CH1: Something Is Broken
The night settled in over Santa Carla as the boardwalk lights slowly lit up in sections. The boys were already out and about causing little bits of trouble. Star and Laddie had already gone off on their own, walking along down at the end of the boardwalk. Naturally, they stay closer to the stage to hear the music. They had just added the boy to the band of lost souls, and Star had been the one to watch over him when Dwayne wasn't there. It had seemed like a normal night for the group in the sleepy little beach town. David led the troupe of boys around the rest of the attractions, causing a little ruff and tumble trouble here and there and getting kicked off the merry go round again.
They listened to David, always have. More than how they were supposed to towards their 'creator', Max. They saw him as a joke, and even questioned how they even came to be in such a situation with him as their so-called father. David never trusted him nor liked him and had more presence within the group to direct them than he ever did. Max didn't even treat them like his own, nor even like they were pretending to be: human.
They dealt with it, like they were supposed to do. Like they were told to, not by David, or Max, or even by their own volition. Max came to believe he was more capable of handling them and took too much pride in it. He wasn't their 'father', far from it if anything, a filler. A pretty stage front for the humans so they could continue to lurk within the shadows. Max had gotten too much of an ego, and it was beginning to get to a point where even David was refraining from killing him himself. It was bad enough, that he had to be put in his place.
Star led Laddie towards one of the carnival games as the sea of people parted for what appeared to be a car meet up at the end of the pier. Cars filed in one by one, some full of inebriated party goers, others old time car junkies. Even a group of local bikers showed up to relax and talk about the metal death machines. Star smiled and watched as Laddie had managed to win a prize from the game and came darting over to Star to present her with the stuffed bear.
"Star! Star! Look, I won!" the brown-haired boy jumped up and down as he held it up for her to take.
Star's face lit up and she hugged the bear tight to her. She leaned down and kissed his cheek as he hugged her around the waist. "It's perfect, Laddie. We'll set it on the bed with the other ones."
He beamed up at her and took her hand as they headed down the boardwalk towards the carnival entrance. They got about a third of the way down the strip when Star stopped in her stride, frozen and holding onto Laddie's hand tight. He looked up at her and frowned, seeing the look of shock across her face. He was still too young to understand, too pure. He could feel the change but couldn't link it up to what it was or why he could feel it. Laddie was an innocent just as much as Star, and even then, was too new to this life.
"Star? What's wrong?"
She could feel the shift in atmosphere around them, she knew he could too but didn't understand quite yet. She also knew that if they could feel it from this far away, that David and the boys could too. It was strong and heavy, but also protecting, almost drawing them in towards the source. She tugged Laddie to her side and wrapped an arm around him tightly as she finally saw what seemed to be the source. An all-black '76 mustang came around the corner and cruised down the walkway. The closer it got, the stronger the feeling got. The windows were so tinted that Star couldn't see inside as it slowly crept by the two. The engine revved as it passed them and proceeded down towards the end of the pier where the car meet was happening.
David sat at a table with the boys closer to the end of the pier near the car meet. Marko and Paul sat behind him on the top of the table joking around with Dwayne leaning on a light pole near them. David went to light a cigarette when the feeling hit. He stopped with his lighter almost at the tip of the cigarette and glanced over at Dwayne, who looked almost as startled as he was. The joking stopped and they all looked between David and the direction the car was coming down the strip. He nodded towards Dwayne to find Laddie and Star, and quickly. Dwayne headed off after the two as Marko and Paul jumped up ready to go. David led them walking down the boardwalk as the car got closer to them. He wanted to go to it, to smile at it, but kept walking. He couldn't draw attention or concern amongst the group. He knew who it was, and he knew that they knew. It was best to not do a reunion here in the middle of a sea of meat sacks.
Once it got right next to them, a small smirk did creep across his lips and he whispered,
"Hey gorgeous."
In his head he heard the faint voice back, a woman's voice. Soft, yet radiating dominance and fondness.
"Hey handsome."
The car revved its engine again and kept going on towards the end of the pier. David continued down the strip with Marko and Paul in tow, they reached the entrance gates and went straight for their bikes. Dwayne was already waiting with Star, Laddie on the back of his own bike. Star was talking quietly to him about how they would get him another bear when they came back tomorrow, as he had dropped it somewhere in the scramble to get back to meet up with the others. She looked over at David with a deep frown across her lips and a look of concern in her eyes. He held his hand up as a gesture for her to ease up, it wasn't a danger to them. He went over and got on his bike, helping her onto the back of it as Dwayne leaned over to him.
"Didn't think we'd get that sort of a hello when she came back."
David couldn't help but smile now, Star wrapping her arms around him as he kicked up the stand of the bike and took on the weight. Marko looked over at them as he sat down on it with a raised eyebrow, toothpick in the corner of his mouth.
