(I rewatched Lost Boys last night, inspiration came back, and I'm even more obsessed with Marko)
Paul
Paul couldn't remember a time last when he was actually scared, let alone frightened. And he was, right now. Because Cassandra was chasing him, her short legs propelling her much faster than he would have ever thought. So he was running, and he hadn't run in so long he almost forgot how to. But here he was sprinting out of the cave and up the stairs, fully preparing to jump on his bike and get the hell out of dodge.
"Paul you little shit!" Cass yelled from her current position, which was the middle of the staircase. She was coming for him still, but not as quickly. Yeah, he should have flew on out of here. Why hadn't he thought of that? He could hear David full blown laughing in his head and it took everything in him not to growl at his leader.
'I have never.. Hahah run!' David's words were jumbled, and Paul liked to think he was reasonably intelligent on the English language, but he couldn't seem to string the pieces of the needed puzzle to form what all David was trying to say. So he ignored him.
He threw a leg over his bike, catching the gas and making his bike rumble to life. It was then that David stopped laughing, 'you must stay with her. She is yours to teach' David huffed out, clearly still not quite over his laughing fit.
'But..she' She was going to kill him, no doubt. 'No buts, she goes with you' he finalized and Paul wondered how he had gotten such rotten luck. He had been a reasonably good person, he liked to think. He didn't steal too much from people, and he didn't smoke nearly as much weed as he used to, all of those combining into a solid kind of ok person. He didn't deserve to die yet, did he?
"Paul!" Cass huffed, stopping at the edge of the staircase, bending over and resting her hands on her knees, out of breath. She tried speaking, but all that came out were puffs of air and then her trying to gulp some oxygen back in. He wasn't the only one that hadn't ran in awhile it seemed.
"You ok there Cass?" he questioned
"No, I hate running!" she exclaimed, "and I hate you for making me run!" she added in, finally standing up straight.
"I did not make you run! You ran all by yourself!" he argued. She huffed again and narrowed her eyes. "I mean you ran because I ran" he offered.
Her lips lifted up in a smile, a real one, and his chest felt funny. "Good, you're learning." she clapped. "Now please tell me you were joking" her smile dropped and his chest ached more. He closed his eyes tightly, he hated this part when he was turned, he knew she would to. She had already died, but at least she still had the human left inside of her. The compassion and heart, because after she made her first kill, she would lose a lot of it. Her humanity would cease to exist, after awhile. He still struggled with his heart, it made him think irrationally at times and being the youngest made it harder for the other boys to understand his feelings. He didn't want that for her, he knew none of the boys did. But they couldn't go back now, not when she alive, so to speak.
"Yes Cassandra. I was being serious. You must feed" he spoke tightly, crushing his hands into fists.
"And if I don't?" she questioned
"Then you die" he spoke truthfully
"So either way I die?" she asked, a sad look covering her face.
"It's not like that!" he argued
"Isn't it?" she sighed, but got on the back of his bike nonetheless. How had it been a few nights ago that they were like this, just meeting, and her human. How had so much changed?
"The last time I was like this was when we first met" she mused aloud, reading his thoughts.
"I was just thinking about that too" he patted her hand and they both came to wrap around his torso.
"You were?" she asked surprised
"Yeah, and how much has changed" he confirmed
"That's the night that Marko told me to stay away from you, from all of you. Because you guys were dangerous." she sighed unhappily and his body stiffened.
"He wasn't wrong, but he's also an idiot." he said, finally shoving his bike forward to whip towards the boardwalk. Cass sat in silence behind him, taking everything in unlike last time. He could practically hear her gears turning in her head, a million thoughts rushing through her mind all at once. Most of her thoughts led back to Marko, which he knew they always would. They pulled up and he stopped, parking his bike next to the others and kicking out the kick stand. She hopped off and then he followed, staring at her and waiting for her next move.
"How do I…" she struggled for words "how do I do this?" she finally asked
"I'll show you. It's not that bad, once you get used to it" his tone had lightened and he was trying to be reassuring, another first.
"Ok" she nodded and took his hand, squeezing it tightly, clearly nervous.
