Author's note: I was tempted to be evil and give Michael a male hooker named 'Lola' for his meal, but then I turned off The Kinks, and decided to give him a break. Kind of.
"Mom!" Sam shouted, waving his arms in the air. Lucy could barely hear him. She was sitting on a bench between a sheepish-looking Alan and Edgar, who both hung their heads.
"Now, why couldn't you just tell me the truth in the first place? Did you think I wouldn't let you come visit?" She asked, rubbing their backs in a comforting fashion.
"MOM!" Sam shouted again, shoving his way towards them.
Neither of the Frogs really knew what to say. They'd already finished their big joint speech about hunting and protecting Santa Carla from evil. She hadn't bought it.
"You don't have to tell me anything, okay? Let's just get through the next few weeks and see what happens, okay?" She smiled, and then directed her attention towards her manic son hopping towards them at breakneck speed.
"Sam, what's wrong?" She stood up, frowning as she took his hands in hers. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" By the look of him, it was like he'd seen a ghost.
"Mom!"
"Yes, Sam?"
"Mom!"
"...Sam, I'm right here...You've got my attention, sweety. Breathe."
He shook his head, taking several deep breaths. Where did he begin? Did he tell her about Mike? About the bloodsuckers? The fact that Mike was a bloodsucker now?
His eyes darted towards Alan and Edgar, who both looked at him as if he was nuts. Which was definitely interesting, considering it tended to be the reverse. Shit. They'd fry Mike for sure if they knew he was alive...dead...alive dead. Undead!
"Mom..." Sam took another deep breath for good measure, biting his bottom lip. "I gotta tell you something, and I don't want you to freak out or anything, okay?" He lowered his head, leveling her with a very serious expression.
Edgar and Alan stepped closer, leaning in. They didn't look like they were going to give him any space to break the news...so...shit...what the hell was he going to say?!
"Mom. I couldn't...find...any lemonade. There's no lemonade on the boardwalk, mom!" He exclaimed, almost excited at his own sudden flash of brilliance. He'd come this close to spilling his guts.
"No lemonade?" Edgar asked, crossing his arms. Alan copied his gesture.
"Sounds serious," Alan sneered. Somehow, he suspected they didn't quite believe him...maybe he'd be able to avoid being in the room alone with them for the next couple of weeks. Somehow, Sam knew if they really drilled him, he wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut.
"Beer?" Marko offered the girl on his arm, and she happily took it with just a little bit of a titter. All of the girls present had long reached the point of no return from drunk-land, wherein hangovers linger so near they could practically feel the raging headaches if they stopped drinking for too long.
It hadn't taken much coaxing from David to convince them to join his boys for a wild party in the cave. Normally he didn't bring food home, but with their little pet in a pit below, it was like a whole new world opened up to them. A world where they didn't have to leave home twice in one night in order to dispose of their leftovers, because they'd be easily taken care of. The Star-creature licked the bones of her victims so clean, they could be used for anatomy skeletons.
And with Thorn nestled on the fountain, eyes trained on David, he knew it would only take a simple gesture to send the hellhound on the attack, if one of their guests managed to somehow escape. Though the likelihood of that happening was laughable.
With the fires in the oil barrels cheerfully crackling, everyone seemed to be in a good mood. Even Michael. Probably because the little Sam issue hadn't been properly addressed yet, but they had all night to deal with his little fuck-up. David offered a laced cigarette to his target, with a predatory smile. She happily took it and beamed at him through a haze of liquor and smoke. She was the only member of this little group of girls who'd never really been out for a night on the town. She was clean. So of course, David got first dibs on her.
"Gosh, this place is...it's..." She rolled her eyes and smiled, trying to figure out what to say without making herself look like she'd never been with a bad boy. "It's really...dirty." She paused, squinting slightly. "I mean...in a good way. Good dirty. Y'know?" Placing the cigarette to her mouth, she tried to take a deep breath, and ended up hacking out puffs of smoke. Blanching, she straightened up on the steamer trunk she perched on beside his wheelchair, her legs crossed. With her stringy brown hair and red-rimmed eyes, she looked every bit the part of a mole-person who'd decided to dress in fishnets and rub herself down with eight layers of inexpertly applied make-up. And it was taking entirely too much effort on his part not to end the game then and there, and just laugh at what a fool she was making of herself.
