Blood Isn't Always Thicker Than Water

Sandy was laughing in exhilaration, his head and upper torso sticking blissfully out of the sunroof. I was grinning maniacally with my eyes wide open. This was way too much damn fun!

Lancaster and his humanity had his body’s hands holding desperately onto the seat under him, jaw clamped shut, and eyes tightly closed. He was being quite the party pooper.

We were riding at incalculably high speeds through the forest around Logan’s manor. There were some twisty, winding roads that snaked their way through this territory. I was following the thinnest one, and using all of my driving “expertise” to get the three of us out of here alive and well. My "vampire" senses were enjoying the opportunity to take over. I let my instincts rule and drove like a madman. This car was amazing. It seemed to follow my thoughts, not my actions; the wheels turned before I could even twitch what was supposed to be their source of direction to the side. This was the smoothest ride ever. The seats, seat backs, armrests and headrests all had heating and cooling things in them. There was a built in GPS and all this other crap I didn’t know how to use.

It ruled!!

“Come on, Lancaster! It’s not that bad!” I yelled to him when we reached a rare smooth point in the road.

“If I live, I’m never going to be able to sleep ever again,” he said in reply.

Sandy began yelling and whooping as we starting twisting and turning at breakneck speeds again. And I got back into character, laughing myself hoarse.

After a couple minutes, I came to a stop and Sandy I just sat or stood where we were, laughing. Lancaster appeared to be faintly green. “We’re about a mile from the manor, right?” Lancaster asked carefully.

I nodded my head a bit as I brought my laughter to a close. “Yep. Why?”

“C…could I drive us back? Please?” he asked. “I don’t have my driver’s license with me, but I do have it. It’s back at the manor. I don’t think I can stand any more of your driving.”

I made a pouting hurt face at him, making sure my eyes were staring straight into his. “You…you think I’m a bad driver?”

I watched his expression turn into one of surprise. “N-no! You’re amazing, really—I wouldn’t be able to do what you just did—”

“So why can’t I drive?” Innocent curiosity, that’s all. Of course it is.

“’Ca-’cause—well…”

“…Yes?” I asked, leaning a smidge closer to him.

Suddenly his face hardened. “Don’t you dare play that card with me.” His
finger pointed accusingly in my direction, cheeks heating up a bit.

“What card?” I asked, sounding as clueless as possible. I looked around the car. “I don’t see cards anywhere”

“That’s it. I’m driving.” He went to open the door, but I locked it with the controls on my side before he could get out. “Caspian, unlock this door right now.” He sat there stubbornly, staring outside.

“Lancaster…”

He turned around. “What?”

I steeled myself for a millisecond, then unbuckled my seatbelt and moved so I was kinda straddling Lancaster in one lithe movement. Or, at least, I hope it was… I didn’t get too close. That would have been extremely awkward for me, the straight guy. But I placed my fingers just under his collarbones and snuck my nose into close proximity of his ear. “Tell me again…” I whispered. “Why can’t I drive?” Wow that had such a double meaning.

“Be-because…” Lancaster stuttered. I could smell his blood gathering in his cheeks as he blushed. My throat went a tiny bit dry, but I wasn’t in need of blood. I had just had some this morning.

“Yes?” I asked very quietly, letting my fingertips “slip” down a few inches. His breath hitched.

“C-Cas…”

“Tell me…Lancaster.” I let his name roll off my tongue as my fingers went a little lower.

“F-fine,” he blustered. “Go ahead. Y-you can d-d-drive.”

I smiled lightly. “Thank you.”

“Should I leave you two alone?” Sandy asked, lounging in the back seat.

“Nope!” I proclaimed, bouncing back into the driver’s seat. “I’m good.” But before I could turn the key in the ignition, there was a loud thump that resounded through the car. Lancaster still looked disoriented from my earlier…thingy…so I took the liberty of saying, “Okay, what the hell was that?” Lancaster snapped out of his little state, and us two shared alarmed glances before I unlocked the car and we scrambled outside. Sandy just sorta sat there.

Personal servant, my ass.

Lancaster and I peered up, trying to see if there was anything on the roof. Which there was. There was a dude on the roof of my car. And I could only tell he was a dude because the reddish robe with gold trimming or whatever he was wearing over maroon pants was open and he was shirtless. He looked just like Sandy, with light blue eyes and very long blonde hair. This girly guy, however, had side bangs on the left side and the rest of his hair was in a half-ponytail thing. “Hey,” he said, and jumped off the car, landing next to me. “’Sup, Princey?”