"Cass it's going to be ok, I promise" he squeezed her hand back and gave her a small smile, one she had thankfully returned. She nodded and followed after him at a better pace than the previous one she had. He led her down to a secluded part of the beach, only one fire was raging, and only 2 people were sitting around it. Perfect. He stopped and wrapped an arm tightly around Cass' shoulders, pointing at the couple.
"Oh my God" she gulped
Cass
Could she do this? Could she really just go up and...bite one of these people? Did she have to kill them? Couldn't she just bite them a little? She voiced all of these questions out loud in a hurried tone, barely taking a breath in between her rushed questions.
Paul stared at her for a second, unsure of how to answer before "yes you have to kill them Cass. You won't be able to stop, and I won't stop. It's better and easier this way, trust me ok?" he ran a hand through her hair, effectively making her relax against his gentle touches. She felt like crying, and she felt selfish. She had to end another life just so she could keep hers, how was that fair? She was meant to die when she was captured, it wasn't fair that she had a second chance.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Paul grabbed her shoulders roughly, causing her to look up at him. "Don't think like that! It will destroy you!" he seethed, tightening his hold on her to emphasize his point.
"Ok! Ok! You're hurting me!" she shouted, trying to pry his hands off of her. The couple they had previously been staring at turned to look in the general direction they were in, but from their current position they were practically invisible.
"Sorry. Don't think like that" he scolded, rubbing his hands over her shoulders to dull the ache he had caused.
"Ok" she breathed out harsly, "let's do this" she nodded and rubbed her hands together.
"That's the spirit" he beamed at her. "Watch me, and then join in when you feel like it." he gave her a reassuring smile before he abruptly disappeared. Cass let out a surprised shriek, turning in all directions to look for him, before finally realizing her was above her, not on the ground. She gulped when she spotted him, stalking towards his prey.
She wasn't going to have to fly right? Heights didn't exactly sit well with her, and Marko was lucky she was passed out when she did, or she probably would have thrown up on him. Thinking of Marko confused her, she wondered where he was. Then she furrowed her eyebrows when she realized she didn't really care where he was, not after everything that had happened, not after what he said. He left without giving her an explanation, and she was so past over his childish attitude it wasn't even funny.
She was torn out of her thoughts when she heard 2 screams ring out into the night, her eyes jumping up to see the couple. They had spotted Paul, just as he landed in front of them. They backed away and began to run away, only Paul was faster. He latched onto the guys arm, pulling it back until she heard a snap, and then both of the people screamed again. She vaguely heard the guy telling his girlfriend to run, because all she could see, feel, taste was the blood that was dripping down the guys neck from Paul's claws latching into it. The girl came running towards her, not seeing her at first until Cass stepped out from behind the seclusion of her tree.
"Oh my god! Help, my boyfriend he needs help!" she shouted, plowing into Cass. She stopped the girl by putting her hands on her shoulders.
"What's wrong?" she faked innocence
"My boyfriend! Some guy attacked him!" the girl cried. Cass wanted to feel bad, but all she could hear was the girls heartbeat, and how nice she smelled.
"Where?" she questioned, grabbing the girl by the hand
"There!" the girl pointed and Cass drug her along
"I'll help!" Cass offered suggestively
"How are you going to help? You're small" the girl argued, trying to get out of her grip, "we need to find real help" she yanked again
"Your boyfriend will be dead by then!" Cass yelled
"How do you know that?" the girl stopped pulling and looked at Cass, fear in her eyes.
"Because look!" Cass pointed to the fire, Paul had the man by the throat. He was missing an arm, and was fighting death. The girl screamed and Cass grabbed her by her throat abruptly then, causing the girl to cough harshly.
"Please stop screaming" she barked
The girl let out a small whimper "in fact, no noises at all!" Cass warned, dragging the girl over towards Paul who dropped the now deceased man on the ground.
"Now what?" She asked him
"Feed Cass" he demanded
Her eyes flashed a brilliant yellow then, and he flashed his at hers.
