New chapter! Whoo! This story is my lifeblood right now.
-watches Transformers- Lol, hilarious movie. "They just had like a giant robot death match!" xD
Someone was calling my name in the darkness, someone familiar. I couldn't see who but my mind registered I was awake now, and my eyes were shut. Groaning I placed a hand over my eyes, only to realize there was no sunlight where ever I was. Cracking an eye open I saw I was in a bed, with drapes around me, blocking the light. This wasn't my bed, nor was this Paul's bed. Then I registered Ricky, who was sitting next to me on the bed, shaking me softly. When he saw I was awake he smiled, "You're awake, finally. I thought you'd be asleep for the whole day."
The whole day? It was daytime again? God, that explained why I was so tired. "Morning. Are we still where I think we are?"
"Yeah, the cave. David said you could sleep here. Not that I gave him much choice but still, it was nice of him I guess."
With a moan I sat up and rubbed my eyes, Paul's jacket falling off of me slightly from where it had been draped. When did I get his jacket? Ricky helped me sit up and told me he was planning on going to the boardwalk again, in case I was interested in coming along. I peeked out of the draping and saw I was in the bed that sat above the checkout desk. Cringing I grabbed Paul's jacket, climbed down and looked around. It was silent as a tomb. The boys were most definitely sleeping, but where? I had to go find the rest of our family and leave. Today was the day.
"Ricky, I have a better idea," I called, knowing if I went to go find our sisters alone, he'd hold it against me forever. He practically ran down, ready to go with a flashlight he apparently found. I chuckled, it was almost like he read my mind or something. We crept down the opening in the wall to a hallway, me ready with a sharpened wooden plank, which I explained to suspicious Ricky that we needed in case a wild animal was in here, and Ricky with the flashlight.
Ricky was a curious person and opened one of the doors in the front. We peeked inside and Ricky squeaked a little when he pointed the flashlight at the bed in the center of the room. Marko was laying there, hands on his chest, looking very white and very asleep, but still very dangerous. "They're so pale," Ricky whispered, shaking a little. Rose lay beside Marko in the same manner but she looked more human. It was dark, so he could wake up at any moment if we stayed inside too long. Ricky made a face and walked inside, despite my protests. The room itself was decorated with posters and album covers, all of the rock genre. I liked the hippie feel to his room though. There were beads everywhere, curtaining him in his bed, lava lamps of all different colors, and peace sign memorabilia everywhere. I raised my eyebrow at the surfboard in the corner, did he even know how to surf? Shaking my head I tapped Rose on the shoulder slightly, just enough to wake her up. Which she did, with a hiss. Her eyes shot towards me and I put a hand over her mouth, and pressed a finger to my own. She got the cue and got out of bed quietly.
Once we got out of Marko's room, Ricky led us down the hallway and into another room. I grimaced when we walked in. I could give a pretty good guess at what we would find on the other side of the door. Indeed, when we opened the door we saw Dwayne sleeping on his own bed, on his side but facing us. He looked like he was carved out of stone, like Marko. Cheyenne was in front of him, his arm wrapped around her protectively. His room was decorated with all kinds of Native American artifacts. Headdresses, necklaces, animal carvings. Over to the side he had dozens of books. I was almost tempted to look through them. I liked the room, it felt homely. Rose went to get Cheyenne while Ricky and I left to find Claire.
I was extremely nervous to find David's room, but I knew that was our next stop. I didn't know if David would want us poking around in his room. And would he wake up when we entered? My nerves continued to frazzle me until Ricky found the door that most likely led to David's room. He didn't feel any danger at opening the door, so he opened it without a second thought. I saw him shiver when he entered. I didn't feel the cold. David slept the same way as Marko, arms crossed on his chest and facing the ceiling. Claire was already awake, glaring at the ceiling. His room had motorcycle memorabilia. Small motorcycle figurines, some large motorcycle figurines, pictures of antique motorcycles, the works. While Ricky admired a rather large Harley I noticed a small opening in the wall, off to the side. Being as quiet as possible I bent down to look in. The hole contained the bottle that I had drunk from, giving me the impression that the hole was chilled. Ignoring that for a moment I gave Claire a small psst and motioned for her to follow us, which she did.
