In Limbo

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Disclaimer: Neither The Lost Boys nor Fright Night nor Near Dark are mine. All rights go to their respective owners. No money is being made with this story.

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Chapter 7

In limbo, the vampires followed their now everyday routine. Jesse, Diamondback and Homer were playing cards. Severen and Paul were horsing around, with Dwayne watching them, an amused smile on his face. Max and Jerry were deeply immersed into a philosophic conversation on life and death.

If, out of the bunch of vampires present, Jesse would have had to choose new members for his family, it would have been Paul – and Marko, if he would still have been among them. At least those two knew what the word fun meant. As for the others, Dwayne was okay, if a bit taciturn, and David had been quite the show while he lasted in this here place.

Yep, Max's boys were alright. Paul in particular got on smoothly with Severen – which meant that they scuffled a lot and had a blast while doing so. Marko had often been involved as well. Dwayne seemed to hold back – maybe because he thought he had to look after his brothers in David's stead now.

It was obvious that these boys were ruled by David, not Max. Max rebutted them from time to time, or held boring sermons, but these boys lived for David, not him.

To Jesse, Max was just an interfering old busybody. Sure, he was ancient, but Jesse still knew a lot more about this land than Max. He had been born in Missouri in 1819, and he had been turned in 1863, since then roaming the States forever. Max, on the other hand, had only come here in 1906.

Jerry was little better than Max. Worse, if possible, for he displayed his arrogance and assumed superiority openly, while Max always tried to cover it up with politeness. Now that Jesse actually thought about it, that didn't make Max better than Jerry – it made him worse, because it made him a disgusting lying so-and-so on top of everything else.

Ah, screw them both. Jesse just couldn't decide who of them was bugging him more.

They both envied Jesse and his family for their freedom, for how they lived true to their nature – that much was clear.

Max had been stationary for a long time, and that meant hiding and conforming. Jerry was, one might say, temporarily stationary since he had come to the country in 1920, switching residence every year. They both dedicated a lot of their time and energy to blending in with humans. They had to chose their victims carefully and restrict their feeding. Jesse would never dream of doing so, much less of forcing such a humdrum lifestyle on his family.

While Jerry lived mainly on prostitutes and other beautiful if tainted women, David and his boys fed off the riffraff of the streets. Max, being as old as he was, could go without killing for months if he wanted to. To avoid suspicion, he usually did. To Jesse, that was as good as castrating oneself.

While staying at this weird place together, Max and Jerry had apparently become very fond of each other – much like Paul and Severen, who had become as brothers, if not more. One could never be sure with Severen.

Jesse was torn out of his contemplation by Dwayne. The young vampire came up to them and stood opposite Jesse, watching their game of poker for a while, which had continued all through Jesse's musings. He didn't need much of his attention on the cards to win. Dwayne stayed silent while he observed them. Unlike Severen or Homer, he never deliberately disturbed anyone, waiting patiently until his presence couldn't be ignored anymore and someone asked him to speak up.

After two more rounds, Jesse prompted, "Something the matter?"

Dwayne nodded solemnly. "I told Max and Jerry already, so you should know as well. I'm gonna leave soon – I've been tired a lot lately."

Jesse supposed this was good news for Dwayne, but for him, it meant that a livable person left and the percentage of numskulls rose. He jerked his head in Paul's direction. "He gonna cope?"

"I hope so," Dwayne replied. "Either way, there's no choice. His body must be off far worse than mine. None of us saw what was left of him, but it can't have been much … He'll likely still take a fair time to heal."

"Right then," Jesse said, putting his cards down and extending his hand. "Farewell, Dwayne. I'll tell Severen to be sweet to yer brother."

Dwayne shook hands with him. "I'll tell him myself. And whoop his ass if he ain't."

Jesse refrained from telling him that Severen would probably enjoy a good whacking.

Homer grinned. "Shake on that." He spit in his hand before he offered it to Dwayne. Always had to make a show of himself, the little nagger. Dwayne rolled his eyes, but took Homer's hand nevertheless – above such childish play, as it seemed.

Diamondback rose and gave Dwayne a warm hug. "Take care, boy."

"I will."

Dwayne went over to Paul and Severen, who were once again wrestling on the ground – their favorite pastime, as it seemed. Both were growling and laughing, and Paul wore his vampire face as he playfully clawed at Severen. They reminded Dwayne of two rather large, rather deadly kittens.

"Yo, Severen," he stated, nudging him lightly in the ribs with his boot to get his attention. "I guess I'm leaving. Screw with Paul, and I don't wanna be you."

Severen chuckled at his threat, but Paul seemed a little miffed. He looked up at Dwayne with huge eyes, feigning innocence. "Aw … But what if I want him to screw me?"

Dwayne cuffed him playfully on the shoulder. "Your choice, bro. But don't come to me complaining afterwards if you miss certain body-parts because he bit them off …"

Paul snickered. "I won't. And I think he won't – bite something off, that is."

Severen just smirked at him. If he was Paul, Dwayne wouldn't be so sure about the integrity of his body.

