HOLY SHITE its been a while. No excuse, other then i've been incredibly busy. I don't even have time to read anymore, cryin' shame ain't it? Anyways, i'm glad I felt like writing or I don't think i'd ever finish this story, as is my norm but still. I hate not finishing stories. It bothers me.
So without further ado, here's the next chapter!
Disclaimer: Dude, I don't own anything. Except MY characters, which are very limited to Claire, Lulu, Cheyenne, Rose and Ricky. I can't help but feel I forgot someone but whatever, you get the point.
I had never flown somewhere so fast until tonight. The boardwalk seemed to be further away no matter how close we flew to it, until I saw our destination, the comic book store. We landed in front of it and Paul sniffed around, but it seemed clear. I looked around the store and found a catwalk up to the house they had sitting on top of it. Rose went around to a window to look in and Paul kept on the ground, in case of an ambush he was the strongest.
I tapped on the door hurriedly, my eyes flickering back and forth in panic, until I couldn't stand being outside any longer. I broke the doorknob off and entered without permission, which made me stop for a second. They were paranoid, and vampire hunters. If I surprised them there was a high chance they'd have a stake or holy water ready.
"Edgar," I whispered in the dark, but I didn't hear any movement. "Alan? It's me, Lulu." Still no movement. I walked through the living room and past the parents room, judging by the smell in the room it was in fact the parents room. I followed my nose to the back room, where I assumed Edgar and Alan's room was. The door was open slightly so I took a deep breath and entered slowly, looking around for anything suspicious.
My eyes landed on the beds and my heart lifted, they were asleep. Both of them breathing fine, Edgar was even snoring. I almost shouted then I shut my mouth quickly, once again the element of surprise was on my side. I had to wake them up without them freaking out. I walked over to Alan's sleeping form and poked him a couple times, he seemed the more sane one of the two. He snorted when I poked him but didn't wake up. A few more pokes however and his eyes were flickering.
"Alan, wake up!" I snapped, pushing him a little. His eyes shot open and found mine, and he freaked. He shouted a little and scooted backwards until he fell out of his bed with a yelp. I rolled my eyes and walked over to the side of the bed and held my hand out for him. He blinked a couple times, probably to wake up, and realized it was me, "Lulu? What are you doing in our room?" I helped him up and put my hand over his mouth, which I felt made his blood race a little. Out of fear or something else, I didn't really care.
"Vampires, hostile ones. They're either on their way here or are going to be here sometime tonight," I took my hand off his mouth and motioned for him to wake Edgar up. Once the other Frog brother was awake, due to Alan kicking him out of bed, and alert I sat on Alan's bed and sighed. "I didn't want you two dragged into it. You're just kids, there's no reason for you to be in this at all. How did they even know I knew you?"
"We can take care of any bloodsucker that comes along," Edgar snarled, clutching his water gun tightly. He was on high alert now, looking around and becoming paranoid about the smallest shadows. Alan was calm, getting all of their equipment out and laying it on Edgar's bed. In a moment Edgar calmed down and joined his brother, getting ready for the night. Garlic, stakes and holy water was suddenly abundant, as if they had planned for this for years. It all made me slightly sick to my stomach but I held it down and watched, as I couldn't touch anything to help.
"You could come with me," I said quietly, just loud enough for them to hear and look at me incredulously.
"No offense, but I don't think we'd be able to contain ourselves in a vampires nest." Edgar replied, hanging garlic on the windows. Alan shrugged, "Besides, I don't think the other vampires in your clan will appreciate us being there."
I thought about it and David would definitely not like them there, especially if we all made it through. He'd have to threaten the boys never to talk about it, or just kill them to be sure. Neither of which I wanted. So the boys coming back to the cave was a big no-go. I watched them get ready and made sure to tell them their weak spots in the house, including the parents. "Joel will use anything against you, including your parents. They might be spared if he comes in but he'll probably try and lure you out with threats to kill them. Do not leave this room. You're safe here."
They nodded and I could tell Alan would have a hard time with not saving his parents, but Edgar was strong. He knew it was a life or death situation, and he never much cared for his parents in the first place. They were a lot more pro-active without them. With the knowledge they'd be safe I kissed both of them on the forehead and left, Rose and Paul trailing me. We got back to the cave and I smelled Joel and his pack, their stench was everywhere. I growled and shifted, creeping into the cave quietly and looking around.
As soon as my feet hit the dirt inside I felt a hand around my neck from behind. My breath caught and I felt nails dig into my neck, drawing a tiny prick of blood. Whoever was behind me was strong and put their arm around my waist to pull me to the side. Paul entered behind me and snarled at my captor, but the hand on my neck tightened and I shook my head at him. Both him and Rose were snarling and looking around.
"Kind of you to join us," Joel quipped from David's wheelchair. He had Claire in his clutches, keeping her still with a long fingernail pressed to her neck. David was to the side, glowering at the scene. Marko and Dwayne had been separated from Cheyenne by three other vampires, leaving her on the ground still, barely alive. I growled and twisted, trying to get to my sister, but my captor tightened his grip and purred in my ear, "I'd stop moving there, love. I could rip your head off in a heartbeat."
