David had woken early and gone for his morning cigarette out on the rocks and had seen the last deepest dark orange glow disappear under the watery horizon when Dwayne appeared out next to him, sparking his own cancer stick. David was on edge, Dwayne could see that, but he didn't quite know why.
'What's goin on?' He asked him and David gave him a sideways glance and continued smoking.
'We're gonna get this lot up and go out. Paul and Marko up?' David asked.
'Nah, Paul's not but Marko is I think. He always wakes up when you leave.' David nodded, his mind elsewhere. Marko was in tune with David but Paul had always been on his own wave length.
'Go get them and I'll wake the other two.' He said turning to walk back into the cave. He woke Star up and told her to wake Laddie and to get ready then he got himself ready. Paul and Marko appeared from their sleeping quarters with Paul looking a little worse for wear.
'A bit early don't you think?' He said to David, shaking his hair out.
'Paul, you look like shit. Get yourself together, we're goin out.' David told him, giving Marko a look and shaking his head. Paul was fun but fuck, he was a mess sometimes. They left soon after and headed down to the Boardwalk and, upon arriving at the entrance, David projected to the boys to stay on their bikes as they were just dropping Star and Laddie off. He stopped his bike and Star got off while he sat back and looked at her. 'I'll let you know when I am back.' He said to her and he leaned over towards her and he held her chin in his fingers demanding her undivided attention and pressing his influence upon her. 'Stay on the Boardwalk.' It was a thinly veiled warning and she nodded at his words while Dwayne told Laddie to get off his bike and that he'd be back for him soon, then David led the pack off up the main road.
'Where are we going?' Marko projected to his brother but he got no answer, David just sped up and gunned it through a red light, seeing if the boys would do the same and, of course, they did with Paul coming up the rear and forcing a car to slam on its breaks and spin sideways. David was swerving in front of cars and wildly in and out of traffic like a maniac. Paul was loving it, they all did when David was in one of his 'fuck it' moods, which was more often than not at the moment. They were over the other side of Santa Carla when David decided what he wanted to do and he skidded around back toward the Pier and pulled up outside of Max's video store.
'What the fuck are we doing here?' Paul choked.
'We're going to visit our esteemed leader.' David said getting off his bike. They walked one after the other into the store where, behind the counter, Max's white dog quietly growled at them and Max turned and gave them a filthy look. They walked around the store behind him, taunting him, when a lady walked in and up to the counter holding the hand of a little boy who was crying.
'Excuse me, this little boy is lost and I'm wondering if his mother might be in here?' Max turned his attention to the woman and David looked up at her from a video case that was sitting on the other side of the counter that he and Paul were looking at.
'I don't really know.' Max answered. Paul picked up the case and tapped it a couple of times on the counter, weakly trying to get Maria's attention then he walked around past the wall of TV sets with the rest of the boys.
'Terry! I was so worried.' The little boy's mother came rushing into the store and hugged him.
'Oh how great.' The woman said, placing her hand to her chest, smiling.
'Don't run off anymore.' The mother told the boy.
'There you are.' Max said handing the little boy a lollipop.
'Thank you.' Both the little boy and his mom said in unison as he took the lollipop and they walked out of the store.
'Bye Terry.' The lady said and looked back to Max as the boys approached Maria at the counter behind Max. David ignored her and continued walking but Marko, Paul and Dwayne all smiled at her and stood at the counter in front of her.
'Ha, we only come here to watch one thing.' Paul said teasing her then he walked away while Marko stopped and placed his elbows on the counter, face to face with her and smiled at her. She smiled back and shyly shook her head and he spun around and followed the rest of the boys towards the exit.
'Well done.' Max said handing the lady a lollipop too.
'No thanks.' She politely declined. 'Well, second thought.' She took the lollipop from him smiling but Max's smile faded as all the boys appeared behind her.
