Author's note: I'm baaaaack! I am updating slightly late which I apologise for, happy New Year everyone! Here is chapter five… Not much to say about this chapter in advance, I just hope you enjoy! I only realised today when I was watching the DVD with subtitles that I've been spelling Alan with two L's instead of one, so I may go back and change it if I have time over the next week. Again, thanks to anyone who favourited and followed the story and I have 23 AMAZING reviews, the highest out of my stories so far! Which made me smile a lot, so thanks everyone :D. Anyway, here you go and please review!
NinaVuelta93: Thank you so much for your review! Yeah I think it's important in any fic I write to keep the movie dialogue as much the same as I can, I'm glad you think Nikki fitted in : ) thanks very much for liking the chapter and best wishes for the new year to you too!
Lostgirl4eva: Thank you! Yeah I always try and update as soon as I can because I love writing this story and everyone always leaves amazing reviews so I will always update as soon as I have the time : )
Cookielover: Thank you! I'm very glad you like it : )
Divvagurl: Thank you! I'm so pleased you like this chapter : )
Ciara34: Thank you! I will always try and update as soon as possible because everyone that reads this and gives feedback is wonderful : )
Gypsygirl: Thanks for the review! Yeah I tried to get some protectiveness in there for ya : ) I have two older brothers who can be very protective so I know Nikki's pain :D
"You look like shit." Sam said as he entered the kitchen where I slumped on the table over a bowl of cereal.
"Good morning to you too, darling brother." I said with false sweetness as he passed and got breakfast. He sat down beside me and looked at me, concerned.
"Did you sleep at all last night?" He asked.
"Nope, can you blame me?" I asked, the last twenty-four hours had been hectic to say the least.
"Not at all. You should get some sleep." He said, like I hadn't thought of that already.
"Couldn't if I tried." I answered.
"Well I'm going down to talk to the Frog brothers, you coming along?"
"Sure." I said just as Grandpa came into the kitchen in his dressing gown and had sunglasses on.
"Good night, Grandpa?" Sam asked with a slight smirk as Grandpa walked to the fridge.
"He got in at around four or five, must have been a good night." I said as he leaned up from inspecting the shelves to smile at us.
"It was a good night-" He began as he lifted a carton of juice, then a noise behind made everyone turn to see Michael coming in wearing sunglasses as well. Leave it up to Grandpa to break the tense silence he probably wasn't aware of.
"Hey, looks like I wasn't the only one got lucky last night." Wow that is just too much information, I can't decide if it's worse hearing about my brother's sex life or my Grandpa's.
"Did you take care of everything, Michael?" Sam asked, Michael stared back at him for a few seconds before walking off and Sam hung his head in defeat.
"He's probably as lost as us about what to do." I said in an attempt to comfort him.
"Well I'm not totally lost, the Frog brothers gave me a comic I think will help us out, we can go down and talk to them about this." I nodded in agreement as Mom came into the kitchen.
"Nikki are you feeling alright? You look tired." She said gently, I shrugged and attempted what I hoped was a convincing smile.
"Hey, Mom, are you going into town?" Sam asked and Mom thought for a minute.
"I was thinking of stopping by Max's, why?"
"Can me and Nikki get a lift into town with you? We're gonna head to the boardwalk." Sam said and Mom smiled.
"Of course, I'm actually ready now if you guys wanna hop in the car." She said and Sam and I cleared our bowls away and headed out with her.
"What's the wine for?" Sam asked Mom as she pulled up in front of Max's house, she had just bought it on the way down.
"My apology to Max for running out on him." She explained as she got out of the car, "Which, young man, you should be making." She added as she went over to the gate.
"She's not letting that one go for a while." Sam grumbled.
"She'll forget all about it when you pull another idiotic stunt that trumps it." I said.
"Guys, I better bring this up to the house or somebody's just gonna take it." Mom called back as she headed up to the front door.
"Alright, we'll be here!" Sam called back.
I leaned over to see what page Sam was reading in the comic that had become like a bible in the last day.
"The Hounds of Hell?" I asked and he turned to explain when we heard loud barking and saw Mom running for the gate with a big dog right catching up. Sam and I jumped out of the car and helped her up where she actually had to climb over the fence to get away from the dog, no sooner had we helped her up than she shouted at us to run for the car as the dog continued to go crazy and tried to get through the fence.
"Remind me to never complain about Nanook again." I said as Sam and I walked down the boardwalk after Mom dropped us off.
"Wasn't that crazy? The dog just went psycho!" Sam said as we arrived at the store, it was still closed and had all the shutters down.
"What now?" Sam asked as we stood in front of the store, I looked at my watch.
"They should be here any time now; this was around the time they opened yesterday." I said. Lo and behold they came towards us a minute later, not at all looking surprised to see us.