I looked around for the humans and found them in their normal place, being guarded by Rose now, who had moved quicker then I ever saw anyone move. She was standing in front of the tiny cubby, snarling and crouched, ready for anyone to oppose her. Joel raised an eyebrow at her but didn't do anything. Instead he motioned for Paul to stand with David and the other boys, which did not please Paul. He narrowed his eyes and I could tell he was ready to rip the head off of whoever was holding me, but I heard David's voice radiate through all of our heads, telling him to stand down and come over with him.
"Good boy, listen to your master," Paul raised a hand to claw Joel's head off but Claire whimpered a little and Paul lowered his arm. As much as he hated Joel he wouldn't let any harm come to his sister. With all the boys standing to the side I measured our odds and how many men Joel had, we were outnumbered but I knew David was stronger, or Joel wouldn't have put so much effort into outnumbering and injuring us. I also noticed three of his pack were newborns, like us. The three who kept the boys to the side kept looking over at the humans and licking their lips.
"Now that we're all here, we can begin." Joel said, moving around with Claire. "In order for our Master to become the new leader of Santa Carla, all of you must either drink of his blood and change masters, or we must kill you all. I'm giving you the option."
"Blow yourself," Rose snarled. Joel tutted and threw Claire into the clutches of another vampire, who grinned when he caught her and trailed his fingernail down her neck. Meanwhile Joel walked up to Rose and raised an eyebrow at her when she growled, "Silly girl, you think you can phase me?"
"No, but I can sure as hell try." With that her foot flew and struck him in the crotch, still a weak spot for all males. When he flinched and faltered her hand came around and punched him in the face with all her might, sending him flying backwards onto the floor. He underestimated how strong newborns were, and Rose was the most athletic of all of us to begin with. His pack took steps toward her but he barked at them to stay in their places. He stood up and snarled, his eyes now bright red and his nails grown into talons. Rose stood unwavering and I took that as a sign to do something. With them distracted and elbowed my captor, causing him to cut my neck but only slightly. He stepped back and I spun around and flipped out my switchblade in the same fluid motion, slicing him in the stomach and chest. He snarled and cut my arm when I tried to swing again but from all my years of street fighting I spun around and roundhouse kicked him in the head, his neck snapping back and breaking with the impact of my foot.
Chaos erupted inside the cave and suddenly everyone was fighting, the boys jumping in with their own plan of attack. They all attacked Joel, jumping on him with snarls and claws. Joel was surprised but fought back fiercely, obviously not phased that he was outnumbered. The newborns of their pack must have thought it was anarchy, because they abandoned fighting with us and all went after our humans. Rose snarled at them and I ran toward her to push one of the newborns out of the way. He hit the wall and bounced back, snarling at me and swinging wildly. I dodged his arms and hit the ground, kicking his feet out from under him and pouncing on him when he hit the ground. His neck was ripped open in an instant and my knife found its way to his heart. Rose took the other two quickly, flipping around and sending one flying into the wall and the other one was an inch from grabbing Laddie, who screamed, before Rose flipped out her blade and threw it into the vampires heart.
With every kill we made Joel got weaker, until he finally slipped away from the boys and ran. They followed him to the entrance but suddenly he did a flip and flew over them to land behind them. He spun around and his eyes landed on Claire, who had just twisted the neck of the last pack mate of his. She was weak, blood pouring out of her neck from when she escaped her captor, perfect for him. I ran toward her but Joel was one step ahead of me, raising his arm to finish her off. I screamed and as soon as his arm hit flesh Claire screamed, but it wasn't her he was cutting. Star had jumped in between them, taking the hit and bouncing off the cave wall, blood pouring out of her.
Everyone stood in shock for a split second until Claire screamed again, this time in rage, and threw herself on Joel, who faltered and fell over with her. They rolled on the ground snarling and growling until suddenly he flew off of her and hit the cave wall. David and the boys stood above Claire, each of their eyes now blazing red with hatred and before Joel knew it he was being cut open and tied up to a pole Marko had run out to get. His pack mates were still alive, most of them, and were in the process of getting up when the boys pinned them all to the wall. I turned away so I wouldn't see the heads being ripped off.
"The sun is coming up soon, pal. Guess who's going to watch it," Paul sneered, lifting part of the pole and carrying Joel outside with Dwayne, David trailing them with more bodies, to make sure Joel didn't escape. Marko was letting Claire drink from his wrist, healing her neck quicker. Rose and I had gone to Cheyenne and Star, looking at their injuries. Cheyenne was still breathing but still cut up all to hell. Without Dwayne's blood, and quick, she wouldn't make it.
Star was barely breathing, already her human body was losing life and blood, quicker then we'd like. Rose was stopping the bleeding as best she could but without medical attention, or a miracle, she wasn't going to make it. Claire looked at the young woman who saved her life, "Why did you do that?" Star tried to speak but blood was coming out of her mouth every time she tried. We all knew why she did it though, to save David's love and the woman Star had come to know as the alpha female. She had a pack view of us already, and she was willing to sacrifice herself for her alpha female. I saw a tear run down Claire's face, but she knelt down and cut her wrist open, holding it up to Star's lips. Star was going unconscious, not realizing what she was drinking, but vampire blood tasted sweet and she probably thought she was drinking her last taste of water. David came back inside just in time to see both women faint from blood loss.