"We didn't think she was comin' back at all for a hot minute."
Paul hit him on the shoulder and shook his head, but it was true. They had started to lose a bit of hope they had that they would be seeing that face again. David had even started to waiver in his faith he would hear her voice again. He looked down the length of the strip and smiled again before starting the bike. The rumble of the group echoed as they headed off into the distance to the cave. As the night went on and the activity died down, the same car rolled down the boardwalk slowly. It wasn't in any hurry, as if looking at things, or for something. It came to a stop, and the driver got out as the headlights shone on a bear left in the middle of the walkway. She had dark, black wavy hair to match the car. The sound of the leather and metal buckles of her jacket was the only other thing that could be heard besides the click of heels on the wood panels of the strip. Stopping at the bear, she bent down to pick it up, lips donned with dark red lipstick forming into a soft smile as she looped the tag into the chain of her belt. She casually walked back to the car and got in, driving off into the soft lights of the sunrise as it threatened to break the horizon.
Star sat on the bed beside Laddie, who was curled up asleep as David walked out to check on them. Dwayne told him how Star reacted towards the events at the boardwalk, hoping he would go and ease some of her worry. Star and Laddie were new, and even though Star knew how things worked a little more, it didn't change the fact that Laddie was turned while this old face was gone and wasn't aware they had gained more family to her had been turned before this person left, and didn't know exactly how she would behave towards her, and especially Laddie. He was a kid, a child that was brought into a world of constant upheaval and stagnance. He couldn't age, have friends outside the group, anything. He still questions why people say he's missing on milk cartons or when they realize who he is and they have to be dealt with.
He didn't even understand why they had to leave all of a sudden, and why he felt funny when that car came around. He was just a kid, trapped in a world of endless rotation. Star traced David's movements as he approached the side of the bed. He looked over towards Laddie slightly as he stood in the open darkness they called home for so long. He could feel Star tense up slightly as she looked down at her lap.
"She's not going to hurt the kid, ya know."
Star's frown hardened and she looked up at him with cold eyes. "He's just a boy, she doesn't believe children should be given the life we have."
"Yeah, well there's more to the reasoning I did it than you know, Star." David frowned and glanced over at the sleeping kid on the other side of her. "And for your information, I was given permission."
"How? She wasn't even here." Star spat out the words as if he was lying. The smirk on his face only boiled her anger even more.
"You forget too quickly,Star. The bond can only go so far, and is strongest with a first turned. " He lit a cigarette and looked her in the eyes. "She left, but she didn't go far. She's been watching at a distance, and knew why I wanted Laddie so bad. Same goes for you."
Star looked at him still with ice in her eyes. They didn't choose this life, but forced into an option they literally couldn't refuse. None of them had a choice as to how they became what they are, and now it was the only thing they knew, the only thing they could do.
"All we are is trophies to you, to her. We had lives-"
"Your life was hanging by a thread and that kid was left for dead in the streets by his junkie parents." David snapped back, his words becoming colder now. "He didn't go missing, he was dropped in the middle of the boardwalk and left to eat out of the garbage." He forced himself to relax a little and sat down in the old hospital wheelchair they managed to salvage years ago. Taking a drag from the cigarette, he fixed his gaze on the ornate bottle on the table across the cave floor.
"We all had lives, Star. Some of them were going to be cut short, others were taken from us out of our own accord. We only get to live once in this world, and we all got a second chance to be able to experience it. No, it's not how most of us would want it to be. No, it's not 'normal', but it's a life. One we get to mold as our own and paint it how we would want our old ones to be." He paused, leaning forward in the chair. His eyes soft, even with his demeanor, he meant every word that fell from his lips to her.
"It doesn't matter where we came from or our pasts, she took us in and gave us a way to see the world and enjoy the company of each other. A band of solo misfits that became family, friends, we have that in each other."
Star paused for a moment before looking back down at her lap. She hated to admit it, but he had a point. They all had stories, past lives that were ripped from them or so messed up for a person that it wasn't fair, but this wasn't fair either to her. She kept her mouth shut, rather keeping quiet than starting a fight while Laddie slept. She looked out the opening of the cave to see the impending sunrise, as did David. He sighed deeply as he stood up, stepping on the cigarette he threw on the ground.
"The bear will be back by the time we wake up." He mumbled and turned his back towards her and started walking towards the narrow opening to the rest of the cave where the boys slept. "Be a good girl for Zoya…."
Star flopped back onto the bed, frustrated and exhausted. They hadn't felt the draw of an aura for a while, and all of them were fighting it as much as possible while in the public eye. She looked over at Laddie to make sure he was still asleep before curling up in the bed. She closed her eyes and sighed, the conversation didn't help ease her worry or anger at all. She opened her eyes and looked over at the cave entrance again before turning her back to it and falling asleep.