Feeling incredibly nervous again I told Ricky to leave. He was admiring a Ducati in the back of the room, so I repeated myself. He pouted again but conceded. I didn't know how he couldn't feel nervous in here. I thought David was going to spring up at any second and rip our heads off for being in his room. When we got back to the lobby I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn't ever want to go back into David's room while he was sleeping, it did too much for my nerves.
"We need to get out of here." Claire snapped, grabbing up every bit of clothing she could see to cover us all from the sun. I didn't know when sundown was but she was right, we had to leave before they woke up. Everyone raised an eyebrow at Paul's coat but I told them he took it off the night before and let me wear it. "I bet he did." Rose snickered, causing me to throw a comic book at her head.
Once adequately covered we rushed out of the cave and up the pathway, to where their motorcycles sat. Claire seemed to appraise the situation before swinging her leg around David's bike and starting it, gesturing for Ricky. Ricky got on in front of her and she barked at us to get on a bike. I had no idea how to ride a motorcycle, so I got on the back of Dwayne's bike, which Cheyenne was going to steer. She knew how to ride a motorcycle I knew, but what about Rose? As far as I knew she never rode a bike before a couple nights ago. Seeing no problem she got on behind Claire.
"Where do we go? They know where we live." I asked above the noise. "To the boardwalk! We might find somewhere to hide during the night!" Claire shouted while taking off. Cheyenne followed closely. It was a different feeling riding with her but it was still exhilarating. We ditched the bikes at Claire's house and walked to the boardwalk. I didn't think it would trick them but we had to try. Down at the beach Claire scoped out for a motel.
"Are we doing the right thing?" Rose asked softly, for only my ears. I put my arm around her shoulder and hugged her. "We don't belong with them Rosie, they're killers." She seemed to nod but her eyes were still downcast. I felt a hand take my own and it was Cheyenne, who had tears coming to her eyes. "I thought they were good people. I trusted them. My miscast in judgment led us to hell." Rose and I tried to tell her otherwise but Cheyenne tuned us out, keeping a hold of my hand while we found a motel to stay in.
Once settled we closed the curtains and I was finally able to take the layers of clothes off. I kept Paul's jacket on though, an action that didn't go un-noticed by my eldest sister. "Oh good lord, you like him." She smacked a hand against her forehead dramatically and flung herself backwards onto a bed. I giggled at her antics. "Nah, it's just warmer i'm used to."
Claire nodded from her spot and chuckled bitterly, "I don't feel warmth much anymore. Oddly enough i'm getting colder and colder, day by day. I think it's because I have to sleep with that asshole." We all laughed. David did have a cold effect. From her spot on the other bed Rose sighed. "Sleeping next to Marko wasn't too bad. He didn't move but I felt comfortable...almost safe."
"Dwayne always kept me in his arms while he slept. Protecting me from the world, as he said." Cheyenne said from beside Rose, giving a wistful look of her own. I grimaced and remembered how nice it felt in Paul's bed. "Paul insisted on making out before he fell asleep." I chuckled. Then I thought of how angry they'd be when they figured out we ditched them. Would they feel sad? Would they miss us? Or would they just be angry that their main squeezes had escaped?
I didn't want to think about this now. I flung the thoughts out of my head and laid next to Claire. Both of us were watching the beach outside. Ricky had gone down to the boardwalk to visit the Frog brothers, ask them advice and such. He knew to be back at least an hour or two before sundown. "Would you go back?" Claire asked suddenly, loud enough for all of us to hear. I knew her answer was no. She couldn't stand them.
