Torment

Friday, 26th of August, 1983

Santa Carla

Four days had passed since Christie had stood up to David and they had yet to let her leave the cave. David had taken great pleasure in punishing her though. He rather enjoyed her reactions whenever he would make her have hallucinations of him and his brothers killing her family in hundreds of different scenarios. He’d also found it amusing to inflict physical pain on her as well—if the large, open wound on the right side of her stomach and the black eye, split lip and bruised jawline was anything to go by.

They’d also dug out some chains from one of the destroyed rooms just off from their sitting area with a shackle attached to it and chained her by her ankle to the post at the end of the bed.

“Christie,” Dwayne’s soothing voice filled her ears and she flinched, trying not to irritate the gaping wound in her side as she turned in the direction of his voice. “Christie, this would all go away if you just submit.”

“It hurts,” she whimpered, tears filling her glazed-over eyes. Dwayne sighed softly, glancing back at his brothers briefly as they left the cave before looking back down at Christie. He set a tanned hand on her forehead, his lips turning down into a frown as he felt how hot she was. Christie’s eyes slipped shut, her senses going into overdrive as his cold fingers brushed over her cheek and pushed her sweaty hair behind her ear. His cold fingers felt soothing against her burning face.

“It’ll all go away soon,” he whispered as he lifted her up and settled her against his chest after unlocking the shackle from around her ankle. “Just give in.” Christie blinked up at him, her vision swimming as he carried her towards the entrance to the cave.

“I-if I give in, he’ll kill them,” she croaked out, curling her fingers around the lapels of his jacket. Dwayne sighed but kept quiet as he walked up the creaky wooden staircase to where the bikes were.

“No, I won’t,” David said from where he sat on his bike, a cigarette dangling from his lips. Christie moved her head, struggling to find him due to the double vision she was suddenly having. “You bow down, your family lives.”

Christie hesitated, a whine of pain escaping as Dwayne carefully set her down on his bike and climbed on behind her, supporting her weight. “Fine… I-I’ll bow down to your authority.”

David smirked smugly in response and dipped his head in acknowledgement. He jerked his head at Marko and Paul and the three of them started their bikes, driving off and leaving Dwayne and Christie behind.

“That wasn’t too hard, was it?” Dwayne asked from behind her. She turned her head, resting her cheek against his shoulder as she looked up at him, giving him a look that clearly said ‘shut up’. He rolled his eyes before pushing his sleeve back and biting into his wrist when his fangs popped out.

Christie’s eyes were immediately drawn to the surprisingly sweet smelling blood. He held his wrist out to her, setting his free hand on the back of her head and guiding her down until her lips touched his bleeding wrist and she opened her mouth before closing it around the wound. The blood rushed into her mouth and she let out a low groan as she felt the pain in her side and face begin to disappear and her wounds healed up.

“Thank you,” she whispered reluctantly when he pulled away. Dwayne moved his arm aside to allow her to get off the bike. She let out a gasp of surprise as he suddenly stood up and pinned her between his body and the handlebars. “W-what are you doing?” She stared at him wearily as he leaned down towards her. A noise of startled protest escaped as he suddenly pressed his lips against hers, sucking lightly at her bottom lip. Christie was frozen in surprise for a few seconds before she hesitantly returned the kiss, clutching the lapels of his jacket tightly as he cupped her cheeks. A soft sigh left her lips when the kiss ended and Dwayne rested his forehead on hers. “Why did you do that?”

“You had blood on your lips,” he whispered huskily, stroking her cheek softly as she flushed deeply under the intensity of his gaze. “C’mon, the others will be wondering where we are.”

Christie nodded, still reeling from the sudden and surprisingly nice kiss. She took his hand and climbed onto the bike behind him, wrapping her arms securely around his waist and resting her chin on his shoulder.
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“Well, look at you,” Marko cackled from beside Paul as Dwayne pulled in next to David. “You’re all sparkly and new.”

“Screw you,” Christie grumbled, wrapping her arms around her stomach.

“Lay off, Marko,” Dwayne growled. Marko raised his hands in surrender and almost fell off of his bike as Dwayne reached out and punched him in the arm.

“Someone’s overprotective,” Paul sing-songed as he walked over and handed a carton of cigarettes to David.

Christie glanced between the four males awkwardly as they started arguing quietly amongst themselves. She silently slipped off of Dwayne’s bike and approached David hesitantly. He looked up at her in mild surprise as she patted his arm.

