Storm clouds rolled slowly across the already dark sky, like a bruise blossoming on the horizon, as a gentle boom of thunder echoed across the ocean. Though the rain hadn't started to fall yet the air was thick and heavy with the threat of it. Angry waves thrashed the shore as David sped off the pier, along the boardwalk and onto the sand with the unconscious Star clasped carefully against his chest. He steered his bike expertly with one hand, knowing every dip and dune of the beach as he wound his way through little clusters of holidaymakers who were settling down to drink and dance the night away in front of camp fires that had already begun to blaze in places. Snatches of various songs whipped past his ears as he opened the throttle a little more, feeling Star's rasping, laboured breaths against his chest.
'-I know what you want, I know what you need, better than you do-'
'…cry little sister…'
'-I feel good tonight, and everything's gonna be right right right!-'
David had always enjoyed the twisting, winding climb up to the Bluff, the threat of careening off a ledge at any moment was appealing to one who had imagined his death in so many ways for so long. This time, however, the thought that he might slide down the cliff face and onto the rocks below made him nervous. Star was counting on him. She was dying in his arms. David knew that sound of a death rattle all too well and he could feel the warmth of her life ebbing away like the tide. Every inch of his well-muscled form was tense with fury because this whole plan had been his idea, it was his fault – though he hadn't given the order for it to go ahead, that was something he would have to explore later. If Star didn't make it, he would never forgive himself. David swore he wouldn't live long enough to even try.
'Give her to me,' Dwayne demanded, dumping his bike beside David's as they cut their engines at the same time.
'You should be with Marko and Paul,' David said, glad the worry he felt hadn't affected his usual tone.
'They've got it, let me take her.' He took Star from David's arms and swiftly descended the stairs into the lobby area.
'Lay her on the bed, I'll check her over but I'm already certain her ribs are broken and something's ruptured inside.' David moved like a hummingbird around the cave, lighting the stumps of candles with the Zippo from his pocket as Dwayne shifted the curtain and laid the un-protesting form of his sister upon the coverlet, where she barely twitched. Dwayne tucked his long dark hair behind his ear and hovered close to Star's mouth to check her breathing. Her breaths were shallow and rattling.
David took the jacket that covered Star and tossed it to the side, his gloved hands running lightly over her ribs. In the soft candlelight the cuts, bites and bruises that marked her otherwise perfect skin were horrific, but David's expression was stoic. Only his usually ice-cold eyes showed revulsion. What kind of creatures were they, to be able to do this? What kind of a monster was he to even think this innocent girl should have been used as bait in a plot he hadn't even thought through properly? Dwayne turned away, sickened at the sight.
'I should have ripped that fucker apart. Why did you have to destroy him first?' he complained, growling. David reached for one of Star's thin shawls that lay discarded on the bed and draped it over her bare breasts.
'He's gone, don't dwell on it. It's not going to help.'
'What can we do?' Dwayne asked, his dark eyes pained. Star moaned, the first sound she had made in what seemed like forever, and mumbled something that neither of them caught. They leant closer, David's hand resting lightly on the top of her head as he frowned.
'Star?' he called, gently. She moaned again, a sound that turned into an agonised cry and then a choked cough. Dwayne bounced on his heels, dragging his hands through his hair in helplessness as he noticed the bluish tinge of Star's skin creeping and deepening.
'What do we do, man?' he cried, 'What do we do? She can't breathe!'
'-please,' Star rasped through dry lips. 'I'm burning –inside. Hurts.' Her fingers fluttered at her side, brushing the leather of David's glove and attempting to squeeze it. '-help me, please,' she begged, her words like the softest sweep of a feather.
'Shh,' David soothed, just as gently, running his other hand over her forehead, smoothing back the clammy curls that had gathered around Star's hairline. 'I'm here, I'll always be here for you. You're safe now, nothing can hurt you. I'm going to fix it, ok? Trust me.' The pain that creased Star's face eased ever so slightly at his whispered words.
'911?' Dwayne demanded, already halfway to the stairs.
'It's too late for that, she'll be dead in minutes,' David said as he turned from Star, whose breaths were now few and far between, her skin a sickening shade of blue. 'My wine.'
Dwayne was back at David's side in a heartbeat, a bottle clad in ornate, beaten silver and studded with flaming red stones that glittered in the light was pressed quickly into David's hands.
He wrenched the cork from the neck with his teeth and lifted it to Star's lips.
'Drink. It will make you better,' David urged gently, tipping it up so the dark liquid trickled over her slightly parted lips and into her mouth. Star winced, mostly from the pain caused by the effort of swallowing, but also because of the bitter, metallic taste that flooded her mouth. She spluttered, spraying blood red droplets everywhere which made David grin a little.
'You'll get used to the taste,' he promised, tipping more into her mouth. 'You have to swallow it, Star.'
'It burns,' she whimpered, her hands weakly moving to grip at her chest. 'It burns so bad.'
'I know. That will stop soon, I promise. As soon as my blood reaches your veins it will quench your fire. Drink.' More poured into her mouth and Star made more of an effort to swallow this time, though some dribbled down her chin.
David glanced at Dwayne behind him, seeing how his pupils had dilated. He passed the bottle back to him.
