Chapter eleven of Thou shall not kill

For disclaimer see chapter one.

Warnings: a bit of swearing, some fluff and well, some obvious violence

Crossing midnight

Two nights later, at the cave ...

Michael looked rather relaxed, and slightly more at ease with himself ever since she'd known him. It was enough for her to eye him a little closer, trying to understand why he was different now, all of a sudden. Well, she knew, it wasn't exactly that sudden, for they had been changing ever since they'd first realized that they could do nothing to change their vampire state; it was simply useless to fight it, that much. It really wasn't worth fighting so much anymore, because it only brought more pain if they did.

"You've changed." She noted calmly, after she didn't manage to come up with a good enough reason, but there was a tiny quiver in her voice, because she couldn't help but worry. The only thing worse was only, that there was a part of her that actually approved of this change ... and found it alluring, even right. The brunette half-vampire shivered at that idea, knowing that that was the vampire part of herself. It had gotten so much stronger these days, ever since she'd stopped fighting it, so much.

"I don't know." Michael said, his voice sounding that way of tired that came with fighting with one's self and not from actual exhaustion. He couldn't feel the latter much these days, too; his body having seemingly endless endurance, but there was nothing human about that.

"Star, I feel like I'm slipping." He hugged himself, staring outside. "It's getting harder and harder every night. It seems pointless." Well, it really was pointless fighting, wasn't it? It wasn't like there was a way back either, back to being human. Even if there was a cure to this, Michael wasn't sure he'd take it. Maybe David had been right about him all the time; because being a vampire was more than just what was seen on the surface.

No, he knew what David wanted them to do, joining him for real – and become full vampires, leaving the daylight behind for good. It could be easy, really easy to take that step of embracing this part of him, if not for his family. He still loved them and didn't want to leave them behind, but there also wasn't any denying that he had to let them go sooner or later if he truly wanted them to be kept safe from the creatures that lurked in the dark; creatures like him and Star.

He got up, pulling her in an all too familiar embrace. "We have to make a decision, soon." He acknowledged aloud what he had tried to avoid for far too long.

"I know." She nodded, her voice laced with similar emotion then pulled him closer. "But we have us." She kissed him with more passion than she had intended to.

"Yes, we have, Michael." She purred into his ears, which sounded like a promise to him.

"It's enough," he agreed, pulling her down with him to the bed with a near happy sigh of contentment. "Hmm, yes, definitely more than enough."

"For now." She agreed then sank her fangs into the tender skin a the root of his neck, right over his right shoulder.

Yes, it was more than enough, she decided when he returned the favour, beginning to devour her hungrily – until there was no thought left to think.

There was only sweet darkness, no things to worry about, other than share each other. Sharing blood and other … things, which seemed slightly more humane – but only vaguely. He had a way to drive her crazy, and so did she, of course.

xox

Several days later a certain blonde man, the very same one who had introduced himself as Thornton to Lucy Emerson, met Madame Armelle at her stand near the outer rim of the board-walk. The stand was more of a hut than anything else, necessary for her business, because most clients did like their privacy when dealing with these kind of things. Well, there was also the necessary atmosphere which helped pulling the wool over people eyes, among other things.

It was dark and there was the heavy scent of incense permeating the air inside, which gave the place a surreal feel to it. It looked very cliché like, looking very much like any other fairground witch's tent with nothing giving away the fact that Madame Armelle was something more than an ordinary fairground witch.

She was pretty much looking like one though, with her grey hair bound to a bun, the wrinkly face that looked much too old for the graceful way she moved, down to the colourful dress she wore. The desk she used to put her cards on looked just the precise amount of otherworldliness to attract paying customers enough to let her tell their fortunes, without really believing in it. There was even the expected mystic music playing softly in the background people expected to her, just like any other place of this kind had.

Thornton knew it was very much fake, though, made to hide what she really was, which was a real witch or more precise: a sorceress, a female druid of sorts. Her appearance was as much fake as his own, maybe less because she was still human in a way, which he wasn't. His figure was little more than glamour to help him interact with the beings in this reality.

Well, she was the real deal, which was just what he needed, cause an ordinary fairground witch would have been useless to seeking a solution to his problem.

The witch gave him a curious look from behind dark spectacled eyes, which seemed to held some sort of unspoken question for the man-like being in front of her; well, among the obvious curiosity about this early visitor.

"Ye didn't come for the cards, did ye? She finally asked in a low raspy voice as was expected of a person of her profession. It sounded very convincing, although, he could tell that it was more for show, to complete the image of an old witch for their paying customers.

"They're not enough to free me from this curse." He gestured towards his currently human shape, "They can't give me back to my right-full master, can they?"

"No, I'm afraid not," the witch agreed, "ye need something much stronger for that, my dear Thorn." She called him by his name, thus telling him that she indeed recognize what or who he exactly was. It was not his real name, of course, but it came pretty close to its meaning, using the English language.

"Can you? Can you do it?" He asked with much ado, and much fewer words than humans usually used, but clear enough for the ancient witch on the other side of the desk between them.

"May be." Armelle chuckled before regaining her previous posture. "But it's going to cost ye, boy."