Rose hesitated before shrugging. She liked Marko already, a lot. She liked sleeping next to him and she liked waking up next to him. Cheyenne liked Dwayne too, as much as she would deny it. They had instant chemistry when Dwayne spotted her on the merry go round. She also liked sleeping next to Dwayne. She liked the protection he offered. It was something the men in her past couldn't give her, and it was the protection Ma couldn't give her either.
As for me, I didn't want to go back...I think. I like them well enough, but not enough to become a creature of the night. A flashback of Paul's kisses, and his touches, made me close my eyes and cringe. Ok, maybe I did like him a little more then I let on. In fact I didn't know if I would be able to resist staying away, but I had to. We weren't going to become like them.
On the other hand, I also didn't know how much longer we could hold out on that aspect. My sisters eyes were all gaunt and lifeless, only showing life when we were around the boys or each other, our skins were pale from staying inside a damp cave for days, but we were holding together, barely. I didn't know about the others, but I couldn't help but smell Ricky's human blood all the freaking time. It drove me nuts, it drove me insane, but at the same time, it drove me to humanity. In a strange, twisted way, his blood had become my anchor to humanity. Ricky noticed all too much too, he was always glancing at us and scratching his arm in a nervous way.
Ricky came back after a few hours and gave us all some food, commenting on how it wasn't the kind of stuff we'd probably want but it would have to do. We glared at him half-heartily but ate. I missed the taste of pizza on my tongue. It was slightly bland, as was all human food nowadays, but I made due and enjoyed it. "I'm not going to become a vampire, am I?" Ricky asked after a while. I knew he was thinking back to Joel's veiled threat.
"I will never let that happen, Rick." I promised, taking his hand. We both flinched at the same time, him at my cold skin and me at his blood.
Night fell quicker then we'd have liked, and I felt a chill go through my spine that the others felt too. They were awake, and they weren't happy. "What do you think they'll do if they find us?" Cheyenne whispered, even though there was no need. It felt too loud to talk, but whispering felt too weird. I shrugged, not wanting to think about what they could do to us. David would probably snap and force us to feed whether we liked it or not. I knew his patience was wearing thin.
The sheer fright of them being out there kept us all in bed. We didn't move, we didn't speak, we didn't do anything except watch TV. Watching TV was normal, and we had to seem at least slightly normal. I kept looking at the window, despite the fact it was covered by the drapes. I could feel them out there, hunting for us. They wouldn't stop until they found us. We heard a shout and jumped. That was Marko's voice. My mind raced at a million miles an hour. They were near by, did they know where we were? I clutched Claire's hand and found her shaking. That didn't give me much comfort.
"You don't think they can find us by our half-vampirism...do you?" Rose asked in the quietest, and shakiest, tone i've ever heard. I certainly hoped not. I hoped that with all the blood running around on the boardwalk they'd get distracted, or at least lose our scents. After an hour it seemed that's what had happened, but we were still on high alert. Every little noise outside made me twitch and stiffen.
Only when a knock came on the door did I make a noise. Claire and I clamped our hands on my mouth and stared at the door in horror. Ricky hardened his eyes, got up quietly, and stalked towards the door, looking out the eye hole when he got there. I shot my hands out to grab him but I couldn't move fast enough, and I couldn't speak, in case it really was David outside. We all clamped our hands to our mouths while Ricky looked back and forth. He looked at me and shrugged, and mouthed, 'There's-no-one-there.' We all stared and motioned for him to come back. I had a feeling it was vampire tricks, to see if someone would actually answer the door. Did we pass the test, or fail it?
I didn't make a sound while moving to look through the eye hole. Rose gave a tiny noise but Cheyenne had clamped her other hand over our sisters mouth in probably a fraction of a second. With my heart pounding out of my chest I peeked out the little circle and saw nothing. Nothing at all. Dammit, this was vampire mischief, I could smell it. If I opened the door they would pounce on us, but what would happen if I didn't open the door? Steadily I moved backwards and decided not to open the door.