'Drink some, Dwayne. Then go back and help the others. She'll be ok now. It'll take a little while.' Dwayne took a long, deep swig and wiped his mouth with a nod.
'You're sure?' He kissed his sister's stone cold forehead. 'I'll be waiting for you on the other side, Star,' he said, before flitting off up the stairs.
David slipped his jacket and boots off and carefully lay beside Star, sliding one arm under her head as she moaned softly, her eyes closed as her head rested on his chest against his sleeveless Ramones t-shirt. Deep inside her broken body she could feel David's blood coursing through her veins, smoothing the burn that was her pain like he had promised. It did feel like cool waves lapping through her scorched insides, quelling the agonising pulse of her flesh.
'I'll hold onto you, don't be afraid. Feel yourself in my arms and know that you are loved,' David whispered into her ear. She groaned at the dulling ache that was her broken bones knitting together again, lost in the swirling mist surging deep inside her body as her mortality slid through the shadows and crossed the border into eternal life. But through the fog of her passage, as she drifted between the thin veil that was what Dwayne had called 'the other side,' she thought – or maybe she dreamed – that David turned on the boombox and she caught snatches of song as she slipped in and out of consciousness.
'-better than you do.
When nothing remains I come to you…
Sometimes she shines and I know, beauty has her way, with her hooks and her grace…
The trembling lengths, the conquering touch, everything to you.
And into your flame I'll follow you where all wishes twist and bitter they kiss.
Everything to you. In doorways and dreams I run to you-'
Star twisted and turned, shaking herself out of the horrific dream she'd been having, lithe limbs strong and as good as they had ever been. Beneath the gauzy shawl David had laid across her, the blackening bruises had faded to nothing and the cuts and bite marks had healed completely without any hint of a scar. David had watched with a small smile over the last few hours as the hurts that had been done to Star reversed themselves and her broken bones reset before his eyes. His blood was a powerful thing, but the gift he had now given Star had a bittersweet taste for him. David knew it was what Star had wanted, she had practically begged him to turn her before the incident with Niko. He was glad to some degree that she was one of them, that she belonged to him now, and yet he couldn't help thinking it was a curse he had given her. David knew the brutality of their life, the life he had now laid upon her, Niko's torture was only the beginning of what their kind was capable of despite his colony trying to use their power for good. Murder was still murder, right?
'David?' Star murmured, reaching out for him. His arms tightened instinctively around her, unafraid now of causing her more damage, and he smiled into her soft hair.
'I'm here. I'll always be here.' Some soft-rock station was playing gently in the background and Star returned his smile as she nuzzled into his chest and looked up at him a little sleepily. Her small even teeth seemed to gleam white in the flickering of the candlelight.
'I'm like you now?' she asked, amazed at the fact the agonising pain she'd felt had gone.
'Kind of. You're only half. You'll stay this way until you make your first kill.' He noted the flicker of panic in Star's beautiful eyes and felt a sharp stab somewhere deep inside. David stroked his hand along her spine as she curled into him. 'It's not that bad,' he reassured her. 'Remember we only seek out the people who do harm. No innocents.' Star nodded.
'I know… So, now I'm yours.'
'Yes,' David agreed, tilting her chin up with one finger to lightly kiss her lips. 'Now you are mine.' Their lips met again, David's stubble a little rough on her skin but his lips were surprisingly warm and soft. After a moment Star pulled away from him slightly.
'Take your gloves off,' she said. David raised a blonde eyebrow.
'Why?' he queried.
'I want to feel your hands on my skin,' Star whispered. David hesitated. 'Why do you always wear them?' Slowly he peeled the leather from his skin and held one hand up for Star to see. Having now turned, Star's eyesight was so strong that she didn't need the candlelight to show her the scars that crisscrossed the front and back of his palm and raised against his pale skin. She gasped a little.
'What happened?' She raised her own hand with a small frown as she inspected the skin that was now perfect, bruise and break free. 'All my cuts are gone, how are your hands so scarred?'
David let his palm touch Star's before linking their fingers. His skin was warmer than she expected and the contact sent a thrill through her that made her smile.
'These wounds happened after I turned. A post-life of playing with the sun every time I toyed with the idea of ending it. This one I got when I tried to get to you at dawn, as soon as I knew Niko had you.' David twisted his hand to show her the newer scars that crossed his wrist, pale pink now in comparison to the older, silvered slivers on his skin. Star's fingertips from her other hand lightly traced the snaking scars.
'You tried to save me.' David nodded as a dark look passed over his face.
'I never gave the order for Paul and Marko to take you there. But I think I might know who did.' His fingers tightened around Star's.
'Don't think of that now,' she said, tilting her head up for another, gentle kiss that David returned. He let go of her hand to cup her face, his hand reaching up to stroke her hair.
'I've wanted to kiss you since I first saw you,' David said, gruffly.
'Me too,' Star admitted shyly. 'Now you can kiss me forever.' David laughed and pulled her closer, his hands roaming down along her neck, across her collarbone pausing just above her breast as his blue eyes found hers, as though waiting for permission. Star wondered how she had ever thought his eyes were cold and icy, because now they were a soft crystal blue. She guided his warm hand further down, smiling in delight at his tender touch.