"It doesn't matter what sacrifice you require." It truly didn't, because nothing could be worse than being trapped in this world, like this – and going slowly insane because of it. It didn't help much that the one who had caused this was dead now, because he still was bound to this place, unable to leave for any length of time. Well, he had more freedom now than before, but it wasn't as it should be. No, not at all.

"No, I think not." She agreed before shaking her head in a gesture of disbelief. "Maximilian was a fool to have taken ye right out of the Hunt." She chuckled quietly to herself before looking up to the human-shaped hellhound once more. "He's paying with his black soul for it now."

"He deserves it." Thorn said with dark satisfaction. "Serves him right to make crooked deals with the Master."

"He didn't expect to be taken down, so easily either."

"Nope, he didn't." He smirked with playfully glee. "Taken down by a couple of kids and an old geezer."

"The old geezer is more than he seems, though." Armelle noted with a similar amused smile, knowing exactly who the hellhound meant with his words.

"Of course, he is." The old man might be able to fool the humans around him, but not him. He wasn't human at all , after all, and his nose was several times better than any bloodhound's nose so it was quite obvious to him.

Maybe the old man could be of help, somehow, again.

Maybe.

xox

Two nights later a couple was killed in a very tragic accident. Well, it was reported as an accident but next to no one believed it since they were practically torn apart by some beast like creature. What was not mentioned in the news that the couple had an about ten-year old boy, who survived the attack, because they didn't know about him being there in the first place.

He survived the attack only because his quick wits he'd developed during his days he spend away from his parents. So, instead of panicking when the attack came he just got out as quickly he could and had hidden beneath his parent's car, where the beast couldn't reach.

It still probably wouldn't have been enough, but the beast hadn't exactly acted very smart either, because when it was done eating his poor parents it just loped away in a twisted parody of sated contentment with no single look behind.

Yeah, just his luck, to lose his parents in such a gruesome way after just being reunited with them. He knew it was his fault previously, for having run away in the first place, but he just hadn't been able to take how things had been at home anymore. His mom always away in dreamland and his father being caught up in just another weird project, eh, experiment of this.

It wasn't a bad life per se, and he probably shouldn't have run away in the first place, but ...

Guess he really freaked when his dad asked him to become his latest subject, yeah, just freaked.

Strange, now, he'd been overjoyed to hear him ask that one again. Now, that it was too late, that they were gone, and there wasn't even a chance in hell that they'd came back.

Nope, this wasn't a fairytale, not anymore. It was just too fucked up, to be that kind of thing.

Maybe he should have stayed, waiting for the police to arrive, but he'd panicked, fearing that they would take him to an orphanage or something worse, like letting his aunt take care of him.

So he did the only thing he could come up with: he ran again.

He should feel sad at that, but he all he could feel was numbness, busy with running so he didn't have to think about what just happened, that wouldn't have think about the torn apart insides of his once so pretty mama and the equal poor remnants of his know-it-all inventor father.

He just had to get away, away from all of that.

Everything disappeared in the simple action of running, on and on, having no real destination other than a vague feeling. He didn't know exactly where they'd been after all, when it happened. He didn't know why he stopped, other than the feeling of sudden deja-vu.

The boy looked around, scratching his dirty blonde hair while looking for something, anything that gave away where he was – nothing. While the place looked familiar, way too familiar, his confused mind couldn't remember on why it did feel this way. Those trees, that pathway; somehow he knew that it lead straight to the ocean, to a place so very familiar.

Yeah, it was very familiar indeed, he thought tiredly.

He sighed, then followed the exact same pathway he'd been walking for some time, even he while he wasn't sure why he did. It certainly looked no different than the other paths he had come bout this night. When he finally stopped it was only to eye a place he hoped never to see again. He swallowed, eying it closer, not sure what to feel about it.

Though, it felt right, right to be here again.

He hadn't meant for things to end like this when he'd bugged his parents so he could visit Star and Michael. He couldn't help but feel guilty, almost wishing it had been him that beast caught and not mama and father. Thinking that, it was even worse, cause he knew that father would be rather upset with him about that.

Not that thinking about that mattered anyway, not now. No, it was far too late for that, so he did the only thing he could do and went down and entered the cave.

He sighed in relief, because he was finally home again, strangely believing that 'they' would make things right again, no matter how unlikely that was.

Home of the only family he had known for a long time.

"Star?" He asked, suddenly not sure what to expect – or if they weren't even here. His gut feeling said they were here, but that wasn't exactly much to go by.

"Michael?" He tried again, this time a little louder, causing a bit of an echo to amplify his question.

Nothing but emptiness answered, though. So, he went deeper into the cave, back to where he knew were the beds had been he and Star had slept through the day. Maybe they were here, still fast asleep? Or were they down under? He frowned at the thought, not sure how to react if they had taken the final step to becoming full vampire.

Would they still recognize him as their friend, their family member?

It was dark here in the lower rearward part of the cave. A dark, his eyes didn't adjust as easily to as they used to when he had lived here, when he'd been part of their pack.