"So you survived the night?" Edgar asked as they reached us.
"Guess so, not like Michael would have done anything, he's still our brother." I said with determination, choosing to leave out the part where he was basically out for most of the night.
"We came down here because we need to figure out what to do, we have had a pretty hectic day." Sam said, he proceeded to tell Edgar and Alan everything that had happened, I more or less left him to it because I had a tough time believing it myself, never mind telling someone else.
"We've been aware of some very serious vampire activity in this town for a long time." Edgar said after Sam ad finished his epic tale of how shitty things have gotten since we last saw the Frogs.
"Santa Carla has become a haven for the undead."
"As a matter of fact, we're almost certain that ghouls and werewolves occupy high positions at City Hall." That one had me stopping in my tracks, I think they've went a step too far.
"Kill your brother, you'll feel better." Alan said and I snorted in disbelief at him as he and Edgar headed for the counter.
"Look guys, our brother's not a bloodsucker!" Sam defended and my patience was starting to wear thin. "It says here that if you kill the head vampire, all half-vampires go back to normal. Guys, if our brother's a vampire, believe me, he's only half." He said as we followed Edgar and Alan to the counter.
"Does your brother know who the head vampire is?" Edgar asked.
"No, I don't think so." Sam answered.
"Then you'll have to kill him. And if you don't, we will." Edgar said as he shared a glance with Alan, finally something in me snapped and I pushed off the counter and fixed Edgar with a glare, all positive thoughts I had of him disappeared.
"I'm going to wait outside, because if anyone else so much as brings up the notion of killing my brother, I'm going to slap them." I growled and headed out to the front of the shop, ignoring Sam calling me. I waited outside for about five minutes until Sam joined me.
"They won't kill Michael. I'm pretty sure Max is the head vampire, so we just have to check him out and make sure. It'll be alright Nik, we'll help Michael get back to normal." He said with a reassuring squeeze to my shoulder.
"Alright. Are we going home?" I asked and he nodded. I allowed myself to glance back to see Edgar and Alan watching us at the counter. I nodded before turning to follow Sam as we headed back to the house.
I'm glad you guys are back, I'm going to invite Max over for dinner tonight." Mom said brightly as Sam and I came through the door.
"Great." I said and hoped she didn't note the sarcasm at the prospect of having Max within ten feet of the house. She smiled and went back into the kitchen.
"I'll go call Edgar and Alan, they can come over tonight, it'll be perfect for exposing Max in front of Mom." Sam said and headed for the stairs but I caught his arm.
"I do it, where's the number?" I asked and he raised an eyebrow before handing me the comic.
"Uh, sure. It's on the back; you can use the phone in my room." He said and I nodded and took the comic before heading upstairs.
"Hello?" A familiar deep voice answered the phone after only a few rings and any plan I had as to what to say went flying out the window.
"Uh… Hi, it's Nikki." I said, great I've got my name, what next?
"Hey." He greeted back, I cleared my throat and just decided to get it over with.
"Max is coming over for dinner tonight, Sam wants you to come over and help us find out if he's the head vampire or not." I said, of all the things to call a guy over, this wasn't a preferable topic.
"Sure, where's the house?" He asked and I gave him the address and told them to be around at about seven so we could come up with some sort of plan.
"We'll be there. See you then."
"Uh, Edgar?" I asked, hopefully catching him before he put down the phone.
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry about snapping at you guys earlier, I know killing Michael was a viable option in your eyes but he's a good brother, I don't want anything to happen to him." I said in a small voice, sure he can have his asshole days, but he's a great brother.
"It's fine, you're just worried about him. We'll do everything we can to help him." Edgar said and I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, I'll see you later." I said and put down the phone before my brain could come up with any more crap to say.
I was helping Mom set the table later to give Sam and the Frogs more time to come up with a plan when an unfamiliar voice followed her into the dining room.
"Is it alright for the guest to see the food before dinner?" the tall guy I assumed was Max said with a smile as he followed my Mom into the dining room.
"Oh yea, you're thinking of the groom not seeing the bride before the wedding." Mom explained.
"Oh yeah, I always get those confused." He joked; Mom smiled and only seemed to remember my presence.
"Oh, this is my daughter and Sam's twin, Nikki. Nikki this is Max." Mom said and I gave a strained smile and Max grinned.
"Lovely to meet you, Nikki. I assume that's short for Nicole?" he asked.
"Yeah but everyone calls me Nikki. I'm going to go get Sam." I said and walked off to leave them two in peace. I met Sam in the hallway with the Frogs.
"Is he here?" Sam whispered and I nodded.
"Yeah, dining room. As far as being the head vampire goes he certainly has the creep factor down." I said and gave a slight shiver, something about the guys felt off.
"Come on, we'll catch him if he's the head bloodsucker." Sam said and led the way into the dining room.
