to Max and we don't need to piss him off any more than he already is.' He said smoking the joint.
'What's crawled up his ass?' Paul asked looking out to the lighthouse.
'You did.' David said pushing the back of Paul's head making Paul lose his balance and nearly topple over the edge. David took another hit and he suddenly felt his head begin to spin and his hands go a bit numb, he felt like a pill was coming on and then he remembered the state of the men on the beach. The joint must be bringing on whatever they'd taken in him. No wonder Paul was off his face. David stepped away towards the staircase and the other two followed him and, as David walked into the cave, he was surprised to see Dwayne drawing Laddie. It was then he realised how much Dwayne really liked the kid and, between Star mothering him and Dwayne bonding with him, it was looking like David was going to be stuck with him. David continued walking out the back without saying anything and went in the room he'd set up for himself and Star, lighting a myriad of candles he'd placed in there which illuminated the gold detailing of a large old picture frame still on the wall from the resort. He honed in on Star and told her to come into the room with him. He took off his overcoat and laid it on the edge of the bed and she appeared in the doorway as he began to take his gloves off. He could tell she was slightly taken back by the candles now in there and he watched her, picking up on every nuance she made. He took off his boots and she looked a little uncomfortable.
'Are you OK?' She asked him, still hovering around the doorway.
'Come here.' He said again and he watched her step slowly towards him. He could feel her nervousness and he was intrigued as to why she was so nervous, and in her shy vulnerability she looked stunning. Regardless of anything, he was still wildly turned on by her, her skin was porcelain which set off her deep red lips and dark curls beautifully. There was no way he was going to let Max get to her and he wouldn't even let her meet him or even know about him if he could help it. She was all his to do as he pleased with and right now all he wanted to do was fuck her. He placed his hand round the back of her neck and he pulled her to him, kissing her. It was a deep passionate kiss and he placed his other hand around her waist and held her close to him. As soon as his body touched hers, he found his desire for her overwhelmed him and he kissed her harder. He turned her around so her back was to the bed then he lifted her up in the air while he continued to kiss her. He consumed her mind with his compelling thoughts and he felt her relaxing and moulding into him and he took full advantage. She was so easy for him to manipulate, fundamentally he knew she was still attracted to him and he had her exactly where he wanted her. The way she was responding to him he knew she wanted him just as much and he lay her down on the bed and slid his mouth over her now exposed breasts, his tongue teasing her hard nipples and he heard her let out a telling moan. Looking up at her, she was looking back at him almost embarrassed she'd been caught enjoying his attention and her true feelings had been discovered. He smiled at her, whether she would admit it to herself or not, she'd betrayed her front and let him see she liked what he was doing. He was going to make her like him even more as he made his way down her body and slid her skirt up her legs and he saw her eyes roll shut.