'Where's David?' Star mumbled sleepily as she languidly stretched and yawned. The last waking memory she had was of him laying her gently on the bed, surrounded by gauzy drapes and flickering candles in the little alcove just to the side of the main room. A small, almost satisfied smile touched her lips as she remembered the light sweep of his hand brushing a loose tendril of her hair from her forehead before his comforting solidity settled at her side and she drifted deeper into sleep.
'Out again,' Paul shrugged, the splayed fingers he'd used to softly shake her awake fell from Star's hip and he straightened up to take a drag of the cigarette he still clasped loosely in his other hand. He grinned, his eyes bright. 'Getting laid no doubt, knowing him. He's not one for laying around doing nothing, girl.'
Star frowned at that and stretched again, slipping off the bed. 'Why did you wake me up?' she complained, longing to curl up again and re-examine the memory of David lying beside her, though Paul's comment had raised her heckles somewhat.
'It's time.' He simply said, eyes dark as he took one last lingering toke of his cigarette before flicking it to the floor and crushing the butt beneath the heel of his boot. Star watched the thin blue-grey tendrils of smoke trickling from between Paul's lips as he exhaled, as the blood drained from her face in a cold rush and her stomach knotted instantly at his words. Suddenly it didn't seem like this was a good idea after all.
'Niko?' she asked in a small voice, playing for time rather than really seeking clarification. Paul jerked his head in affirmation, his teased blonde hair bobbing with the motion. Even speaking his name sent a shiver of terror through Star's ice-cold veins.
'It's now or never, sweet cheeks. Except, there is no never so I guess it's gotta be now, right? Let's get these wheels in motion, huh! Let's go to war. Alright!' Paul's enthusiasm was not catching. It was easy for him to be so buoyant because he wasn't the one being used as live bait.
'Shouldn't we wait for David?' she asked, tugging her long skirt straight, the silver sparkles that dotted the thin material reflecting the candlelight and bouncing off the cheap bangles at her wrists. Star felt a bewildering vulnerability without David, seeing as this had been his idea. How could he not be here to see it through?
'Nah, don't sweat it. He'll catch us up just as soon as he done banging her brains out I'm sure.' Paul tried to reassure her, finding himself knocked to the side as Star barged straight past him at that and headed up the twisted iron staircase. 'Right on, girl, let's do this!' he crowed, punching the air as he mistook Star's furious stampede for eagerness. He didn't see her wipe the tears from her eyes as she climbed up to the surface, but Marco, who was leaning on the far side of the room with his arms folded and a sullen look on his round face did.
'Dwayne's bike is gone too,' Star noted, already waiting astride Marco's motorcycle as Paul flipped himself easily over the rail and landed catlike on his feet beside her.
'Yeah, probably tag team!' he bit his lip provocatively and dry humped the nearest part of the rocky wall with a laugh. Marco smiled a little, almost sheepishly, as he noticed Star had claimed the back of his bike. If she had to do this without David and her brother, it would seem she thought Marco was the next best thing. His light blue eyes flickered down briefly as he jammed in the key and revved the engine.
'Oh I see how it is, sweet cheeks. Ya stiffed me! Catch ya on the flip-flop, man!' Paul yelled good-naturedly, snapping a smart salute at Marco and blowing a kiss to Star as he hopped on his own bike and roared dangerously around them to overtake. A trail of dust and crumbling rock kicked up behind him.
The boardwalk was in the midst of those magic hours Star loved, the garish lights extinguished and the few miles of wooden boards wrapped in the soft velvet of the west coast night. It was empty of people, populated by the hulking shapes of stalls, stores and rides that were silent and still and only illuminated by the clear security lights that glowed like little moons here and there along the pier. The rumbling of the boys' bikes echoed in the silence, drowning out the soft crash of the waves below. Star briefly wondered how Tozier was as they ripped past his tattoo parlour, and whether she would ever see him again.
'Ahh, my honoured guest!' Niko greeted them with arms wide open as he waited outside the café. The large storefront window was still boarded up, which gave the place an even more unwelcome feel than it already had. Marco brought his bike to a standstill beside Paul's, cutting the engine just a foot short of Niko's shiny shoes. 'Welcome back, Star. I've been counting down the minutes until this moment. Come, bella, the night is not as young as I would wish. But once we're inside it matters not.' His wide white smile was wicked, his brown eyes as unrelenting as onyx.
Star found her fists would not let go of the back of Marco's jacket that she had been clinging to. She was a frozen statue, though she didn't resist as Marco's gentle fingers unpeeled her hands.
'You need to do this, for David,' he whispered low, glancing at Star over his shoulder as he held one of her hands for a moment. 'For all of us.' She gave a stiff little nod and let Paul lift her bodily from the back of Marco's bike and set her down like an offering at Niko's feet. The Italian's long, thin fingers closed immediately around Star's wrist in a firm, inescapable grip as he sighed with satisfaction.