“What’s up?” David asked, meeting her gaze, though his eyes flickered back over to his quarrelling brothers briefly.

“Can I go for a walk?”

“Be back before sunrise,” he said, dismissing her with a wave of his hand. She smiled happily and raced away, heading in the direction of the stores on the boardwalk.

“Why did you let her go?” Paul questioned curiously. Dwayne and Marko were still arguing in the background.

“She’ll learn that she gets rewarded when she behaves and does as she’s told,” David said smoothly, taking a drag of his cigarette. Paul nodded in appreciation, once again impressed by his leader’s wit.

The two of them turned to watch their blonde hybrid sister as she paused briefly before to look in the window of a clothes store on the other side of Video Max before continuing on past it.
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(2 hours later)

Christie made her way through the crowd, carefully avoiding people’s waving arms and swaying bodies as they danced to the music. A hand suddenly closed around hers and she was spun around abruptly.

“Dwayne, you scared me!” she gasped out, following him as he guided her deeper into the crowd. The dark haired vampire smirked back at her and she hesitantly smiled back, her eyes sparkling in the light of the fire. “Where are we going?”

“Back to the bikes, David wants to talk,” Dwayne replied, pulling at her hand until she was walking beside him.

“About what?” she asked curiously before a shiver wracked through her body. Dwayne peeled off his jacket and dropped it on her shoulders. Christie flinched in surprise before pushing her arms through the sleeves and pulling the large jacket tighter around her, holding it closed with her free hand.

“There’s a couple of snacks David’s got his eye on and he wants you to be bait,” Dwayne explained quietly.

Christie immediately looked horrified at the idea. She shook her head frantically in refusal. “No. No, I won’t do it.”

“You don’t have a choice.” Dwayne switched his grip from her hand to her arm and he dragged her along until they reached the bikes.

“Ah, I see you found her,” David smirked in amusement. Christie felt the urge to growl at him but quickly pushed it down as he raised an eyebrow at her, it was almost as if he was trying to bait her into getting angry.

“I won’t do it,” she said firmly as she pulled her arm from Dwayne’s grasp and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Pardon me?” he queried mock-politely. Christie scowled in response and then flinched when David’s hand suddenly snapped out and grabbed her upper arm, he pulled her closer until they were almost nose-to-nose. “I don’t believe I know what you’re referring to.”

“Dwayne told me you’re going to use me as bait,” she mumbled, trying not to look him in the eyes. “I agreed to surrender but I never agreed to be your bait.”

David’s smirk morphed into a mocking grin as he stared at her. “Dwayne was messing with you, sweetheart. I didn’t think it would illicit such a reaction, but I confess myself impressed. Oh, and by the way, if in future, I decide you are going to be used as bait, you’ll do it without complaint because I can easily change my mind about letting your family live.”

“Fine,” Christie forced out, backing down as she bit her tongue roughly. “I’ll do it.”

“Good girl.” David released her and she backed away immediately, retreating to Dwayne’s bike and practically gluing herself to his side. The dark haired vampire simply rolled his eyes at her actions and held his hand out, silently ordering her to give his jacket back. He shrugged it on and noticed how warm it felt from being worn by her and how the smell of her perfume lingered on the smooth material.

“Why did you call me back so soon anyway?”

“Some chick was looking for you,” Paul input as he handed a joint to Marko. “Looked kinda like you, actually. Same hair and eyes… she was a little shorter though.”

“Paul’s right, she looked like she was related to you,” Marko agreed, taking a long drag from the joint. “Could’ve been a sister.”

“That’s impossible, I only have one sister,” Christie said, frowning. She glanced at the two blonde haired males as they argued over the joint. “Besides, I doubt she looked that much like me.”

“Well, why don’t you look for yourself, cause here she comes,” Marko replied and he pointed in the direction of a young blonde who was walking towards them.

Christie’s eyes narrowed and a low growl built up in her chest as she realized Marko was right, the teenage girl had hair the same shade as her and the same eyes… she even had the same facial structure as Christie.

Dwayne, sensing the irritation rising in Christie, set a tanned hand on the back of her neck and the action had her calming down immediately and taking a step backwards until she was half behind him.

“E-excuse me,” the girl asked when she reached them. David, Marko and Paul shared a mischievous look between themselves before turning back to her.

“Back again so soon?” their leader queried curiously.

“I was wondering if Christie was back yet,” the blonde girl said nervously.