"What are you guys!?" The woman screeched, digging her nails into Cass' hand.
"Would it be cliche if I said your worst nightmare?" Paul questioned, raising a brow at Cass.
"Yes" she answered honestly, before throwing the girl to the ground. The girl screamed again, only a short one before Cass had sunk her teeth into her throat. The woman let out a gurgle before coughing, and then going still as Cass drank deeply from her. Bringing the girl closer to her and getting all of the blood out of her that she could.
"She's dead Cass, you drained her" Paul mentioned, pulling her back lightly from the corpse. Cass snapped out of her daze, staring at the woman with wide eyes.
"I killed her" it wasn't a question, but she still needed to be told that she did, or she wouldn't believe it. "I killed her" she repeated
"Yes you did. And it's ok" Paul reassured her
"How is that ok? She's dead" she trembled
"Yes, but you're alive" he reasoned
"But.." she stopped speaking, her throat closing up. Paul brought her in, rocking her gently back and forth on the sand as she sobbed. She heard clapping before David, Dwayne, and Marko came down off of a sand hill.
"Bravo Cassandra. An excellent show you put on" David laughed, stopping when he got a few feet away from her. Marko and Dwayne stopping just behind him. Marko stared at her with an unreadable expression and it made her angry. She wasn't sad, she was angry. She heard Paul mumble an 'uh oh' before she leaped up, pointing an accusing finger at Marko.
"You asshole!" she cried, being pulled back into Paul's arms suddenly.
Marko looked taken aback, his mouth opening and closing a multitude of times.
"You did this! You selfish bastard! You should have stayed away! Instead you kept coming around, you made me like you. You hurt me and then come back and confuse me, have sex with me, and then hurt me all over again!" she accused. She ignored the way Paul's body stiffened at the information, clearly angry.
"I didn't mean for any of this to happen Cassandra!" he yelled back, completely frustrated now.
"No you just planned to abandon me. To just send me packing back home before all of this happened. You would have let me go and not have thought twice about it!" she seethed, shaking in Paul's arms.
"That's not true. I think about you every day Cassandra, that wouldn't have changed when you left. In fact it would have been worse!" he defended, crossing his arms.
"But yet you still abandon me when I wake up! You didn't explain shit!" she seethed
"I couldn't! Your Paul's!" he screamed back, "I can't help you" he spoke in a quieter voice, his head dropping.
"Yes you can!" she sobbed, slumping against Paul's arms.
"How?" he questioned, still not looking at her.
"Be here for me. Be my friend" she begged, and he flinched.
"I can't be just your friend Cass" he whispered
She sighed, contemplating on what to say. "Let's go back to the cave. We'll all talk there" Dwayne suggested. Everyone nodded except for Marko and Cassandra. They all walked back towards the boardwalk and their bikes quietly, all lost in thought. Paul kept a tight hold on Cass, who was leaning against him heavily. She was drained; physically, emotionally, and mentally. Paul got on and she followed him quickly, wanting nothing more than to go to bed.
"Are you guys taking me home?" she asked
"No. You can't go home" David spoke
"What? Why not?" her head snapped up to look at him
"Because you're one of us now. Which means you stay with us" he shrugged and took off, the others racing after him.
"Plus the sun will kill you" Paul added in
"Great" Cass muttered back, burying her face into Paul's shoulder.
Marko
He looked over and saw Cass with her head buried in Paul's shoulder, the sight had him clenching his fists tightly. He hated this. He hated this so much. He wanted to be there for her, but he just didn't know how. He'd never been in this position before, he had never really cared about someone before. He was losing her, if he hadn't lost her already. He knew that, he just didn't know how to stop it. Cass lifted her head briefly, looking at her surroundings before her eyes found Marko. They stared at each other, before she gave him a sad smile, one he returned before she looked away again. They pulled up, parking their bikes as one. Paul helped Cass off of his bike and down the stairs, Marko felt another pang of jealousy and tried to stomp it down. It didn't work.
Once they were all settled in their respective spots for the night no one spoke for awhile.