We probably didn't even breath for about ten minutes. My mind was pulsating with the anger I felt coming off of them, and I was sure they could feel our fear. It probably was like a radar, leading them right to us, but there wasn't anything we could do about our fear. I didn't know how to master it, nor did my siblings. All we could do, was wait. Wait and hope to whatever god that they didn't find us.
"Hellooooooo! Anyone in there?" By a pure slip of fate we all screamed at the same time as Paul's voice emanated from beyond the door. We were so screwed. Claire blanched and got us up, shooing us all into the bathroom. I could practically feel Paul's satisfied smirk when he heard us scream, and I longed to smack the look off his face. We were all crowded in the small bathroom but mostly we were looking for a way out. There was a small window, probably large enough to fit us though, but none of us knew what was on the other side. Hesitantly Claire climbed up, after locking the bathroom door behind us, and opened the window just far enough to look outside. I saw her eyes shift left and right, looking for even the slightest shadow, and finally she nodded and gestured for me to go first. I was the oldest besides her so I had to go first to protect the others outside, while she stayed back, protecting the others from the inside.
I grunted when I climbed through, then flinched. I wasn't supposed to make a sound. Surprisingly there was a scaffolding below the window, and I assumed it was a fire escape. Lucky one that. My feet lightly touched the medal and I gestured for someone to come next. Cheyenne took the position, sucking in her gut and wiggling her way out. She landed with a slight thud but recovered quickly. We both mouthed for Ricky to go next, much to Rose's dismay I knew.
It took both me and Cheyenne to help Ricky out, because he was smaller, but he soon joined us, looking down at the ground with raised eyebrows. Rose was next, and she didn't like it. I guess she didn't trust windows or something, because she whimpered the whole way through. I put my finger to my lips in a shush motion but her eyes were closed, which I thought was kind of stupid. Eventually she made it out, shaking and trembling while she held onto the rail. Her and Ricky shared the same small fear of heights, which left them both trying very hard not to look down while we watched for our eldest sister.
Claire jumped through with no problem. It was because she was so thin I bet. Now there was another problem...how to get down. I could lower the ladder, but that would've made a very loud noise and catch the attention of certain unwanted people. I motioned that we could fly down, or at least jump down nimbly, but Claire looked at me like I was crazy, and gave a 'half' gesture, which I caught the meaning of. We were still only half-vampires. None of us knew if we could even do that without breaking our bones, or dying.
I looked down and contemplated the distance. Without warning or hesitation I jumped over the rail, causing all my siblings to gasp and reach for me, and I landed on the ground like I would if I was jumping out of a tree. Hands and feet, on all fours. I felt slightly like a cat but the point was I had no broken bones. For Ricky though it would be kind of a problem. I motioned for Claire to put him on her back when she jumped and she nodded, piggy backing him like I mimed. Cheyenne and Rose followed very hesitantly. Poor Rose probably had a heart attack when she jumped, but she landed well enough. I didn't hear anything break, so that was a good sign. Now we had to get away from the motel.
We took off running into the crowd, leaving our scents mingled with the other assorted people, and I noticed a very bright lit store that would probably not draw the attention of the Lost Boys. They tended to stay away from brightly lit areas. I didn't know if it was a personal choice or if they burned in the light but at that point I didn't care. I dragged Ricky and Cheyenne, who was holding Rose's hand, who was holding Claire's, and ran into the store. We hurried to the back where the reject movies were and caught our breaths. I didn't even look at anyone who was in the store, I just looked down at my own hand on my heart, trying to still the insane beating.
"May I help you?" We all looked up to see a man, probably in his early thirties, staring at us with a confused expression on his face. He looked like he was trying to be hip and in, funky glasses and shoulder pads, but he was failing miserably. "No, we're just browsing." Claire panted with a smile. The man seemed to doubt us but he didn't say anything about it, instead he held out his hand, "My name is Max. I own the store."