“As a matter of fact she is,” David grinned and jerked his thumb at Christie, who growled at him in response before stumbling as Dwayne roughly pulled her out from behind him.

The stranger’s eyes lit up when they landed on Christie and she took an eager step forward, which had Christie taking one back in response as she stared warily at the other female.

“I’m so glad I finally found you,” the girl breathed happily.

“Who the hell are you?” Christie snapped.

“M-my name’s Cassandra… Cassandra Watts,” Cassandra explained, eyeing the older blonde hesitantly. “I’m your sister.”
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(30 minutes later)

The Lost Boys’ Cave

Christie sat between Paul and Dwayne, the latter was a silent pillar of strength and comfort next to her as she tried to wrap her head around what Cassandra had just told her.

“Are you okay?” Cassandra asked quietly, watching her half-sister nervously.

“You’re a liar,” Christie said in response, shaking her head in denial. “My dad loves my mom. He would never cheat on her. Besides, he would’ve told me if I had another sibling, which he didn’t.”

“CC, maybe you should hear her out,” Marko suggested from his position beside Cassandra.

“No. No, I won’t, because she’s a liar!” Christie stood up and batted Dwayne’s hands away as he reached for her. She marched over to the other female and leaned over her, staring directly into her identical eyes. “I don’t know what sick game you’re playing but you can leave my family out of it. I already have a sister and I don’t need another one, especially not one like you.”

Christie spun around, storming away from the group in the direction of the old rooms at the back of the hotel. Dwayne paused briefly, sharing a look of understanding with his leader before heading after an upset Christie.
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Christie let out another angry sigh, glaring sternly at the wall as if it had somehow upset her. Footsteps sounded behind her and she glanced back briefly at Dwayne before turning away again.

“I’m not in the mood, Dwayne,” she whispered, grumbling under her breath.

“Too bad, princess,” Dwayne replied as he sat down on the bed and stared at her until she gave in and sat beside him. “You don’t believe Cassie, do you?”

“Gee, what ever gave you that idea?” she asked sarcastically before she let out a sigh and seemed to curl in on herself before his eyes. “No, I don’t believe her. My dad is a good man, he would never cheat on my mom.”

“Maybe it was an accident,” he suggested quietly. “I’m sure he never meant for it to happen.”

“I-I don’t want to talk about it,” she whispered weakly, tears springing to her eyes. Dwayne reached out, stroking her cheek softly and brushing away the stray tear that escaped. “You have to stop doing that.”

“Doing what?”

“Touching me like that,” she replied. Dwayne didn’t answer, he simply moved his fingers from her cheek to her hair and pushed it away from her neck. She immediately knew what he wanted and took her hair from him, pulling it into a bun at the top of her head. “Be careful,” she told him resignedly. He nodded and wrapped an arm around her waist, pinning her against him. Christie shivered, goosebumps rushing up her spine as his bare chest touched her back as he leaned in.

A yelp of pain escaped as he roughly sunk his fangs into her neck, just under her jaw and sucked on the blood that welled up from the wounds. A muffled groan slipped past her lips, and when she attempted to pull away, Dwayne’s large hand closed around her throat, holding her still as he continued to gulp down her blood.

“D-Dwayne,” she rasped out, finding it incredibly hard to talk due to the fangs buried in her neck and the hand around her throat. The male vampire paused briefly before he opened his mouth and unlatched his fangs from her neck, blood immediately gushed from the open wounds and started sliding down her skin. Dwayne leaned back in, and just when she thought he was going to bite her again, he took her by surprise as he ran his tongue over her skin, licking up all the blood. Christie sat still, completely frozen as she waited for him to finish.

When he sat back, Christie met his gaze and noticed that his eyes were suddenly brighter than they had been before he had bitten her. She looked away quickly when he glanced at her and turned her attention to her hands as she linked her fingers together.

“You should sleep,” his sudden, deep voice had her flinching in surprise and gazing up at him silently.

“W-will you stay?” she whispered, feeling incredibly small when he turned his soulful gaze on her. A deep sense of regret and shame filled her as he remained silent beside her. “Forget it. It was stupid, I shouldn’t have said anything.” She shuffled backwards until she was fully on the bed and curled into a ball. There was the sound of rustling fabric behind her and then a familiar weight settled behind her and an arm was placed around her waist, pulling her into him.

Christie let out a quiet, happy sigh and snuggled back into his warm body. Dwayne rolled his eyes from behind her but proceeded to bury his face in her neck and drift to sleep as the sun rose and settled high in the sky.