Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with The Lost Boys. All characters belong to their rightful owners. Thanks so much for your reviews and for still showing interest in my story. Hope you enjoy this chapter. :) Thanks so much for reading.

Chapter Ten

I couldn't bear the thought of returning back to the boys.

I knew that once I did, I would most likely end up in tears once I saw David after what happened tonight.

As I reach the lights across from the Boardwalk, waiting to cross the road, I caught sight of a bunch of boys on their bikes. For a moment I assumed it was Marko and David and the boys, but then as I edged closer, I realized it wasn't them; these boys looked in their early thirties, in their leather clad get-up, chains, and motorcycle boots. They were sitting perched on their bikes, drinking and carrying on. I realized they were staring right at me. I suddenly feel strangely exposed, unprotected, as though I was just another one of those peculiar girls who walked around after midnight searching for trouble.

I could tell they assumed that, too...

I think I heard one of them call out 'Show us your legs' among other things as I crossed the road. My face burnt with embarrassment. But I was certain, almost positive, that this was one of things David would have loved happening to me. I felt as though the whole world was watching me in that instance and I couldn't hide behind a car or a window, or one of the boys even. I immediately start to regret not accepting Max's offer to give me a lift.

I noticed a middle-aged couple in a car staring as they stopped at the light to let me walk. I imagined them to be saying things like 'Thank goodness that's not our daughter crossing the road in the middle of the night.'

"Hey, honey," I hear one of the bikers say in a sing-song voice, leaning against his bike. "You looking for a ride?"

No, please leave me alone in peace! I think, but don't say out loud.

I look past him and his gang of friends as I go to walk past them, but then he leans off his bike and steps directly in my path, giving me no choice but to look at him.

Meeting his gaze had to be my biggest mistake right then. I knew there was no turning back...

I could see he was very tall and well-built, and I knew I was no match for him physically. There was no chance in defending myself against him if he chose to hurt me.

A sudden impulse makes me spit at him. Something I had never done in my entire life, but at that moment I didn't care about how indecent and unladylike it probably was for a girl to do. It was the only thing I thought I could do to protect myself. He grabs me by the front of my blouse and I felt the bile rise up in my throat.

Before I knew what was happening he was pulled away from me and I wondered for a second where such strength had came from. But it wasn't just any helpful stranger that was now bashing this man's face against the ground.

It was David...

Being an eyewitness to such violence is a truly horrible experience. Almost second to witnessing David murdering that woman so viciously in the cave earlier. It's not like in a movie where it's portrayed as noble and gallant and romantic, even – although David's actions probably were intended in that nature – but it was savage and bloody. I saw blood on David's fists and on the man's face and I never thought that I would possibly see anything so ugly ever again.

"David, please stop it now." I started sobbing and while I knew it was pathetic of me, David still didn't seem to want to stop beating on the man.

"David, cool it, man!" I hear Marko's voice say shakily and then thankfully he intervened, grabbing David's arm and pulling him away.

I hear David pant and swear, and then I realized the other boys were there now, Paul and Dwayne, and the other gang of bikers, who were threatening each other over their friend's now bloody and beaten body, all at David's own doing.

The beaten biker slides up against the pavement, doubled up. I watch, my veins pulsating in fear as one of his friends gives up on threatening Paul and Dwayne, and stoops down low on his knees to help lift up his friend up. The biker spits out a tooth into his own lap.

"Come on, bud." Paul grabs Dwayne and pushes him toward David, who is now watching the gang of bikers with such hostility on his face that it shook me.

It was then that I saw Susie was standing right near him, clutching fistfuls of his black coat with her hands and clinging on for dear life, looking so tiny and scared and out of place, severely frightened about what she had just witnessed. She didn't need to see any of that...

Marko came and stood right beside me. "Come on, little sister," he says quietly, and when I turn to look at his face, I am startled to see him smiling despite what had just happened. He puts his arm around me, leading me in the direction toward where the other boys and David were already walking.

I had to try breathe slowly and carefully to get over the sudden shock of what had just happened. Susie and I seemed to be the only ones who had trouble attempting to absorb what had just happened just now; I assumed then that it was something that happened a lot when you were in the company of the boys and that it was something you would have to soon learn to expect.

Paul bursts out laughing. "Well, that was a rocking fun time, wasn't it, pal?" I hear him ask Dwayne, flinging his arm around his shoulder boisterously.

I couldn't believe it, and it was all because of my own foolishness; I should have accepted Max's ride, then perhaps the whole incident would have turned out differently... or wouldn't have had to happen at all. I replayed the situation in my head once, twice, looking for different outcomes as to how better it could have gone.

But I was mostly afraid of what I would see when I looked at David's face. Would he blame me for all of this? I couldn't tell if he was angry or not, but there was a certain way to how he walked, something different, something catching...

I caught sight of his face as he swivelled around to face Paul on the Boardwalk, leaning against the railings, his expression grim. Then he produced a cigarette from his pocket and I quickly avert my eyes, staring down at my shoes. I didn't quite enjoy the thought of admitting defeat. Perhaps I was so stubborn that the prospect was sickening, but it had to be done...

"I-I'm sorry," I manage in a wobbly voice, speaking mainly to David. It's not that I saw him now as my protector or anything; I just felt it was right thing to do, to apologize for all the commotion I'd caused. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have been so stupid as to think I would be safe on my own..."

There was a moment of silence, and then I thought I heard David snort derisively. "Yeah, well, don't flatter yourself, Ruby," he replies patronizingly, sounding calmer than I expected he would. He adds, in a much brighter tone, "We could have taken on the whole of Santa Carla, couldn't we boys?"

Paul starts with his high-pitched laughter again, waving a hand in the air dismissively. "We would've won, too," he tells me, and I peek up to see him grinning at me proudly.

I shake my head. Of course, I didn't expect Paul to take it so seriously. For the very short amount of time I'd spent with him, I realized he didn't seem to care much about what went on or the consequences of such things. He just did them, and relished these treacherously exciting, spontaneous moments. And oddly enough, I found I wouldn't want him any other way...

But then I was once again suddenly conflicted; I didn't seem to know what to think anymore. With David, everyone else was telling me one thing – Max especially, who admitted that it was in fact David who had suggested Susie and me to join their happy family all along – yet his actions and words when around me were something different entirely. I couldn't seem to wrap my head around it.

I was positive he absolutely loathed the very ground I walked on, yet tonight I had seen and experienced an entirely different side to him. Could it be possible that Max's word had been true and heartfelt? It didn't seem so. But with every unnerving moment that seemed to pass by, I was beginning to question everything regarding David's disgust in me.

He had helped me tonight. There was no denying that, and it wasn't as if I didn't feel thankful for it.

Who knows? If it wasn't for him I would have possibly been dead now.

But, because of him, I wasn't.

Obviously he didn't despise me too much then. That very thought held my life in it.