Innocence & Naïveté
It was five months later and Star hadn't made her first kill,
although things were getting easier. At first, it was because she was
still healing from the fight with her family; moving was painful and she
could hardly be stealthy and discreet when every wrong move had her
screaming in agony. After her injury had healed, she wasn't as certain
as she had been five months ago about becoming a full vampire. Fear of
the unknown got the better of her.
Occasionally Star would make excuses not to go hunting with the boys as she was still uncomfortable about the idea of taking human lives. They saw right through her lies, but didn't push her. The tension between them had died down, and Star began to feel more comfortable joining in with the boys and their antics around town.
She also began to add her own touches around the cave. Draping scarves and shawls over the furniture that the boys had found in uninhabitable rooms that they thought she might like. Yards of lace were hung up as curtains around her bed, to give herself a little more privacy – much to the disappointment of Paul. She even fashioned a kind of mobile from various junk she had found lying on the beach, which they had hung up above the fallen chandelier. As an apology gift, Star made each of the boys a special earring. Each one was different, but she made sure that it fit their individual style.
“Should I watch him?” Star asked Dwayne, as they made Laddie comfortable in a bed next to hers.
Occasionally Star would make excuses not to go hunting with the boys as she was still uncomfortable about the idea of taking human lives. They saw right through her lies, but didn't push her. The tension between them had died down, and Star began to feel more comfortable joining in with the boys and their antics around town.
She also began to add her own touches around the cave. Draping scarves and shawls over the furniture that the boys had found in uninhabitable rooms that they thought she might like. Yards of lace were hung up as curtains around her bed, to give herself a little more privacy – much to the disappointment of Paul. She even fashioned a kind of mobile from various junk she had found lying on the beach, which they had hung up above the fallen chandelier. As an apology gift, Star made each of the boys a special earring. Each one was different, but she made sure that it fit their individual style.
The boys in return taught her how to communicate with
them telepathically and other things like survival tactics, should she
ever need them. They also taught her how to lure her prey, which they
promised her would come in handy when she was a full vampire. For the
moment, Star was the hook that reeled in the boys' own prey.
Although the tension between Star, Marko, Paul and
Dwayne had gone, the tension between herself and David seemed to be
getting worse. She had more or less promised him that she was ready to
be like them, and still hadn't made her first kill. David would allow
her to roam the Boardwalk on her own, but he'd always be disappointed
when she came back the same as when she had left.
After four nights of this test, it started to work.
Star felt a hunger she never had before. Unfortunately, she was in a
deserted part of the beach, trying to get her cravings to die down. She
needed to find something to eat and soon. A searing pain burned
throughout her body, dropping her to her knees. Blind panic took hold of
her as she realised she couldn't breathe. She gripped handfuls of sand
in an effort to control the pain.
“Hey? You okay?” Star looked up at the owner of the voice with spots swimming in front of her eyes.
“You want me to get someone...”
His voice became muffled in her ears until all she
could hear was his heart beating and the blood pumping through his body.
Before Star could stop herself, she had grabbed him by the neck and was
draining him. His hands clawed at her face and arms, but her desperate
hunger had made her grip strong and soon his body began to go limp.
oOo
Star dumped the body
the way the boys had shown her and went looking for them to tell them
the good news. She couldn't help but feel like a huge weight had been
lifted, and now she was free to do what she wanted. It was an
intoxicating feeling, that had her skipping and dancing across the sand.
She slowed her steps as she heard raised voices to her right, and
followed them until she came upon a little boy of about ten years old,
cornered by two men.
“I'm lost is all. I'm just trying to find my Mom.” The boy was saying, but the men just laughed.
“Well the problem is, Squirt, is that you're in our territory, and we don't like trespassers!”
“We're on the beach; it's a public place. It belongs
to everyone.” The boy fired back. She had to hand it to him; he was
handling his fear well. The guy on the right glared at him and grabbed
the boy by his collar.
“You wanna say that again to my face?”
Forgetting the fact that she was outnumbered, and she
had only just made her first kill; Star spoke up from the shadows and
got between the two men and the little boy.
“Hey! What the hell is wrong with you two? He's just a kid!”
She realised her mistake as they turned and faced
her; eyes glowing menacingly, she caught their scent and Star knew what
she had accidentally stumbled upon. However, it was too late to
disappear into the shadows now.
“Get out of here! 'T’ain’t nothing to do with you.” The left vampire snarled, baring his newly dropped fangs.
“Yeah, newbie. This is our kill.” The one holding the kid clarified.
"I'm perfectly capable of
finding my own and when I do it won't be an innocent kid because I'm too
weak to take on someone my size!” Star winced after the insult had left
her mouth.
