Chapter 10: True Nightmare
Author's Note: For any returning readers I sincerely apologize for the extended hiatus that all my stories have been on for the last few years. I could give excuses but really it all boils down to killer writer's block due to life and I never meant it to last as long as it has.
To any new readers welcome and enjoy!
Michael used to have nightmares when he was young. He realized now that he misremembered those childhood dreams.
His mind had told him the monsters were calling out to him to try to eat him. When in fact the monsters wanted him to join them.
They wanted him to become a monster that fed on others to survive like they did.
He had barely recalled those dark boyhood dreams once he awoke and over time they seem to just fade away all together.
His unconscious mind decided now was the perfect time to bring them back with clarity.
There were four monstrous figures dancing around a bonfire. No, not dancing in the way most would. It was the furthest thing from jovial.
The figures were covered in blood from the bodies that they had just easily ripped apart with their bare hands and in the case of one his sharp unnatural teeth.
No, not teeth… fangs.
The victims' screams blended in with monsters' laughter all the while the music continued blaring from somewhere unnoticed by the terrified yet utterly captivated boy.
His name was also played as a part of their demonic symphony.
Michael was beyond horrified by the sights and sounds he was forced to endure. And it was by force he knew that being here wasn't a choice.
His horror was not the only emotion he felt however.
Another emotion was disgust. A reasonable feeling.
The excitement, the want, the hunger was not reasonable.
As he witnessed everything, the boy had tried to look away more than once. When that wouldn't work he tried to close his eyes, but it was impossible.
He felt compelled to see.
Sometimes Mike thought he would scream in denial of those contradictory feelings, those heightened sensations. It was too much. He wanted it all to stop and to never end.
It was maddening.
The monsters always turn their attention to him afterwards. Their faces are no longer vampiric. They would look human. But he knew they were not.
They wore the blood of their victims as proof. Some of it was smeared on their faces, in their hair. Or stained on their lips, their clothes. Even dripping out of the side of their mouths and off their hands.
Then one of them would speak to him; words that he knew but did not remember.
"So now you know what we are, now you know what you are."
He was angry.
"You'll never grow old Michael…"
He was frightened.
"and you'll never die..."
He was disgusted. At who? The monsters or himself because…
"...but you must feed."
He's hungry.
The laughter started again. It was chilling.
He felt the sand underneath him as he grasped for anything to hold on to as his world spiraled.
Then he recognized one of the four faces… It was his brother.
Marko.
And Marko was a monster too.
Michael's eyes shot open.
Marko had arrived at the boardwalk in record time after tearing out of his grandfather's house without so much as a glance back at his human family.
While Marko hadn't settled on a plan it still felt like Michael was ruining it.
There were only a few places that Michael would park his bike so the once-vampire would check those first.
It didn't take long to find the location, he knew his brother's motorcycle nearly as well as his own.
Now Marko had a dilemma: he could wait near the bike in hope that his twin would return or go looking for him.
The blond weighed the pros and cons.
If he did search for the other teen and came up empty handed there was the very real possibility of the bike being gone next time; and not because Michael rode it home.
If they had him already, getting rid of the bike would be the next logical step.
Usually there wasn't much to get rid of because they ate runaways and the homeless but feeding on the locals meant cleaning up. Which was actually usually Marko's job, sometimes Paul, rarely Dwayne and only David if they needed all of them to pitch in.
Without him then Paul would probably be the primary choice but he was also more than a bit irresponsible but as it was only one bike it probably wouldn't fall to Dwayne to handle.
If he stayed here then either Michael or one of the vampires would show up. He'd likely be facing off against Paul and even if he was as high as their last encounter he would still be dangerous.
He wouldn't kill him in public though.
What other choice was there? Head to the cave, no he's not that desperate. Not yet.
"Damn it Michael." He swore under his breath then Marko hopped off his own bike and settled in to wait.
The time seemed to pass slowly as he waited near the bike, all the while no familiar faces stood out as his eyes roamed the crowd.
To help pass the time he imagined which of the people in front of him his previous brothers would be most inclined to eat. They all had their preferences, Paul had a thing for snacking on redheads for reasons Marko didn't know or couldn't recall.
David was more about blood type but the now-human couldn't recall what type it was, he was pretty sure that even he used to be able to tell a person's blood type just by smelling them. Aside from blood type he tended to be attracted to darker hair. Hence his thing with Star and then obvious obsession with Michael. Would that attraction keep his human brother alive or be more likely to get him killed. It was hard to say.
