The Lost Boys

Everything was spinning…The world around me was blurred beyond recognition…Where was I? It took a good fifteen minutes, I’m told, of David talking to me and trying to wake me up before things came back into focus. The car had stopped and I hadn't even noticed. The pain seemed to have faded as well, but I couldn't trust it. They seemed to come and go as they pleased, and I was barely holding on to consciousness, another possible explanation.

Wait, why was I moving? David had begun pulling me out of the car and Chris was now at my side with an arm around me, helping me towards a house. Where had we stopped? And why?

“What’s going on?” I asked weakly, looking up at him. I felt myself nearly collapse, unable handle all this stress. His eyes…There was something wrong. They almost seemed…Red? He knew I saw it, and we stopped for the moment as he awaited the question he knew I wanted to ask.

“What are you?” My voice was barely above a whisper, but he knew what I would ask before I opened my mouth, anyway.

“What am I?” He chuckled. “Josh, she wants to know what I am.” And sure enough, Josh emerged from the darkness of right side of the house. He was grinning ear to ear.

“Ian, you hear that?” He asked. “Tell her what we are…” He appeared from the left of the house and bore an identical grin to Josh’s.

“No, I’d hate to deprive Michael…” He replied.

“ I've got a better idea…” Mike was suddenly behind me. I turned quickly and tried to back away from him out of instinct, but Chris still had a firm grip on me. “Why don’t we show her what we are?”

“Excellent idea Michael.” I didn't bother to look. I knew it was Dave speaking behind me. “And what are your thoughts, Rebecca?” My eyes darted around nervously. I wasn't entirely sure what her response was with how quiet she had become, but I could take a stab at it after Josh’s response.

“Oh, that’s OK Rebecca.” His tone was sweet, but not genuine. “You won’t be able to resist once it hits the air anyway. You've deprived yourself for far too long.” They looked at one another and then slowly began to walk towards the house. Chris let go of me cautiously, handing me off to Rebecca so I wouldn't fall.

“Come on…” I hissed at Rebecca, tugging at her arm in an attempt to make her move, but she wasn't budging. “Please…” I noticed that she was staring at the house and followed her gaze.

“It’s too late.” Her voice was just barely audible. Mike, the one who lead them over, kicked in the door to reveal a few guys in what seemed like a party setting. I took in the scenery around me. It was a seemingly abandoned house surrounded by trees. The dirt road behind me told me we were probably out in the middle of nowhere…So how could we escape?

My eardrums were screaming, suddenly overwhelmed with the sounds of chaos that raged inside. Shrieks of pain and terror clouded the air along with something else…The music? No…Thudding…The other sounds around me began to fade out until that was all I could hear. Was it a heartbeat? No, more than one…It couldn't be…

And then the pain struck again. I immediately doubled over, and I’m pretty sure I was screaming, although that was the least of my concerns. My vision was going blurry again, and everything began to get dark. I thought I was passing out.

“Rebecca…” I moaned. That seemed to snap her out of it, as she was immediately at my side.

“Dawn…Dawn!” She tried to get my attention, but her voice was so muffled…Everything was so dreamlike…”Listen to me.” Why was her voice so serious? “Don’t give in. Please, whatever you do…Don’t give in.” I had a literal second to contemplate this before I caught the most intoxicating and bewitching scent…So overwhelming…

My vision was rapidly becoming clearer by the second. It was a pitch-black night, and yet I found myself able to pick up on things I couldn't just a little bit ago. And when had the pain gone away? I hadn't even noticed…

I looked up to find a rather distorted image of Rebecca. It was completely bizarre, and yet one of the most magnificent things I’d ever seen. She seemingly undulated as if her body was made of nothing but a shimmering, gray smoke. I looked down at my own hands to find the exact same ghost-like features. Though still in shock, I slowly began to stand and debate with myself whether to make a run for it or not. My eyes stayed stuck on Rebecca as I realized her lips were moving. Was she talking? I couldn't hear a word she was saying. It was as if someone had shoved cotton in my ears, muffling her voice.

“Dawn…” David’s voice, coming from a good fifty feet away, was clear as a bell. How could this be? My head snapped around to find him in a distorted form as well. However, unlike Rebecca and I, he was nearly white and seemingly solid, though slightly opaque. His eyes were an eerie black contrast to the rest of him, and he held something about his height that seemed to be moving, writhing, and literally on fire. I could feel the heat draining away from me, but couldn't figure out why…

“Come join the fun, Dawn.” That was Chris’s voice. So crisp; so commanding…I should go…

Without so much as a glance back to Rebecca, I slowly started forward, barely even realizing what I was doing. As I drew closer, I noticed that there wasn't just one flaming being, but two. The other was held by a person similar to us, but not nearly as light in coloration; fire danced in their eyes eyes.