He walked carefully, but soon he came about something … soft. A bed? His hands touched a soft blanket and then came about something harder yet still soft, like a body or bodies.

"Star?" He asked again.

"Laddie?" Star sat up, feeling still groggy from sleep. She wasn't sure for a moment if she wasn't dreaming. She blinked, once, twice but the sight didn't change so the boy had to be really here.

"What happened?" She shared a look with Michael, who was just as worried as she was. Laddie should be safe and sound, back with his real family – and not back in the cave.

"Mama and father are dead." He said softly. "Can I stay here with you?"

"Yes, of course." Michael nodded, then frowned, thinking that the cave wasn't the best place for a boy in Laddie's age. "Maybe you better stay with my folks," he said a moment later.

"No, I want to stay here with you." He argued, hugging them both in a way too desperate looking move.

"You know what we are." Star offered, unsure how to make her point clear that it wasn't a good idea for him to stay here like this. Sure, she loved him, but she also felt compelled to protect him from history repeating.

"Something not right. You're hurt." Michael said, smelling the blood on the boy then frowned at that, because it didn't smell right. Laddie … didn't smell right either. It was a somewhat familiar scent, although, he couldn't figure out why it was that way.

"Yes," Laddie said, "that's why I want to stay here."

xox

The other day at the comic shop, after school...

Allan and Edgar couldn't help but get suspicious after reading what had happened last night, not with an incident of this magnitude. People dying by a vicious animal attack was usually a sign of vampire activity in Santa Carla – and that's what they had thought at first when reading the article.

At first they thought that this was done vampires, since it looked so very similar – but it wasn't, not alike at all. For one, they were really mauled and not just ripped up to be sucked dry, no, instead huge chucks of flesh were missing according to the Frog brothers.

There was a lot blood reported at the scene, too, something that was very odd if this was done by vampires; very odd indeed. Vampires drank blood, only blood and nothing else – ever.

"He ate them?" Sam muttered, more to himself than to the Frogs. He felt nauseated after what they just had described to him, about what had happened, down to every detail they had gotten from some inside contacts they had in the local press.

"Yup, looks exactly like that." Edgar nodded then shook his head. "But it won't happen again - until next full moon, I hope." His voice shaking a little, showing that he wasn't too sure in this.

"Bah, and there I thought vampires were icky but this is nauseating."

"Yes, it is." Alan agreed. "Never said that werewolves were nice beasties to deal with." He added then frowned at the blonde boy, remembering something else they had talked with their father earlier that day.

"Sam," he began then swallowed deeply before continuing. "How's your brother?"

"My ... brother?" Sam heard himself asking as if caught by surprise, which he was of course. "He's fine, why?" He added with his voice rising just a pitch too high feeling suddenly very nervous. He knew that sooner or later he had to tell the truth, but right now he couldn't.

"Just asking." Edgar said dryly but it was obvious that he had noticed that Sam wasn't telling everything. "We're just worried about you, you know. We don't want you getting hurt in something we could prevent."

"I won't." The blonde haired boy objected gesturing wildly with his hands. "Believe me, I won't be hurt cause everything is okay." He sounded not very convincing, even to his own ears, but he'd do anything to protect his brothers, even from these two, he considered his friends. He had only one brother after all – and while he knew that not everything was all right, it was as good as it get considering the circumstances they had to deal with.

"If you say so." Alan replied darkly as he and his brother watched him leave in a haste, just like he suddenly felt very uncomfortable here.

"He's hiding something, Edgar." He said to his brother almost too low to be heard.

"I know," Edgar agreed, nodding. "But it's not our business any more." He shrugged then went about through a copy of a comic labelled 'The Werewolf's Guide to Life: A Manual for the Newly Bitten' like it was the most interesting thing to read right now, which it wasn't but it held some useful information about werewolves after all.

"Right, we have more important things to deal with." Alan noted and went to retrieve a strangely looking plant from one of the drawers.

"Yeah, got us some wolves to hunt." His brother agreed, before handing Sam the comic book he just had read. "Here, you look like you could use this."

"You two really think that all this is real, too?" Sam couldn't help ask, although there was little real objection in his voice as he already figured that the boys were dead series, but he had to voice it anyway; if only to make a point – or maybe rattle their feathers a little.

"Yeah, we do." The Frog brothers said in return, eying him like he'd just gone nuts just by asking such a stupid question. "Wolves are a damn serious matter."

"Worse than vampires, huh?"

"Yeah, well, kinda." Alan shrugged then grinned. "They're way messier than vampires. That's dead sure!"

"Not to forget that they're way harder to kill than those damn bloodsuckers are." Edgar added with just the faintest hint of annoyance. "They're harder to detect, too." He said, fishing something small and shiny out of his trouser pocket.

"This helps, though." He grinned, kinda like idiot or a kid at Christmas.

"A whistle?" Sam eyed him like he'd grown something of a second head, like he was just as loopy as he appeared.

"Yeah, a dog whistle." Edgar nodded. "They can't stand the noise."

"Yeah, it works even better than silver does," Alan said," although it can't kill them."

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, even if it's been a long long time since my last update.

Mia

Note: the book used for the comic title does really exist.