Dwayne's preferred prey was usually women and ones who were more natural the less perfume or make up the better. Marko saw the sense in that especially after being in high school recently and sitting behind a girl who wore way too much of the stuff. It was a good thing his senses were dull, not that they felt like it especially in that class.
Marko had tried to recall what victims he enjoyed once upon a time but couldn't. It didn't surprise him, after so many years of pushing aside faces and blocking their voices to stop his then human child mind from being overwhelmed with guilt he could no longer picture them.
Those nightmares weren't fun, they became really vivid when he was around eight and hung around for three or four years. The first time it happened he'd woken up in a cold sweat shaking and Michael had noticed and gotten their mom before he could gather his wits to stop him.
Lucy had kept him home from school and in bed with homemade chicken noodle soup that day. It was memories like that one that made it hard to stay angry with the woman.
His mind was drifting and he was losing focus so he pulled his thoughts back and eyed the people trying to get back to his prey picking game.
Soon enough the novelty of his little game wore off, it was less fun to pick out prey when he was alone and couldn't eat them himself anyway.
No one showed after what must've been an hour or very near to it. He was getting restless but still the human stood his ground.
At least for another half hour before he decided no one was coming.
Looking up at the stars and away from the faces which had long since begun to blur together, the once-vampire had to admit to himself that his brother wasn't coming back. Not on his own.
Michael had found what he was looking for, meaning he was likely already dead or would be soon.
That thought was unpleasant and made him want to hurt someone. Would he know if Mike died? Twins were supposed to know that kind of thing. At least that's what people say but he's never had any type of unusual bond with the other boy.
What he did know was his previous family. The vampires who he had lived with for decades, he just needed to focus and remember more.
If they hadn't come for the bike then Mike was probably alive. The disposal would probably take place the next night in that case.
What he had to do was distance himself from Michael and think of him simply as any of their standard prey and go from there. That would make figuring out the next move easier. Marko knew that most prey died quickly. The boys kept some alive to play with but not often and not for an extended amount of time.
And nearly none would last the whole night, it wasn't wise to leave your food alive to potentially escape while you slept after all.
There had been exceptions, breaking both legs and dropping off their meal deep in the cave had happened on one or two occasions though Marko didn't remember what they'd done to get such special treatment.
A grudge surely. That would probably be involved in that case and most humans didn't receive that kind of attention or effort, so Micheal should in theory not be tortured more than normal. How much had they tormented their food? Had it been often or when the mood struck?
Why wasn't his memory more reliable and was he just noticing how much was a blur or just not there? No, he'd known to an extent but had only concentrated on what was most important for the future and the smaller details just weren't before now.
Would a victim having knowledge of what they were should receive a quick death? He thought so, unless they were using his brother as a lure.
Kill two humans with one stone as it were.
In that case…
There was really only one thing left to do if he wanted to try and save his brother.
He had to go home.
Marko had wanted to for so long, he'd dreamt about it and even been highly tempted to try when he was just a toddler in this life at his grandfather's house for the first time.
But he knew better.
Even if he had managed a thing at such a tender age the cave wouldn't be welcoming to him because the vampires that dwelled within hadn't invited him.
Marko stood straight and stretched tired from his leaning position against his bike. Then he proceeded to mount his bike. He took a deep calming breath before sliding the key out of his jacket, pausing short of starting it, his key resting against the cylinder.
Marko didn't actually want to die again.
The first time was bad enough but if Michael already blew his chance at joining his pack again then what was the point in living?
For as long as he'd been alive this time all he'd wanted was to become a vampire again.
He missed it, that was the truth.
Being a human was hard and complicated.
In contrast being a vampire felt amazing, there was nothing else like it.
But if all he wanted was to regain his immortality then there were other vampires who would be more than willing to turn just about anyone who asked.
He knew where to go, his memory of those other packs were still somehow clear enough to help him succeed.
But he had never truly considered it as an option because his main driving force wasn't actually vampirism. It was a big bonus for sure but… Marko only wanted to be a vampire again if it meant he could be with his real family once again.
With that thought Marko pushed the key in and turned on his bike.
Dwelling on all of this wasn't going to change the outcome. Tonight looked like the night he was going to die one way or another.
He revved his bike for possibly the last time and took off.