"How old are you guys?" Cass finally wondered aloud
"I was 20 when I was turned" David started off
"So how old are you now?" Cass questioned before anyone else could answer.
"Including my 20 years of human life I'm 126." he said proudly. Cass' eyes widened, clearly not expecting him to be so old. "106 vampire years"
"I was 21" Dwayne spoke next, "and with my human life plus my vampire life, I'm 96. For vampire years, I'm 75" Dwayne grinned at her, and Cass gave him a small smile back.
"I was 19" Paul offered when Marko said nothing "I'm the youngest vampire, though Marko was the youngest human" Cass' eyes widened "I'm technically 50 though. I've only been a vampire for 31 years" he smiled but Cass could only focus on the fact that he said Marko was younger than 19.
"How old are you!?" she questioned, a horrified look crossing her face. He had dreaded the question for so long. He knew it was coming, but he was still not prepared.
"I uh.." he scratched his neck, "I was 17"
"What!" Cass sputtered, "I'm a pedophile!" she yelled
"Just because I was 17 doesn't mean I still am" he grumbled, "I'm older than Paul! I'm 68" he defended
"17" she repeated, lost in a different world
"17 no longer" he clarified
"You look 17" she argued
"You like the way I look. You call me hot all the time" he argued back
She didn't have much to say after that. "Well now that we got that out of the way!" David clapped, causing Cass to jump. "We have a lot to discuss."
"Like what?" she mumbled, resting her chin in her palm. He thought she looked cute like that.
"You're a vampire now" she cringed a small bit "and we have rules"
"So you guys just don't do whatever you want? Party all night, sleep all day?" she teased. He wished he could make her smile more, he loved her smile. She abruptly turned to look at him, a frown on her face.
"You do?" she questioned
"You heard that?" he asked baffled, looking at David. He merely shrugged.
"Her bond must be stronger than we anticipated." he stared at her, his eyes concentrating. She was looking around the cave, not noticing anything. "Did you hear that?" David questioned, cocking his head to the side.
"Hear what?" she questioned, meeting his eyes. He frowned and sat back "Dwayne you try" he gestured for him to try and Dwayne looked at her, sending her thoughts. They could all hear, but she remained staring at him confused.
"Ok, why are you guys staring at me like that?" she questioned, eyes darting to look at all of them.
"You can't hear David or Dwayne's thoughts" Paul confirmed
"No, should I?" her tone took one of fear.
"Not yet. Listen for mine" she nodded and looked at him. She stared before rolling her eyes and letting out a small laugh.
"I hate you" she grinned and he grinned back. Marko growled lowly, narrowing his eyes at their conversation. Paul growled back, David telling them both to shut up. Paul laughed then before sending a wink to Marko "chill dude"
"So you can hear both Marko and Paul, but not Dwayne or I. Interesting" David mused, rubbing his chin and leaning back.
"Is that bad?" she questioned again
"No. But it definitely means that both of their blood is in your veins. It will take longer to get on the same spectrum as us, but you will with time." Marko stiffened.
"She's mine too?" he mumbled, eyes hopeful.
"I believe so. But I think she is more Paul's." Davin nodded, Marko didn't care. As long as she was partly his, he was happy.
"What else did you need to tell me?" Cass chirped
"Right! Rules!" David started "Rule number 1, you must stay here during the day. The sun will burn you alive, and you don't have to sleep with us, you can sleep in the bed you woke up from. Rule number 2, for the time being you hunt with one of us, you do not hunt alone, understand?" he raised a brow, when she nodded, he continued. "Rule number 3, which isn't really a rule but a command, you stay here with us, forever. Or until we decide to leave. You can't go back home. Rule number 4, you can't speak to anyone about us or what we are. Aside from Erin, who already knows." Cass nodded again, not seeming the least bit upset at not being able to go home.
"Do I at least get to go back and get some of my things?" she questioned
David leaned back, thinking. "Yes you may do so. Some of us will accompany you though, for obvious reasons. We will fly there, driving there and back will take too long." Cass gulped at the information.
"You'll get used to it. I didn't like heights either" Dwayne spoke up.