"Mom, these are my dinner guests, Edgar and Alan. The Frog Brothers." Sam announced as we entered the dining room.
"Oh, I didn't know you were having guests." Mom said uneasily.
"Well Mom, you know, if we'll be in your way, we can go eat some peanut butter out of the jar in the kitchen." Sam offered and I grimaced at the thought.
"No, no. There's plenty for everybody. Max, this is my son, Sam, and Edgar and Alan… Frog?" Mom asked politely and the brothers both nodded with a grunt. Soon enough we were seated with me in between Alan and Sam.
"Lucy this looks terrific." Max said, jeez it's not like she cooked you a three course meal.
"Well I hope it tastes good." Mom said.
"Tastes wonderful." Max said through a mouthful of food and I winced before taking a bite from my own plate.
"Boy! Somebody around here has bad breath!" Mom exclaimed and I looked up to see all the guys staring at Max, Max looked around and caught Edgar staring who quickly averted his gaze.
"Nanook, would you stop breathing on me?" Lucy asked Nanook who sat beside her.
"Nanook, get upstairs, go on." Sam ordered and Nanook left the table with a whine. Sam picked up the garlic he had grated from the table.
"You want some parmesan cheese on that?" He asked with a smile and Max accepted the "parmesan" with a thank you and a smile.
"Sam grated the cheese himself. My son." Mom said proudly and Sam shrugged.
"A budding chef in the family." Max said and I snorted.
"Yeah, just as soon as he figures out how not to burn water." I said and shot Sam a glare as he kicked me under the table. Max took another mouthful only to choke slightly, Mom practically spit hers out in an effort to ask if he was okay.
"It's not cheese, it's garlic!" Max said in surprise.
"I bet you hate garlic, don't ya?" Sam accused, subtle as ever.
"No, I like garlic. It's just a little much. It's raw garlic." He said and Mom sniffed the bowl and pulled a face as the strong aroma hit her.
"Garlic? How did that happen?" She asked.
"Guys, he liked garlic." Sam whispered in a panic and Edgar signalled to move on to the next plan.
"Here. Quick, drink some water!" Sam said and proceeded to throw a glass of Holy water over Max's lap. Max jumped up in surprise and Mom did the same.
"Sam, what's the matter with you?" Mom exclaimed.
"Does it burn?" Sam demanded.
"Burn? Are you nuts? It's freezing!" Max said as he laughed slightly, I rolled my eyes in defeat.
"Sam, just give it up. He's not the head vampire." I whispered to him whilst Mom fretted over Max's ruined pants. I looked to Alan for some sort of back-up; he nodded to Edgar who turned the lights off. Alan snuffed out the candles on the table and the room went completely dark.
"Now what?!" Mom asked in frustration.
"Must be a circuit breaker, Mom." A few seconds of silence followed as I waited for yet another idiotic stunt that would surely fail. The lights came back on and Max let out a yell of surprise as he came face to face with a mirror.
"Sam! What's gotten into you?!" Mom demanded and Max nodded knowingly.
"I think I know what's going on here." He said and my stomach felt like it got considerably heavier. Busted.
"You do?" Edgar asked suspiciously and Sam looked both freaked out and scared.
"Yeah, I know what you're thinking, Sam. But you're wrong." He said.
"I am?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. I'm not trying to replace your father, or steal your mother away from you. I would just like to be your friend. You too, Nikki. That's all." He said and smiled at me, he still freaked me out whether or not he was a bloodsucker.
"Goodnight, Lucy." He concluded as he headed out of the kitchen.
"Thanks a lot!" Mom said as she passed us, well we're in trouble later.
"Major mistake." Sam admitted and I snorted.
"No shit." I said as I grabbed three plates off the table and headed into the kitchen. I scraped what was left of the dinner into the trash can under the sink and put the plates in the sink with a little more force than necessary, wincing slightly at the clatter they made. I braced both my hands on the sink and sighed, there goes our only lead that would potentially save my brother from an eternal life of having to drink people's blood.
"Where do you want these?" A voice behind me asked and I turned to see Edgar trying to balance the remaining three plates in his arms.
"Just there. I'll get them cleaned up and put away. Thanks." I said as he set them on the counter beside me and leaned against the fridge.
"You alright?" He asked and I found myself shaking my head as I jumped up on the counter and folded my hands in my lap.
"I don't think so. I was kind of hoping maybe Max was the head vampire so we could do something about it. Now that we know he's not, I'm not really sure what options we're left with. This whole thing is just crazy. I thought the biggest thing I'd be dealing with is starting a new school when summer was over. I never thought anything like this would happen." I said and gave a humourless chuckle, this whole thing was ludicrous. just as I was about to apologise for sounding so damn selfish talking about myself when it was Michael who had the worse end of the deal here, Edgar laid his hand over mine on my lap, my eyes flew up to meet his which looked sympathetic, all traces of toughness gone.