'Thank you boys, or should I call you – brothers?' He gave a little chuckle and a wave to them both and made to turn back into the café, pulling at Star but she planted her feet.
'Wait,' Star cried out, unable to keep the panic from her voice. 'They aren't coming in?'
'They aren't invited!' Niko laughed at her sudden burst of emotion, the sound as rich and as smooth as his European accent that wouldn't pull her in this time. She knew the wicked core his sleek exterior masked.
'I thought they were staying,' Star implored, her eyes lingering desperately first on Marco, who could only return a sad, baleful gaze, and then on Paul, who suddenly couldn't look at the girl at all as he scuffed his boot against the pier. 'Come, bella,' with a sudden wrench on her arm Niko pulled Star inside and swiftly locked the door behind them which was also still boarded up from David's previous onslaught.
'Now, let's get acquainted again shall we? Don't worry, I'll take it slow. The dawn will break in four hours, but that matters little in here now. Thanks to David, this place is now quite daylight proof and we need very little sleep. Our daytime naps are merely a convenience rather than a need for refreshment, as we can do little until the sun goes down. But,' he gestured to the boards nailed thickly across the door and window that would not let a sliver of light permeate the wood. 'Now we can play all day as well as night. Have no fear, mia bella, there are no other – guests – to bother you this time, though I can assure you there will be little sleep for you.' He licked his lips slowly, his bright eyes half closing as he ran a hand through Star's thick hair, taking a deep breath as though savouring her scent.
'Don't touch me, shit-sucker,' Star snapped, slapping Niko's hand away. But the man merely laughed again.
'Such fire. I like that. It'll keep you burning longer than most, I'm sure. Though by the time I'm through with you, you'll be begging me to rip your heart out.'
'Where's Star?' David enquired, leaning back in the rusted wheelchair he used as his throne. He stretched his legs out in front of himself and linked his hands behind his head, closing his eyes with a sated smile. It had been an age since he'd fed quite so well and it made him feel good knowing Santa Carla was free of yet another jerk who stalked the weak and innocent. Paul was lounging on the lip of the fountain, smoking a joint and Marco was hunched over a pillow on the floor, absently drawing a pattern in the dust. Dwayne had gone to freshen up after getting lucky with a couple of sun-seekers, drunk on two for one cocktails and too much cotton candy.
One eye snapped open as he received no reply, raking over Paul then Marco again, who had guilt written all over his face.
'Where is Star?' David repeated through clenched teeth, enunciating every word and suddenly alert as Marco looked as though he'd like to dissolve into dust himself.
'Chill out, bruh,' Paul muttered, a little sleepily. 'It's all good, all good. It won't come to no war.'
'What do you mean?' David asked, his voice dangerously low. 'Where is she, Marco?' He turned his stone-cold stare on the younger boy, who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else than there.
'She isn't here,' was all he could offer.
'I can see that for myself,' David retorted, striding across the room to rip back the thin gossamer curtain that shielded her bed space. 'Where the fuck is Star?' he demanded, his voice little more than an angry roar.
'We took her –' Marco began but couldn't finish. The words seemed to stick in his throat so that he couldn't continue, but then David's hands were around his neck and he couldn't have said another word, even if he wanted to.
'Where to, Marco?' David growled, a snarl on his face, though he already knew where they had taken Star. 'Where did you take the girl? Paul, you better tell me before I tear you both to shreds.'
'How would that help anyone, bruh? Least of all you.' Paul enquired rather calmly, blowing a steady stream of fragrant pot smoke into the air and squinting through it to see David and Marco a little more clearly. He sat up, planting his booted feet carefully on the ground before pushing himself up slowly and crossing the room to David and Marco.
'Just chill a minute, put Marco-boy down and let's talk about this shit, right?' Both his hands were reached palm out to David in supplication.
'Don't tell me to chill the fuck out, just tell me you haven't taken her to Niko's.' David growled again, putting Marco down so he could swat away Paul's hands.
'Well then I'm afraid I can't tell you a lot if you don't want me to tell you that… because that's sort of what happened.'
With a roar of rage David was up the old staircase in a split second before a wounded boom of hurt and pain rent the silence of the cave. He stumbled back down, clutching his left hand to his chest and bringing the scent of heavily charred flesh with him.
'What happened?' Marco asked, eyes wide with concern.
'Dawn,' Paul answered, glancing down at the razor-like burns that criss-crossed David's wrist, where his coat sleeve had ridden up to reveal pale flesh between the blackness of his cuff and his leather glove. 'We can't leave now until the sun goes down.'
'You better hope Star's still alive by then,' David raged, pounding the crumbling rock to his left with such force that it dissolved into a cloud of dust like an old, dry biscuit. 'Or I'll rip you both apart.'