Marko decided on the scenic route to the cave, he figured there was no sense in rushing to his end. Be it his human life or the end of life period. He just wanted to enjoy the wind rushing through his hair in a long missed setting.
This was the first time he had been back where he was old enough to ride a bike after all.
Besides it was possible that Michael was already dead anyway so what did an extra ten or fifteen minutes matter. Still he was unable to completely turn off his brain during the ride. Marko wondered if he did die tonight would he be reborn again or was this his only second chance?
He had no answer and didn't want to test it but dying for real would be better than going through another childhood he supposed.
Marko had the fleeting thought about possibly stopping at a payphone to call his mom and talk with her or Sam but given the late hour decided against it. Knowing Lucy she probably dozed off into a fitful sleep while waiting for them to come home. No sense in waking her up just to worry her more and what would he even say?
His attachment to her and Sam, hell even Nanook was more trouble than it was worth.
The moon was visibly high in the sky and nearly full when he pulled into the cliffs that held the place he had called home for so many years. He stared for a beat before dismounting, the now-human didn't take his bike to where he knew the others kept theirs that would be presumptuous and not likely to endear him to the vampires.
Michael's eyes shot open.
He sprang up with a start only to have his head explode with pain as it collided with something, "Ow what the hell!?" Or rather someone by the sound of the voice, "Who wakes up like that?" The blond roared rubbing his forehead to ease the throbbing ache.
The dark haired human similarly rubbed his own but much more confused.
"That's what you get when you play with your food Paul."
That voice caused Mike to open his eyes and look toward the speaker, he was a dark-haired young man looking into a familiar sketchbook. Paul, the one Michael now recognized as the one he'd previously dubbed as hyena just flipped the other off.
"I wasn't-'', Michael didn't hear the rest of his words as he sensed eyes on him and turned his gaze to their mullet haired leader. He was lounging in a wheelchair like it was a throne like he thought himself some sort of royalty.
It all came back not just the dream of his childhood but the memory of their faces before he'd lost consciousness.
Michael scrambled up on his feet unsteadily and blurted out, "Y-your face…"
The biker raised an eyebrow and smirked when Paul butted in, "Well that's rude he was born with that face," He no longer seemed in any pain even as Michael's own head throbbed.
The mullet haired man gave a chuckle then he stood from the wheelchair, "I think this," his face morphed, "is what you were referring to." Michael backed up and bumped into the cough behind him. The one he'd previously been unconscious on and nearly fell backwards as he did so.
Paul nodded and muttered 'Well that makes more sense.'
As quickly as his demonic face appeared it vanished, "Well boys it would seem we have more company."
Michael followed his gaze as did the other two and sure enough someone had just entered. "Marko?" Michael seemed to be the only one surprised by his sudden appearance.
"Oh good you're alive." His twin said more calmly than his brother thought he should be if he really knew what they were. And he must have, did he have those dreams too?
"...You didn't think I would be?" Did that confirm what he thought, somehow Marko knew these guys weren't human. The blond didn't respond outside of a shrug, instead he looked around the cave. There was a far away expression on his brother one he might liken to him being home-sick but of course that was absurd.
That was when Michael wondered how he knew this place was a cave, the walls maybe? It didn't feature in his unconsciousness, like those in this room did. Including his brother, what was happening?
Paul gave a thoughtful look before asking, "You came here even though you thought he might be dead? Now why would you do that?"
Marko's eyes stopped roaming the cave to look at Paul, "Well I also thought he might not and that is the case."
Paul grinned, "I guess you're lucky I wasn't hungry."
"Please, you're always hungry. So that didn't factor into my decision at all." Marko said before he could stop himself. Paul titled his head and just looked at him as David finally joined in the conversation, "You're not going to pretend you have no knowledge of what we are?"
"Nah, if you somehow don't sense the lie then you could just read my mind." Which he'd rather avoid by being open enough to make David uninterested in doing so. Though he might have shared a bit too much, it was easy to do when talking with Paul.
"So then that dream Mikey was having…" Michael tensed which did not go unnoticed, "was that the future? How'd you time travel without a machine?" Paul wondered open-mindedly.
Marko gathered that meant his brother told them about his reliving his life so his slip up hardly mattered. Still, he must've been compelled since otherwise he would have found it too outlandish to speak of.
Marko's brain registered the rest of that sentence and couldn't help but ask, "Dream? What dream?"