I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut...
“Our own size, huh? You
mean like...you?” The right vampire dropped the boy and shifted into his
vampire façade, advancing on her with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
She started to back up, trying desperately to contact the boys.
“Run!” She shouted to the
boy, who didn't hesitate to pick himself up and get the hell out of
there. The advancing vampire cried out in frustration and yelled to his
partner.
“Get after him, Eddie! I'll take care of her.” She felt her own features change as a silent rage grew inside of her.
“You know, if you weren't
such an interfering bitch, I'd consider making you my girl. I'd have to
share you with my brother, though. We share everything.”
“That's such a tempting offer, but I'm taken.”
“Too bad.”
He leapt forward; Star
dodged to her right a fraction too late and felt his claws tear through
her arm. She threw a weak punch with her left hand and caught him at an
odd angle on his chin. He staggered back a few steps and spat on the
sand. In one swift movement, he slapped her hard across the face,
knocking her to the ground. The left side of her face felt like it was
on fire. She felt the grains of sand cling to the blood from her wounds,
making it itch like crazy but all she could do was lay there, dazed
until she felt his weight on top of her.
“Usually I have a problem with hitting women, but for you, I'll make an exception.”
Star closed her eyes as he
tightened his hand around her throat and pulled his arm back, ready to
punch her. However, nothing happened. She'd been preparing to scratch,
bite and kick when the blow came, but nothing happened. Star opened her
eyes to find her attacker lying unconscious on the sand next to her.
A lump of guilt lodged in
her throat as she braced herself for the annoyance in David's eyes.
However, when she looked up her eyes met the little boy, whom she'd
protected. He stood over her holding a length of driftwood almost as big
as he was. The end he had used to knock out the vampire, was
methodically dripping blood. Star smiled at him.
“I thought I told you to run.”
“I did, but I came back.”
“What's your name?”
“Laddie.”
“I'm Star.”
“Are you okay?”
“I am n—LOOK OUT!” She screamed as the
vampire known as Eddie, tackled the boy, knocking the driftwood out of
his hands and sank his teeth into Laddie's neck.
“NO!”
oOo
“What are you doing here?” Max growled, as he noticed the four boys striding their way arrogantly into his video store.
“You said you wanted to see me.” David smirked.
“I didn't mean here and you damn well know it.”
“Well, I'll guess we'll go then—"
“No, come in the back. I don't want people to see you in here.”
Max asked Maria to make sure that they
were not disturbed, before leading them into the back room. He sat down
at his desk across from them, but before he could chastise their
behaviour, his phone rang. David sat down casually on the couch and took
this opportunity to analyse the room he was in. They were rarely
permitted inside the video store, not that that stopped them. But,
whatever David was expecting; this wasn't it.
He supposed this was Max's office,
although Max would never be as formal as that around humans. It was all
rather bland. No neon perspex hanging from the ceiling or stuck to the
walls. No televisions playing cheesy B-movies or music videos and no pop
music blaring from the speakers. Just boring beige walls and Max's
monotonous voice droning on about some order that was delayed. David
looked up at the boys; who were leaning uncomfortably against the walls,
with a smile telling them they would be out of here soon.
“I thought I told you to mind me, David.” said Max, once he had put the phone down.
“You did. Doesn't mean I listened.”
“So I've noticed. Who's the girl?”
“What—”
“—and don't bother pretending you don't know who I'm talking about. The girl – who is she?”
“Her name is Star.”
“Have you been trying to impress pretty girls with the size of your choppers again?”
Paul started to snigger, but thought better of it when he saw Max's glare.
“Not at all. She already knew all about us.”
“How is that possible?”
“Her folks told her.” David sighed. He
hadn't intended to tell Max everything about Star, but if it meant he
could get out of here faster...
“Her folks?” Max's eyes widened in
realisation. He was across the room faster than David could blink,
pinning him up against the wall with one hand.
“You brought a Gypsy into my family?!”
“She's strong, Max; she'll make you proud.”
“I don't give a shit if she could become
the strongest vampire ever known. I will not have filthy Gypsy blood
watering down my legacy. Now get rid of her!”
Max released his grip from David's throat. David felt his bruised neck and coughed, wincing at the dull pain it brought.
“I can't do that, Max.”
“Why not? Oh don't tell me, you're
infatuated with her! For fuck's sake, David, stop thinking with what's
in your pants and start thinking about what is best for this family.”
“I am—"
"—no you're not. You are never going to
rise higher than you are, or gain the respect of your peers in this town
if you don't start playing by the rules.”
“Maybe I like the way things are.”
“You do? Well, I could make things a lot less comfortable if you don't do as you're told.”