"Jeeze, Cherry, quit while you're ahead," one of the girls called out. Dwayne's target. She wore just as much make-up, and half as much clothing as Cherry. She was currently straddling the stoic vampire's lap, running her fingers through his hair like he was some kind of horse. She was actively more fascinated with his mane than him. And she'd had way too much beer and weed, even compared to the rest of her friends. But Dwayne didn't seem to mind. He didn't obsessively groom his hair for nothing. Relaxing on the couch, he kept his eyes closed and smirked, just enjoying the ride.
Paul and Marko were necking the same chick. She was completely blitzed out of her mind, no thanks to a little help from Paul. Horny fucks looked like they were going to go to town on her then and there. David chuckled, glancing back at his own quarry and giving her a subtle wink, as if to say 'yeah. I know. Dirty in a good way. So am I. Just come a little closer.'
And she took the bait. Though she didn't take another puff of the cigarette as she handed it back to him and nervously sat down in his lap.
"This is nice," she whispered, looking down at her feet and blushing. Idly, he ran a hand up her arm and reached into the girl's mind. She was a very good girl. She'd just made a very poor choice tonight. Apparently she was growing more confident, because soon the girl was scooting back until she rested comfortably against his chest. Just close enough for him to get a good angle on her shoulder.
On the side of the fountain opposite from Thorne, and very pointedly facing away from David, Michael sat trapped between two girls he hadn't expected (nor wanted) to see again that night.
"I'm sorry about Sarah, she's such a bitch...that's why we were fighting earlier..." Molly slurred, pressing close to him and rubbing at his crotch. Michael gave her a reassuring and yet at the same time irritated smile, taking her hand and moving it to his knee.
"We didn't know you were in a band. Rockers are like...so totally...cool..." Sarah edged even closer...which was saying a lot. He felt like he was melding and learning the true zen of being the main component in a sandwich. If they weren't completely nuts, he might have enjoyed it.
"So what do you play, anyway?" Molly tried to move her hand back to his crotch, only to be intercepted by Sarah. And then Sarah was intercepted by Michael. Now he felt like he was playing red hands. Of all the groupies they could've run into that night...Why these two crazy skanks?!
"So which of us do you like more?" Sarah cooed, giving her friend a vicious glare.
"Yeah, which of us do you think should leave...right now?" Molly growled, throwing the glare right back at her."
"Mmmmm, you're so strong!" Sarah gushed, reaching under Michael's shirt (much to his dismay) and giving his nipple a good pinch. Apparently she thought it was a turn-on. He flinched, and pulled her arm away, patting her hand gently. Fuck, he couldn't wait to end this. Was David drawing it out on purpose?!
Paul cackled nearby, apparently having a lot of fun running a hand under the shirt of his and Marko's 'date'...but Michael was fairly certain the bastard was laughing at him.
If it weren't for Star, Michael would have seriously considered skipping dinner tonight, as bipolar as these two chicks seemed to be. But...he wanted to make sure she got a good meal. It was the least he could do, after what he was putting her through. Somehow, he just couldn't quite wrap his mind around (or accept) the idea that she wasn't Star anymore.
Before he could continue to wax maudlin, a sudden shriek interrupted his private thoughts, and Michael jerked around to see David's girl still astride his lap, freaking the hell out when she realized her shirt was soaked with blood. The blonde vampire simply reclined in his wheelchair and kept his hands sealed firmly on her waist to keep her from pushing away. He could easily pull her back and end the screaming, but where was the fun in that?
"Please don't kill me! I don't want to die!" The girl wept, turning around to meet David's gaze. Her mascara was already dripping down her face in great black dollops mixed with hints of purple.
"Cherry!" Dwayne's meal jumped to attention, only to find sharp nails digging into her neck as she was pulled back to Dwayne's chest, and he revealed a toothy smile to her before dragging the girl into a kiss. Blood dripped around their lips as he bit into her tongue. And much like she'd been combing her fingers through his hair before, he used his free hand to do the same to her, in a grim parody of comfort as the girl drifted off to sleep, and ultimately death.
Marko and Paul hadn't really been waiting for David. They'd just been nursing at their own prey for the last half hour, so she was thoroughly spent by the time the real massacre began.
Michael was only too happy to restrain one of his own victims, pinning her against the fountain with one hand, while he pulled the other one in and tore into her neck. He really didn't have any other option. At least her blood didn't taste crazy...though there was a hint of something. Herpes? Ugh. He hated when they had herpes.
As if she could smell the blood dripping to the ground, seeping into the earth at their feet as the boys drank, Star's howl echoed in the cave and just barely reached Michael's ears. It looks like they'd brought food home just in time.