'I told you not to come in here anymore.' Max told David and David looked at him then slid his eyes to the lady and smiled. Max was flirting with her and trying to be dominant in this instance and it made David laugh. Dwayne stood behind him and looked from Max to the woman also, picking up on the subtle attraction while Paul placed his hand on Dwayne's shoulder and gave the OK sign to Max as they all began filing out of the store. Marko halted and gave the woman and Max one last look before he followed suit and walked out. They mounted their bikes and took off, heading back towards the main Boardwalk and pulled up outside the entrance.
'It appears Max has a crush.' David smirked. It had been decades since Max had shown any interest in a female but tonight was obvious. So much for the 'no females' rule. Bunch of shit. He couldn't take Star off David now, not that David was going to let that happen anyways.
'She's old.' Paul was incredulous.
'So is he.' Dwayne said.
'Suppose. But even he could do better couldn't he?' Paul said, not seeing any attraction worthy qualities in the lady he'd seen.
'I'm back, where are you?' David called for Star. 'We're at the entrance.'
'I'm coming.' She projected back and he sat, still straddled on his bike, with Dwayne, still seated on his, next to him and sparked a cigarette. He wondered how long it would be before Max would reprimand him for tonight and for the security guard, Max would know it was them that had killed him. Paul and Marko were sitting on the wall behind the bikes pointing out the hotties walking past, and the dogs, and teasing each other on whom the other would fuck. Star emerged from out of the crowd with Laddie and Laddie headed over towards Dwayne while Star walked towards David. David was content with where things were at with her, he would call and she would come. She knew her place with him and he had her right where he wanted her, completely submissive to him. It was only a matter of weeks before she would turn, she was weak and he knew it. He watched her every move as she came to him and he reached out and helped her get on his bike behind him. He gave Dwayne a superior smile as she sat and wrapped her arms around his waist.
'Look.' Dwayne projected to David and he saw Dwayne lift his head, motioning to someone in the walkway. Marko was also watching someone and David turned his head to see a young man standing there staring at them. David analysed the man and when he saw the kid, looking decidedly dejected, from Star to David and back again, it made him smile. His ego loved seeing their reaction when they realised she was his property and they had no chance. His boys pulled away and he took off after them and as he rode away, he felt Star turn to look back at the dude. He tried to think if he'd seen the kid before because he wasn't familiar but it was summer and the place was teaming with tourists and he never really paid any attention to the tourists other than to feed and steal off them.
David followed the boys to the spot where they stashed their bikes near the bush and he got off then they began the walk back to the cave.
'You better hurry up with her bro, cause damn, Maria looked hot tonight.' Paul laughed and Dwayne chuckled at the look on Marko's face.
'You touch her and I'll rip your balls off.' Paul laughed at him and Marko pushed Paul in the back making him fall into Star but she didn't react, she just kept walking with her head down. David looked at her and honed in on her thoughts which were still on the man who had followed her. He kept watching her, trying to ascertain if she knew him but he couldn't tell, she had been on the Boardwalk a lot without him recently and he'd told her that she wasn't to speak to anyone except Laddie but he wondered if she'd kept to that. He'd been too busy doing his own shit to notice.
'Who is he?' David asked her but she continued walking just behind him lost in her thoughts of the man. David stopped walking, as did the other boys, and got her attention.
'Star?' She looked up at him surprised. 'Who is he?' He repeated, his eyebrows raised.
'I don't know. Just some guy on the Boardwalk.' She tried to brush him off but he wasn't buying it. She kept walking and David's eyes followed her as she walked past him and he knew one thing for sure, he'd picked up on the interest she had in the boy and he didn't like it. They followed her until they arrived at the head of the Bluff and he strode over, picking her up and flying straight out above the sea. She clutched onto him for dear life, which is exactly what he wanted. He wanted to remind her that he could crush her at any point if he wanted to, her life was in his hands and he could do as he wanted with her, especially if she was going to fantasize about some dick from the Boardwalk. She looked up at him nervously and he flew her into the cave, placing her down in the centre of the room and keeping his gaze on her, gauging her reaction. 'Thank you.' She said quietly, moving away from him and he made a mental note to track the kid and find out who he was. The other boys arrived back in the cave and Paul, as usual, sat and rolled up. Star had gone to sit on her bed and Laddie went running over to her as soon as he entered while Marko went to see his pigeons and Dwayne sat next to David.