All at once, Paul became serious. He looked Dwayne in the eyes. "I'm gonna miss you here …"

He did have to make this even harder, didn't he?

Dwayne stretched out his hand and pulled him up from the ground. They embraced for a long time. "Me too. Miss you, I mean. Don't take too long."

"Not up to me, is it?" Paul laughed, not very happy. "But I'll do my best."

They let go of each other, and without further ado, Dwayne lay down on the ground and closed his eyes. The last things he heard as he drifted over to sleep were the booming laughter of Jesse, who had apparently won the poker game, and the pissed off, whiny complaints of Homer.

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In Santa Carla, the vampires were all down on a small strip of beach close to the cave. The sun had just set, and there were still hues of orange and pink painting the sky and reflecting upon the water.

Thorn and Ed were frolicking around in the shallow ripples of incoming waves. Ed was in wolf form, and Mae was dancing around between him and Thorn, laughing joyously, throwing sticks and playing tug-o-war with a piece of rope she had found among the flotsam.

David, Marko and Dwayne were walking close to each other. Dwayne had arrived a week ago, three months after Marko, and he was still somewhat fragile. Even though he hated to admit it, abrupt movements hurt him a great deal, and he was far from his usual agility and swiftness. They didn't know how long it would take for all of the ruptures and fractures in his body to heal. For the time being, he fed every night to speed the process along.

After they had strolled for a while in silence, watching Mae and the two canines fool about, Dwayne finally spoke up. "She makes for a good sister," he said. "Far better than Star."

Marko nodded his affirmation. "She's cool. Not a wuss."

David smirked. "Yeah, she's cool." He sent an approving glance in Mae's direction. "And what do you think 'bout the other addition to our family?" He chuckled, jerking his head in Ed's direction.

Marko laughed. "Well, as long as he's a wolf …"

"He's a far better wolf than a vampire," David confirmed, snickering. "At least he gets on well with Thorn."

"Thorn seems to enjoy having a buddy to play with," Dwayne said.

"He does."

They continued their walk. The waves were licking up the beach, whispering and hissing as they kissed the sand, and the last straps of colors from the sunset were quickly devoured by darkness.

Over the past few weeks, David had found his urge for revenge somewhat waning. He already had two of his brothers back, after all, and Paul's body looked as if it would be ready to house him again in a few months. There was a new sister, and there was Ed … who currently was more of a pet than a brother to them. David didn't long for Star, and he thought that it would only be prudent to let Laddie grow a little before they took him back. Against Lucy and her father, he and his brothers held no grudge. Sam was half forgiven, even by Dwayne, for he had only tried to protect his family against what he believed to be a deadly threat, and they all could relate to that. As for Michael … David still desired him, but he could wait a little longer. Even the Frogs were not that important to him anymore. He still planned on killing them, but they would stall with it until Paul was back, for he had the most reason to hate them.

Once or twice, David had even entertained the weird thought that they could maybe make some sort of truce with the mortals who had become so intermingled with their lives – reveal that they were back, but leave those particular humans at peace. Maybe Michael would be more willing to succumb to David's advances if they allowed him and his family to stay mortal. Star and Mae were a little alike, maybe they could become friends. Laddie could visit, and Lucy –

"So …" Marko's voice ripped David out of his musings. "What about the others? When are you planning to start with their healing, David?"

David stopped in his tracks. His gaze wandered out over the ocean and lingered on the darkening horizon. "Well … I'm not sure. We still have to get Paul back, and with Dwayne, Mae and Ed needing to feed this often … It'd be unwise to add any more strain to the human population at the moment, don't you think?"

Dwayne looked at him quizzically. "So you're not planning on helping them get back any time soon?"

David shrugged. "I got my own family to think 'bout. With Paul, we'll be six. We'll take a high toll on the mortal population as it is. If we had to slaughter even more to drown the ashes of six vampires in blood every night … I don't think it'd go unnoticed. We'd have the FBI all over the place in no time."

"What 'bout Max?" Dwayne inquired. "He'll be pissed to high hell if he ever finds out that you stalled on purpose …"

David raised his brows. "How should he ever find out? We won't tell him, will we?"

They all snickered, thrilled with their little conspiracy.

They continued their evening stroll in silence once more. David was watching Marko, who fumbled with the patches on his jacket, lost in thoughts. "I miss Severen," Marko suddenly stated. "He's … something else."

David and Dwayne exchanged a glance.

"Well, maybe …" David mused. "When Paul is completely healed, and we go back to our usual hunting patterns … Maybe we could nurse one at a time."

"It would take years that way to get them all back," Dwayne observed. "Decades, likely."

David smirked. "We're not pressed for time, are we, Boys?"

They all laughed.

Marko bent down and picked up a piece of driftwood to throw it for one of the four-legged creatures. David laid a hand on Dwayne's back, and they all went to join Mae, Ed and Thorn at the shoreline, where land and water met under a sky full of stars and promises.

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The end … for now. ;-)

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