“Hey! I'm not your hell hound, Max. You can't threaten to put me in the pound because I bark at the neighbours.”
“That's exactly what I can do—”
“—she stays. End of.”
“Fine. But she's your responsibility, David.”
“That goes without saying. Anything else?”
“No, you can go.”
They filed out of the back room, and just as they were leaving, Max called after them.
“Don't come in here any more. I catch you shoplifting in here again I'm going to call beach security, or worse your parents.”
David chuckled silently to himself as he
made his way to his bike. A flash of concern flitted briefly across his
face as the engine roared to life. He nodded to the other boys to see if
they had also received the mental distress call. Star was in trouble
again.
oOo
They found her on the beach, huddled
over a small form and two bodies either side of her. The boys sensed the
change in her, knew she had made her first kill. However, what should
have been cause for celebration disintegrated into fear and concern as
they drew closer to Star and the body she held in her arms.
“Star, what have you done?” asked David, trying to keep his anger under control.
“I-I...k-killed...” she managed between sobs.
“I see that.” David gestured to the bodies
around her. Paul and Marko were giving each other nervous glances,
unsure of what the best thing to say or do was in this situation. Star
looked up at David in distress, as she realised he believed she was
responsible for the death in their midst.
“No, I-I didn't kill them.” She averted her eyes and then snarled “Except for that one...” gesturing to the body on her right.
“They're vampires, David.” Dwayne confirmed, after examining the body on Star's left.
“They were going to hurt him. He was only a
kid, and I didn't know what they were until it was too late, so I told
him to run and I tried to fight them...” she knew she was babbling and
half of what she was saying, didn't even make sense to herself, but
somehow they got the gist of what she was trying to tell them.
“Have you seen them before, Dwayne?” David asked him.
“No.”
“What about you two?”
Paul and Marko took a quick glance at the bodies and shook their heads.
“Probably out-of-towners.” Paul shrugged.
“That's no excuse.” Dwayne spat. He sat next to Star and stroked the hair of the boy.
“Dwayne...I know what you're thinking, and the answer is no.” David warned.
“We can't just toss him, David.”
“What are you two talking about?” asked Star, bewildered.
“We cannot turn a kid—"
"—turn him? You mean to make him like us?” Star asked.
“I said no.”
“David, if there's some chance of saving him...”
“There isn't. He's already dead. Making him one of us won't change that.”
“Please, David. He saved my life.”
David looked into the pleading glances of Star and Dwayne and then the hesitant ones belonging to Paul and Marko.
“No. We can't. There are rules about this sort of thing.”
“Rules have never bothered you before.” Muttered Dwayne, loud enough for David to hear him.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
asked David. Dwayne glanced at Star and then at David. “Fine. But, he'll
be your responsibility. Both of you.” David tried to recall why that
sentence sounded familiar and inwardly groaned as he realised Max had
said the exact same thing to him about Star only moments before.
“So what do I do?” Star asked.
“Uh-no, you don't do anything.”
scoffed David. Nonetheless, he pondered; Star becoming a Sire would
cement her place within their little family and make it harder for Max
to demand they get rid of her. Upon quickly weighing the pros and cons
in his head, David decided it was probably safer to stay on Max's good
side for now. He wasn't about to give Max yet another reason to be
pissed off with him. Not tonight anyhow.
“But you just said he was my responsibility.” She countered.
“I meant watching out for him, Star.
You've only just made your first kill. You're not ready to take on Sire
duties. Dwayne can handle it. Paul, Marko; come with me, we'll get rid
of these two. Meet us back at the cave.”
“So how does this work?” Star asked, intrigued by what was about to happen.
“Usually we'll use bottled blood, make an informal ceremony of it. However, time is a factor for us right now.”
Star watched as Dwayne bit hard into his
wrist, and held it over the boy's mouth. Blood flowed out of Dwayne and
into Laddie, and she became transfixed by how it poured like water out
of a tap. Soon the blood-flow eased and became little more than a
trickle. When it stopped completely, Dwayne removed his wrist and licked
his self-inflicted wound clean.
“Come on, let's get him back to the cave.”
“Should I watch him?” Star asked Dwayne, as they made Laddie comfortable in a bed next to hers.
“I doubt he'll wake up before sunset.” He replied. “I'm going to go out and feed real quick. Will you be okay by yourself?”
“Yeah. I'm going to tend to my wounds.”
“Just try not to get into any more trouble, yeah?”
“Very funny.”
“Oh and Star?”
“Hmm?”
“Well done on your first kill. Good to have you with us.”
Star finally felt accepted into the Lost Boys. She was theirs and
they were hers, and at the time it felt like nothing would ever change
that. Little did she know, how wrong she was...
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