His eyes glanced at his brother who glared back, "Really? You know what they are, you drew them and you're asking about my dreams? I didn't even remember them before now, but you must've had them too, right?" Michael looked beyond confused.
"You… you have dreams about them?" Marko was thrown, how was that even possible?
"Not dreams." The rest of the cave stayed silent waiting for his next words, "A nightmare and it's always the same one…" The teen ran an unsteady hand through his messy hair. He was pale; Marko didn't think it was just the lighting in the cave, "there's a bonfire and you and them… kill everyone.
"...That's impossible." Marko's face had recognition on it.
The dark-haired twin was now convinced that his brother had to have had that dream before. Now if only he knew why this was happening to them and where they went from here.
The once-vampire for his part had all but forgotten his previous brothers were there in favor of what his brother had told him.
Michael opened his mouth to respond but he was unable to speak before his brother dropped a new revelation on him, "You shouldn't be able to remember that."
"What do you mean remember? It was a dream not a memory." Michael would know if that event had really happened.
Marko shook his head, "No that was a memory but it hasn't happened yet…" And Marko knew it couldn't happen; not the same way anyhow but more importantly, "How are you dreaming of it?"
"This is all very fascinating but the sun is going to rise soon." David interjected, Marko nearly jumped at the interruption and Michael's disoriented gaze left his brother as if just recalling the others surrounding him.
"Good point, what are you going to do with us?" Marko asked his previous leader, resigned to whatever the vampire decided.
David's eyes looked at Dwayne for a moment before drifting Paul's way. Clearly they were communicating mentally and it was silly but Marko felt left out. This was no time to be jealous of their abilities or their obvious bond.
"It looks like we need to sleep on it," David answered after several beats, "for the time being it looks like you'll be our guests." That figured out he turned on his heel calling back as he did, "Paul will show you to your rooms."
Dwayne followed after his leader, as soon as the twins could no longer hear the footsteps the blond vampire clapped once gaining their full attention, "You're the first guests we've had in years," Paul exclaimed as if he were excited about an upcoming sleepover, "Follow me," He went in the opposite direction of David.
Marko did as requested but Michael didn't. Instead he was eyeing the doorway his brother had come from knowing that was the way out.
"Don't even think about it Mikey!" Paul said, suddenly seeming to appear back in front of the teenager. He stumbled once when his legs hit the couch only to have his arm caught in a vice grip by the vampire.
Holding him steady Paul grinned evilly, "You can follow me like a good little human or I can make you."
Despite his fear Michael wasn't just going to go along with it and Marko knew it. The now-human was moving from the moment Paul first spoke to Mike and made it to his side before he could cause any more trouble. "No problem, he'll be a good human, won't you?" He took his brother's free arm, the one not in the vampire's grasp and also the one he was about to lash out with. Michael gritted his teeth and glared at the both of them and everything was silent for a moment before he nodded, "Yeah I can do that."
Paul tightened his bruising grip making the human wince before letting go, "Good boy," he smiled toothily and patted the teenager's head much to Michael's annoyance. Then he spun around briefly, catching Marko's gaze.
Then he was leading the humans away while chatting about the cave/hotel's history.
Marko mostly listened to the sound of his voice, not the words so much as he knew about the cave's history well enough to give the 'tour' himself. He even had a vague idea where he and Michel would be spending their day at.
Paul stopped and gestured at the opening before them, "Here we are." It was dark but Marko knew enough to warn Michael, "Watch your step, it's a bit of a drop."
Instead of being grateful for the warning Michael looked at him as if he were a stranger before reluctantly following Marko who leapt down, "You call this a room, it's more like a hole in the floor."
They heard Paul laugh with a simple, "Good morning, sleep tight!" Then there was a scraping noise that startled the brunette, "What is that? What's he doing?" Michael's voice had some panic in it as he felt the shifting dirt from above hit his face.
"Blocking us in so we can't escape, obviously… I hope you don't have to use the restroom."
Marko couldn't see the glare Michael threw his way but he didn't need to be a vampire to sense it. "Marko, tell me what's going on!" He demanded and his twin sighed, it was going to be a long day.
"I guess we have the time but I should warn you you're not going to like what I tell you. And you probably won't believe me either." Marko felt his way to the opposite wall and carefully sat down.
"We are trapped in a hole inside of a cave by vampires. At this point I have a very open mind."