Claire took the hand first, "Nice to meet you, Max. I'm Claire." She didn't give out our names and we didn't mention it. I didn't want us to be on the radar again. I looked at the store window out front and glanced back and forth between the people who were walking. My vampire instincts were practically salivating with need, giving me a headache. I hated smelling blood all the time, it made for uncomfortable conversations with huma-er I mean, people.
Out of habit I glanced to study Max. He was certainly a cheerful chap, giving a warm smile while he and Claire spoke about the neighborhood. His glasses looked like something out of a sci-fi movie but somehow he made them work. Beside him a white dog sat, panting at us with a dog smile. Ricky was petting the animal with a smile on his face, the first in a while. I was turning my head back to the store when a woman passed by us, her blood smelling richer then chocolate. I held back a snarl and grinded my teeth together, turning my head away from the smell. It took probably a tick of my brain to realize I couldn't smell Max's blood, as when I turned my head my nose was almost against his arm. A look of horror passed over my face, that only Cheyenne seemed to notice.
I tilted my head towards the woman who passed us and gave an exaggerated lick of my lips, then tilted my head towards Max and shook my head, my eyes wide. Cheyenne got the message immediately, and grabbed Rose's hand to drag her out of the store. I took Ricky's and tapped Claire on the shoulder, telling her it was time to leave. She looked at me, confused, so I moved my eyes towards Max and shook my head almost in-perceptively. Her own eyes widened and she backed away from the vampire, babbling about how it was time to go and that she had a lovely chat.
Max cheerfully waved us out, and we looked out to the exit and stopped dead. The Lost Boys were all standing in the doorway, all of them glowering. I wondered how much self control they had, since they looked about one centimeter away from transforming, David especially. I could practically hear Claire's mind swearing over and over again. I clutched Ricky tight and glared at the boys, who snarled back.
"That was a dangerous thing to do girls." David snapped. That seemed to be the cue to grab us, as each boy had one of us in their grasps before we could blink. We were practically manhandled out of the store and thrown onto their bikes. I watched in panic when Claire shot off of David's and started running. David rolled his eyes and caught her in a second, dragging her kicking and screaming form back to the group. If I wasn't so scared I would've smiled at the things she was threatening. We took off without a word and I had to scramble to hold onto Ricky, who was holding onto Paul. The trip back to the cave was silent, giving me even more reason to fear.
We arrived just before the moon reached us, casting everyone in a shadow. I shuddered when Paul grabbed me by the arm and dragged me down the pathway, not even bothering to take care or worry about my human skin. I knew i'd have a serious bruise there tomorrow, if I lived that long. Once we got inside they literally threw us onto the couches, but they let Ricky go up to the bed. He did so slowly, looking back at us with a helpless expression.
I turned my attention back to David, who was pacing back and forth in front of his wheelchair throne. Dwayne, Marko and Paul stood around him, looking at us all in a way that made my stomach tighten in both fear and guilt. "Do you have any idea what kind of danger you put yourselves in tonight?" David finally hissed, running a hand through his hair. "You disobeyed us and left, and to add insult to injury you didn't even flee somewhere where Joel wouldn't find you! He could've been stalking you the whole time we were looking for you!"
I blinked and glanced at Claire, who glanced back and gave a tiny shrug. Her eyes had gone steely again and I knew an argument was brewing, again. "Oh yeah, because this cave is so damn protected." She growled, crossing her arms in defiance. David's icy blue eyes turned to her and they seemed to be enflamed with anger. "Do not talk back to me, Claire. This isn't your pack and you are not the leader. I am, so listen to me for once, god dammit!"