Dwayne was already back at Cheyenne's side, practically ripping his wrist open for her to drink. David, Paul and Marko each allowed her to drink from their wrists also, allowing her to heal faster. I volunteered my wrist, but David said my young blood would do nothing for her. Being newborns our blood was still mixing with our human blood, rendering it useless for healing. I kept her head on my lap while she drank, brushing her hair out of her face. She looked so much like mother, I felt like I was back in the hospital, watching our mother die right in front of us. Cheyenne's breathing was coming back heavier but she was still weak and unconscious.
Ricky kept Laddie in their area but I felt his concern for Cheyenne. I couldn't let him lose another person, not this soon. He was too young for this all to happen. Tears fell from my eyes as I clutched Cheyenne's cheeks, begging silently for her to wake up and be alright. I felt hands on my arms but I pushed them away, no one was going to tear me away from my sister. "Babe, let Dwayne take care of her," Paul whispered in my ear. I looked up at Dwayne and I saw the same burning look in my eyes mirrored in his. He was just as concerned, and I knew he would take care of her. I just wasn't ready to let go of my baby sister. Slowly Paul unclenched my hands from her and let Dwayne carry her to their room so she could heal.
David and Marko were carrying Claire and Star to David's room. Star's blood was changing already and her wounds were healing fast. David wasn't pleased that she was Claire's childe, but he would take care of it when everyone was healed and alive again. I looked at Star and sighed, she was never going to kill someone. She was a vegetarian, she couldn't even bear to kill a spider, let alone a human being. She would never be one of us fully, not willingly. It would take more then starving her to convince her.
"Lulu!" Ricky came up from behind me and hugged me tightly. I felt a wetness on my shirt and I turned around to see him crying, burying his face in my shirt. I knelt down and hugged him tight, allowing Laddie to join in the hug. They were terrified, watching us kill other vampires. The poor boys minds had probably been permanently scarred from all the blood and killing. I felt Laddie shaking and I hugged him tighter, whispering comforting things in both of their ears. They clung to me while I moved over to their bed and laid down with them. Paul was doing the clean up with Marko and Rose. It would take a while to get the blood out of everything but disposing of the bodies would be easy. Leave them in the sunlight and they'll just disintegrate. Laddie and Ricky fell asleep after a while and I felt the pull of the sun drifting me to sleep. The last thing I heard was Joel screaming as the sun hit him. I fell asleep with a tiny smile on my face.
-X-X-X-X-X-
In the weeks that followed I learned two things: A). Do not question Claire's logic when it came to her childe. Whenever David tried to tell her what to do to help Star, Claire would accuse him of not having faith in her and would not talk to him for a day. B). Do not come in between Cheyenne and a meal. When she was strong enough to hunt again she hunted with such a passion that I thought she had suddenly become a tiger. She valued each meal like her last and savored it every time. Rose had tried to help her get a kill and Cheyenne flipped her shit on her. We all left Cheyenne to hunt after that.
Max was not happy about Joel and his reign to take over Santa Carla, but he had said he allowed the master of them to live, a decision that was heavily questioned by David. Apparently Max had a new plan for all of us, something that involved a "mother" to watch over all of us. We all brushed it off as one of Max's crazy plans and didn't think twice about it.
Laddie and Ricky became closer to Star, who was still only a half-blood. As I predicted, she refused to make a kill. She followed Claire around like a puppy, but she never joined us on hunts. It seemed she was fine with Ricky and Laddie though, as she never had any urges to kill either of them. It made her a perfect babysitter for when we were hunting though. She took the boys to the boardwalk a lot, mainly hanging out at whatever outdoor concert was in town that night. She loved to dance.
I visited Edgar and Alan after the fight to make sure they were alright, and filled them in on the latest. They knew we were the only vampires in Santa Carla at the moment, and they agreed not to hunt us but give warnings to people to stay inside after dark. I made sure Ricky hung out there a lot, and he became fast friends with them, despite his ties to the bloodsucking community. They all enjoyed comic books, which I figured would help Ricky stay a kid for a while. He asked a lot about becoming a vampire, and I told him he had no choice in the matter, he would wait until he was older. At least until after puberty. I didn't want him to be one of those ageless vampire children who would never experience anything adult vampires could.
"Hey girly, whats say we ditch this party and go back to my place," Paul came up behind me and purred in my ear. I grinned at him and allowed him to carry me back to the cave. My life with my mate was still as fulfilling as ever, and every day we were together I looked forward to an eternity together. I kissed him and smiled when he purred into the kiss. I looked out to the boardwalk of Santa Carla as we flew away and grinned. Sleep all day, party all night, live forever. It was fun to be a vampire.
So yea. Here's the end! I hope you all liked it. I left it open for a sequel that may or may not happen. Depending. But now I have to upload this chapter and go to work! So ciao and au' revoir my children!
R&R and be loved :)