Marko was happy everyone had welcomed her in. But he could tell Cass was struggling with all of this.
"Anything wrong with that?" David asked
"Do I get to have some of my freedom? At least soon when you can figure out if you can trust me or not?"
"Yes you will have your own freedom soon" he confirmed and Cass' mood immediately brightened. "Now, I'm going to bed. Good night Cassandra, boys" he nodded and stalked off towards their sleeping quarters.
"I'm gonna head to bed too" Dwayne followed David. That left Paul, Cassandra and Marko all sitting there awkwardly.
"Can I talk to you Cassandra?" Marko finally broke the silence. She seemed to mull it over, looking from Paul to Marko, back to Paul who nodded and got up, going to follow David and Dwayne.
"What do you want to talk about?" she asked, bringing her arms around her knees.
"Everything. I want to start over" he started
"Start over?" she echoed
"Yes start over. Act like we never met. Restart, I want to do this right. I want to make you fall for me, the way normal people do. I want to take you on dates, and be nervous to hold your hand. I want to walk next to you with my arm around you, I want to be the one that makes you smile the most. I want to kiss you when the time is right. And I want to take things slow. I want to prove to you that I can be the man that you deserve." he breathed heavily, incredibly scared of her answer. She thought about it for a long time, biting on her lip gently.
"Man? You're 17!" she mocked, his head lifted up to glare at her, only to realize she was close to laughing. She was teasing him.
"Baby you know I'm not 17 deep down" he lunged then, tackling her down onto the couch. She shrieked, trying to dodge his hands which were rapidly tickling her in spots. He never thought he would enjoy tickling someone, but he did. He loved seeing her laugh.
"Stop!" she breathed, laughing still.
"Not until you admit I'm a man!" he laughed back, finding another ticklish spot. She was uncontrollably giggling now, and the sight had his heart soaring a million miles away.
"Ok! Ok!" she laughed "You're a man!" she giggled again and he stopped tickling her. Leaning back to give her a smug look. "That's what I thought." he nodded, proud of himself.
"I'm still older than you" she stuck her tongue out at him and he grabbed her chin. Wanting nothing more than to put her tongue to good use, but he was taking things slow, he would do that for her. A blush coated her cheeks, obviously hearing his thoughts.
"You don't act like it" he stuck his tongue back out at her and she was laughing again. She stopped and gazed at him, before letting out a yawn.
"You should go to bed, you've had a long day." he stroked her face and released her. She frowned but nodded nonetheless. "You going to bed?" she asked
"Nah, not yet. I will soon" he smiled and got up, strolling to the edge of the room to pick up a pigeon.
"Ok, goodnight Marko" she murmured, getting up and making her way down the hall. He watched her, wanting to follow her but knowing he couldn't. He knew they were semi ok, but it would take a lot to get them where he wanted them to be.
Cass
She followed the tunnel down to where she knew her room was. Her thoughts lingering on Marko. He was different than he had ever been, honest and playful. She liked that side of him. She wished he showed it more.
She wished he had kissed her. She stopped then, confused as to where the thought came from. But she couldn't get the image of him kissing her out of her brain so she turned suddenly, making her way back towards the main entrance.
"Marko!" she breathed once she caught sight of him, still standing in the same spot, lost in thought.
"Huh?" he mumbled, turning to look at her. His pigeon flying to the top of the cave. "What's wrong?" his brow furrowed when he saw the look on her face. She took several long steps to reach him, standing almost chest to chest with him. She looked up, grabbing the back of his neck and stood on tiptoes to give him a light kiss. She lingered with his lips on hers for a couple of seconds before breaking away and stepping back.
"What was that for?" he asked, touching his lips.
"I don't know. You're cute, good night" she smiled and turned on her heel, heading back towards her room, her smile not leaving once.
'Sweet dreams Cassandra' she heard spoken inside of her head. She fell asleep to the feeling of his lips on hers, and the hope that someday they would be ok.
Little did she know though, that Paul was still awake as he hung upside down. The monster known as jealously raging in his entire body. He had heard and seen everything. And he was more mad than he liked to admit.