“Dawn…” David drew my attention back to him; back to the thing now at my feet. A new color slowly began to flow through it, turning the flames violet. And the scent that came with it…I shuddered; It was pure ecstasy.

“Dawn!” Rebecca’s voice was suddenly harsh and clear. “Resist it!”

‘Resist what?’ I tried to think beyond that, but my mind was too clouded by my other senses… That worried me. Why couldn't I think straight?

“Please…” A muffled, unrecognizable voice begged. My vision began to clear. It was this boy’s voice...The thing in front of me. “Please!” He was begging, crying even, and still I had him by his throat. When did I do that?? I immediately dropped him, but David was faster and caught him by his shirt.

“Thank God.” Another one of those whispers, but this time I could recognize it as Rebecca’s voice. I looked up to Dave, my eyes filled with confusion, betrayal and hurt.

“Weak!” That whisper belonged to Josh, but this time, it was very loud and sharp. I glared at him.

“Come now, I’m sure you've seen the signs…” David’s voice was annoyingly calm for this situation. “What reasoning did you come up with when you found that the wine didn't affect you?” He stopped, watching my mind process things. I had thought about it before…I know I did…But Josh had interrupted me at the waterfall. ”You were alright because it wasn't wine.” He was right; it wasn't. I could taste it now that I thought back, but no…It couldn't have been…Blood…

“That was me following you in the ally…” He HAD been there! I knew I recognized something when I shook his hand! “ We have been testing you, seeing just how far you would go…” It was all a game; a game I played right into. Bastards…But out of all of them…

“Josh…” I growled, my vision clouding over a bit. Through all the tests, he was always discouraging me, always finding ways to make things harder, always getting me that much closer to being killed, and I knew I’d just become lunch if I was.
I understood now; I understood perfectly. This fire ball was a human, brimming with life. The others, whose life fires had been extinguished, survived as nothing but the smoke of their former selves. And Dave…He was never truly alive in the first place.

“You’re vampires…” I whispered.

“Dawn!” Rebecca yelled, trying to catch my attention and stop me, but I didn't care. I was worthless to this little cult anyway. If I didn't take this boy’s life here and now, both of us would be killed. I looked directly into Josh’s eyes as his image distorted along with the world around him. I was giving him the exact same look as I had when I drank the “wine”.

“No…” I began to smile a bit as I felt the slight pressure in my mouth just behind my canines. I’m sure these were my fangs pushing through. “WE’re vampires…” I corrected.

“Yes…” I heard David hiss. “That’s it darling. Now, drink deep…” With one final glare to Josh, I tore my gaze away and focused my attention on the boy, grabbing his shirt and pulling him forward roughly. I could feel his pulse like I would have my own, and was naturally drawn to it until I found my fangs buried in his neck and the thick, salty blood gushing down my throat…

And I drained every last succulent drop…And I didn't care.

After letting his body drop, it landed crumpled heap on the ground, the fire completely extinguished with nothing left but a blackened corpse. I looked over to Josh and found Rebecca lying in his lap, her eyes transfixed on the human he held. With a slice of the pocket knife he held in his other hand, a few drops fell directly into Rebecca’s mouth; I could see her eyes practically roll into the back of her head. Had she spat the blood out, she would have been fine I’m sure. But not only did she swallow, she lunged at the boy’s neck as well, drinking greedily. The instant she did, the light gray was consumed by a dark, almost black smoke. Curious, I looked down at my hands again to find them the same color as the others, excluding David.

As my vision returned to normal, I began to notice how weak I felt. But that didn’t make any sense. Shouldn't I feel better? Stronger?

“Dave…” I mumbled, slowly starting to lose my balance, but he was already on the move and caught me as I began to fall.

“Shhh…” He saw the questions swimming in my eyes. “Just relax, darling. Don’t fight it.” My consciousness began to fade, and he scooped me up bridal style.

From there, I was lost to my dreams. I don’t remember a thing until I woke up in the bed of the cave, my eyes opening for what seemed like the first time.

“So this is it…” I mumbled to myself, unable to keep from smiling a bit. Others began to stir around me. “The beginning of the end…”