I frowned. “…Sandy?” This guy had the exact same voice as my “personal servant”.

The dude in the red robe said, “Uh-huh. That’s me.”

I blinked and opened the back door to the car, revealing a completely disinterested Sandy in a white T-shirt and jeans, his usual attire. “Hey,” he said, waving to us.

I looked back at Sandy in the red robe as he said, “Yo. How’s life?”

“It’s alright,” Sandy in white said, nodding his head a little. “You?”

“Not too interesting, but pretty fine.”

“Fabulous.”

“Quite.”

I cut off their irritating small talk and said, “What the fuck is going on here?” Both of the blonde girly guys looked at me with expressions clearly saying, Excuse me? “Lancaster, are you seeing double too?” He had walked around the car and joined our little congregation.

“Yeah, I see two of that freaky blonde guy…” he said thoughtfully, frowning at the twins.

“Who you calling freaky?” the Sandy in red suddenly asked, livid. His eyes were open wide and he took a defensive step forward.

“Calm down,” Sandy in White drawled, putting a hand to his clone’s chest. “He didn’t mean it seriously. He’s thinking of you as being just like me. You know how most people see me.”

Sandy in Red closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Sorry about that. I’m so uptight. The Association has a ton of bull coming from all directions.”

“But…you’re a private organization,” Sandy in White said, frowning a bit.

“Exactly.”

“So…where can any bull come from?”

Sandy in Red opened one eye. “Where do you think? Alvin’s complaining about the leadership switch, Scarlet’s being a bitch, and Callie won’t stop telling us all about her internal debate. She can’t decide between staying with the Association and going back to college.”

“I’m not a bitch. I’m just ticked ’cause Alvin won’t shut up.” This girl suddenly came into view. She was also dressed in red with gold trimming with black legging coming three quarters or the way down her legs and arms. Is it possible to have leggings on your arms? “Armings” just doesn’t sound right. The girl had blue eyes and dark hair that swept seductively in front of her shapely face.

“Why the hell are you dressed like this?” Sandy in White asked, gesturing to the red robe getups the two had on.

Oh, and, by the way, the girl was standing on a branch in a tree about fifteen feet up in the air.

“Orders from Mister High and Mighty,” the supposed bitch, Scarlet, said. “Apparently, since we’re meeting Mister Even More High and Mighty today, we’ve got to wear the ‘appropriate clothing’.”

“You don’t look half bad,” Sandy in White said.

Scarlet laughed. “This outfit fits in with Callie perfectly. Just you wait.”

Sandy in White nodded. “I’ll take your word for it.”

“Okay, who’s Callie?” I asked. “Who’s Alvin? Who are you?” I looked up at Scarlet. “And most importantly, who are you?” I jabbed a finger toward Sandy in Red.

Sandy in Red sighed. “Might as well show you right now. Alright guys, come on out.” He paused. “NOW!!”

Gee… I’ve got ears I’d like to keep in working order here, dude.

Then it struck me that I wasn’t thinking about those stalker terrorists anymore. Wow. I’m finally mentally maturing!

And then I got a pang as I picture Jeremy’s incredulous face as he read my thoughts. I missed him a lot. Sandy may be just as weird—probably even moreso—but it wasn’t the same. I wanted Jeremy back—I wanted my best friend.

I watched with one eyebrow quirked as this huge dude came trudging onto the thin road. I’d seen bigger, but he still was pretty big, at maybe 6’4” or 6’5”. His girth was probably five times mine. His hair was bleached blonde and in a buzz cut. His eyebrows were thick, bushy and brown. A girl slunk up next to him. She was also blonde—there seem to be a lot of them around me these days—but naturally so, and therefore her hair was looking quite brunette at her age. Her cloak was more faded than the others’ and much more ornate. She had on these almost-knee-height leather boots that were dusty and brown with blotchy gold buckles. Baggy maroon sweatpants were tucked into them. And her hair featured a headband that didn’t look that special. Some sort of chain hung around her neck and she also had “armings”, except they were a faded maroon color. Then I noticed that one of her eyes was a medium but light brown that was a kind of comforting color, then the other eye was partially navy blue and partially gray-blue. It was really freaky.

Then she smiled, and I cringed. She was the only vampire I had ever seen with fangs.

“What is it, Callie?” Scarlet asked. “I haven’t seen you smile like that in ages.”

As another person slid out of the woods, Callie sauntered up to me. I stared at her warily.

“Hello…” I said carefully when she reached the “you-are-now-five-feet-away-from-me” point.

She just kept smiling sinisterly.