"No! This may be your fucking pack but these are my sisters! And every time we listen to you we end up getting hurt! Why don't you just leave us the fuck alone and-" Her rant was cut off by an audible smack. The sound echoed through the cave and it took me a second to register that David had hit her, smacking her on the side of her face, his eyes completely icy and empty. "Do not talk back to me," He snarled. Claire held her cheek and looked at him in disbelief, and fear. I flinched, expecting him to do worse but he didn't. David turned to the rest of us and I felt a shiver run through both of my sisters. We shrunk back when he took a step closer but we seemed to be held in place.
"As for you three, you don't eat, you don't drink, and you don't leave our rooms. Not until you agree to feed. I'm getting tired of fucking waiting for you. Maybe that will knock some fucking sense into you." His voice was deadly, laced with anger that I didn't think was to be trifled with. Paul grabbed my arm to lead me to his room and I looked back at my sisters, tears springing to my eyes faster then I could wipe them away. They all looked at me with the same sadness. I kept Ricky's gaze the longest, trying to apologize with every fiber of my being. It was my fault he would now be alone all the time. He saw my tears and made to get up but David snarled at him to stay sitting, all the while dragging Claire along.
Paul tossed me in his room unceremoniously and left. I heard a click from the door and sobbed. I was now a complete and total prisoner, as were my sisters. And my poor brother had to be subjected to being alone and away from his family all the time now. My body racked with heaving sobs, the sound echoing from all around me, giving me the feeling I was trapped in my own grief. I didn't even cry this hard when Ma died. I cried now for my siblings, and my freedom, and my humanity. All of them were suddenly snatched away from me and I couldn't handle it.
When the sobs subsided, rage took over. I ripped Paul's jacket away from my body and sheared the stupid thing with my claws. I was barely able to get into my vampire stage because of how weak I was, but I did the job well enough. Nothing left but scraps. I turned my attention on his posters angrily, but didn't actually cut them. My common sense kicked in and asked what the point was. What would be the point in making your already pissed off vampire keeper even more pissed off? Paul may have looked tame from his appearance, but I knew how dangerous he was, especially if provoked. At this point I wondered if he would even hurt me like David hurt Claire. My mind screamed a yes, as long as it kept me in place.
I sat on the bed and stared out into the room. There was only one light and it wasn't even a light, more like a bucket sized candle. Electricity again didn't factor into the cave, but he had some lava lamps too that illuminated the room. I hated the room as much as I enjoyed it. It would be my prison for the rest of my life. I refused to drink the blood of another human being, thus I would perish inside this tiny room. I might as well get used to it then.
I was reading a copy of Paul's music sheets, trying to imitate the sounds in my head, when I heard the lock click. I didn't even look up from the papers. I was staring so hard at the paper, almost expecting it to burst into flames, until I felt Paul flop down beside me. "Hey Lu," He said casually, throwing his arms behind his head with a self satisfied sigh. My eye twitched in anger but I refused to look at him, let alone reply. We lay in silence for a while, until he shifted so he was looking at me and snatched the paper out of my hands. I growled but still I didn't look at him. I kept my gaze firmly on my hands now.
"I forgive you, ya know...babe? Look at me." Paul's voice held a certain air of command that I hard time resisting. After a second I felt him grab my face and wrench it sideways so I was finally looking at him. He was looking at me, hard. I glared back. "What do you want?" I spoke, my voice raspy from crying. He raised an eyebrow, obviously contemplating my mental ability at the moment, but I caught his drift and scooted backwards. "If you even think, for one second, that you're even going to get a fucking hug from me, you've obviously been high too long!" I shouted, not caring if anyone could hear me. Paul seemed to expect that answer, as he chuckled in response and shrugged, turning on his back so he could sleep. I narrowed my eyes and laid down on the other side of the bed, keeping an eye on him. I felt more tired then I had been in ages, my human side getting drowsy from crying, and my eyelids heavy. Bastard didn't even try and comfort me.
Oooh yeah, wow, the Lost Boys are dicks in this chapter aren't they? xD They are lol, I know they are. And they have good reason to be, I mean vampires are supposed to be mean sometimes, not happy all the time and nice. R&R? :D