"We'll sort it out, Nikki, I promise." he said and I tried to find the words to thank him, to tell him that if it wasn't for him and his brother I'd have went insane by now. I couldn't find the right words, so I slid off the counter and threw my arms around him. He cleared his throat a little awkwardly before putting his arms around my back, his grip tight but nothing compared to the death grip I had around his neck.
"Thanks Edgar." I breathed and pulled back to see him nod the same as always, a hint of blush on his cheeks.
"No problem." He replied and the next few seconds were filled with silence as I stood with my arms on his forearms and his still around my waist. neither of us looked like we wanted to pull away, I saw his eyes stray down to my lips for only a second but that was all I needed for a spark to erupt somewhere in the pit of my stomach and I found myself leaning in slightly, him doing the same.
"Hey, Edgar, are you coming? We need to get back to the store." Alan called from the dining room and we jumped apart even though no one could see us. I let my arms drop to my sides and he scratched the back of his neck.
"See you, Nikki." He mumbled, not meeting my eyes as he walked out of the kitchen.
"Bye." I murmured to an empty room as I slumped back against the counter and ran a hand down my face in frustration. it seemed like everything was going the opposite way from the way I wanted.
A few minutes later Sam walked into the kitchen dragging his feet with Mom walking behind with her arms folded.
"Nikki can you please go upstairs? I wanna talk to Sam for a few minutes." Mom said and Sam slumped down into one of the chairs at the table as he prepared for a lecture.
"Sure." I said and patted Sam on the shoulder as I went to walk past Mom. "Take it easy on him, Mom? It's never easy seeing your mom with someone else, he didn't mean to upset you like he did. He just wants to protect you." Bam, a sure-fire way to gain her sympathy. Her expression softened and she nodded at me before heading to the table.
sometime later we had all went to bed and I lay in my room staring at the ceiling, like I did a lot when I tried to sleep lately. I heard someone shout in Sam's room but figured he had just woken up to another one of Grandpa's little presents. I decided to leave it alone until a few seconds later when I heard another shout and headed towards his room to find out what was going on. I opened the door and saw him standing talking to Michael who stood beside the window. They both looked at me and I gave an awkward wave towards Michael.
"Hey, Mike. Everything alright in here?" I asked and Sam nodded.
"Yeah. Listen Mike, we can help you. just tell us who the head vampire is. We thought it was Max but we were wrong. Just work with us and we can help you." He said, Michael was about to reply when we all heard a woman call his name from outside. Michael opened the window and Sam and I walked over to see Star standing underneath Sam's window.
"It's that girl from the boardwalk. Is she one of them?" Sam asked fearfully.
"I have to talk to you. Can I come up?" star asked.
"No!" Michael shouted and turned to Sam. "You shut your window and lock your door. Nikki, stay in here with Sam." He said as he headed for the door with me following behind.
"Michael why can't she come up?" I asked, already knowing the answer. a whoosh of air was heard from behind me and I turned to see Star standing beside Sam at the window.
"She's one of them!" Sam cried as he dived under his blanket. "And don't tell me it doesn't make her a bad person, Mike!" I went over and sat with Sam on the bed. I stared at the floor and tried to block out Star and Michael's conversation, it felt like something between the two of them. I occasionally had to shush Sam when he interjected. Things seemed to be going reasonably alright until Michael wanted to know why Star was here. When she tried to dodge the question he grabbed her by her shoulders.
"Why did you come here tonight, Star?" he demanded.
"I was hoping you'd help Laddie and me." She said quietly and Michael laughed cruelly in her face before pushing away from her. No sooner had he turned his back than she flew out the window.
"Star!" Michael called as he ran to the window.
"Don't kill anybody until we get back to you!" Sam shouted and proceeded to climb over his bed for the phone.
"What are you doing?" Michael asked.
"I've got connections." Sam replied as he dialled the Frog's number.
"Way to sound like a mafia leader." I grumbled as I walked over to the window where Michael was staring out of regretfully.
"Well that wasn't your nicest conversation with her." I said lightly and he shot me a half-hearted glare before sighing.
"I shouldn't have done that, this isn't her fault. I wanna help her." He said.
"We will." I said and out a hand on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around me and it felt like it did before all this shit happened, when Michael was nothing more than a cool older brother.
"Okay, the Frogs are coming over in the morning. We can work something out with them then." Sam said as he got off the phone.
"Alright, I'm going to bed. Wake me up tomorrow when they arrive." Michael said and slouched out of the room.
"I'm gonna head to bed as well and try and get some sleep." I said to Sam and walked back to my room and flopped onto the bed. God I hope we figure out something to help Michael and Star tomorrow.