'What was that about?' He asked him.
'It seems Max isn't the only one with a crush.' David said turning to his brother. 'You seen that kid before?' Dwayne shook his head picking up on David's annoyance. David was feisty and on edge at the best of times but this was only going to make him worse and his gaze fell back on Star as he contemplated his next move. Paul came over with two perfectly rolled joints and handed one to David, looking at Dwayne and acknowledging that David's mood had flipped again, sometimes the guy was worse than a bi polar. David sat smoking the joint and he watched Star for a few minutes then he projected to Paul to go and find Greg, prompting looks from all the boys. First he was baiting Max to his face and now he was going to kill Greg? Knowing it was forbidden? David was getting worse.
'Ohhh, but I haven't finished my smoke.' Paul silently complained.
'Go!' David yelled out loud and Paul got up and bolted out of the cave, still clutching his smoke. About half an hour passed and the smoke had worked a bit of its magic on him. Max had tried contacting him a couple of times but David had ignored him, if Max thought he was pissed now, just wait until David had taken out Greg the little fuckwit.
'Found him?' David projected to Paul impatiently.
'Yeah, he's parked up at Cliff Drive Vista Point.' David got up and threw his roach in the fire barrel.
'Stay here. We'll be back soon.' David told the other boys and he shot out of the cave and within ten minutes, he was rapidly approaching the lookout and Paul appeared beside him.
'Ready?' David asked him and Paul looked over at him smiling.
'You know it.' He laughed. Paul was the perfect partner in crime for David on a mission like this and he flew down and scratched on the lid of the car, then with a twist of his wrists the roof of the car peeled off like a tin can and David launched on Greg, ripping him from his seat and leaving Shelly to Paul. As David flew off with Greg, he heard Shelly screaming and he smiled, knowing Paul was taking care of her. Greg was yelling and screaming and struggling as David flew him down to Moran Lake, dumping him harshly on the ground, smashing his shoulder and snapping some ribs in the process.
'What the fuck?!' Greg exclaimed breathlessly.
'Remember me?' David loomed over him, an ugly smirk smeared across his face.
'What the fuck are you?' Greg asked, his eyes wide.
'I'm your worst fucking nightmare.' David's smile was gone and he was deadly serious.
'Dude, please,' Greg pleaded with him, 'I'm sorry. I won't fuck with you anymore. I won't fuck with your girl again, I promise. Please, just don't hurt me.' David smiled at the pathetic being in front of him.
'Oh, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to do far worse than that.' David then grabbed him off the ground and ripped into him, making the guy scream in terror and pain. Once David was finished with him, he turned around covered in blood and found Paul sitting on a picnic table watching him.
'Gotten rid of her?' David wiped his face as he spoke.
'Yeah bro, she's a goneburger.' Paul said smiling.
'Let's get the fuck out of here.' David said, picking up the remains on the ground and dragging them into a large skip then slamming the lid closed. David's endorphins were rushing through his body after killing Greg and he had the similar release that he'd had after killing the security guard, only it was slightly tainted by the Star thing.
They arrived back to the cave soon after and David walked straight over to Star, taking her hand and, without saying anything, he pulled her to her feet and led her out the back with him. He could feel her apprehension but as soon as they'd entered the side cavern, David turned and kissed her, his mouth still coated with Greg's blood. Forcing his tongue in her mouth, he felt her stiffen and resist but he held her tighter and watched her eyes and saw them involuntarily change with the ingestion of the blood and the sight gave him another endorphin hit. He pressed his influence hard upon her and she relaxed into him and responded to him the way he wanted her to. There was no way he was going to leave her to think about this guy all day long, she was his girl and he was going to remind her of that, both mentally and physically.