Santa Carla

A/N: I don't own anything except Brandi. So. please don't think I'm making a profit, cause I'm not.

“It doesn’t hurt,” the girl beside Brandi assured her friend, who was getting her ear pierced. It looked like Michael was next in line.

“It’s a rip-off.”

Brandi turned and saw the girl Michael had followed the night before. Michael followed her again as she walked off. When Brandi heard her say her name was Star, she almost gagged. Brandi had to follow them though, since Michael was her ride home. She had just opened her mouth to remind Michael that she was there, as a matter of fact, when Star’s boyfriend pulled up with his gang.

Brandi could tell Michael was going to go with them, so she asked the curly-haired blond for a ride.

“Sure, why?” he asked her.

“That idiot over there is my ride home. Plus, you guys look like fun.”

Just then, the leader began revving his bike, so the curly-haired guy told Brandi to go ahead and get on his bike. He also introduced himself, saying his name was Marko.

After a few minutes of riding, they slid to a stop at the edge of a cliff. Unfortunately, Michael almost slid over. He stood up and attacked Star’s boyfriend. When Marko restrained him, Michael began yelling, “Just you! Just you.”

Star’s boyfriend leaned towards Michael and asked, “How far are you willing to go, Michael?” Michael calmed down and was able to follow Star and her boyfriend down into a cave. Brandi walked with Marko.

As they entered the cave, Marko told Brandi who everybody was. Besides Star and Michael, there was David (Star’s boyfriend), Laddie (some little boy), Paul (a full-fledged member of the gang), and Dwayne (ditto). Brandi listened to David prattle on about the formation of the cave and turned to Marko.

“Is David always like this?”

Marko smiled and shook his head as he answered her. “No. He’s just trying to make sure Michael knows who’s in charg


“Is this all because of Star?”

“Mostly,” Marko replied. Brandi was stunned.

“I don’t understand,” she admitted. “I mean, I know she was David’s girlfriend before she even knew Michael existed, but if she was this willing to abandon him, I don’t know why David is so intent on keeping her. I mean, wouldn’t you want somebody loyal? If not to you completely, then at least to the group. 4 guys like you would be enough for most women, me included.”

Marko smiled down at her. “Is that so?”

She pressed herself closer to him, trying to avoid the feeling that she was acting like a slut, and focusing on the part of her that said she needed more contact with the man before her. “Absolutely. You’re strong, hot…” Brandi was interrupted when Marko kissed her gently. He took it slow, but gently traced her lips and she gladly opened them and granted his tongue entrance. When he finally released her, she panted for some breath before finishing. “Plus you kiss like that. What else could a woman want?”

Brandi turned as she heard dead silence in the chamber and was confronted with the stares of the entire group. Dwayne and Paul were grinning, David was definitely amused, and Michael was dumbfounded. Marko just grinned.

“This is Brandi.”

“I’m Michael’s sister,” she added, blushing furiously. Her eyes were caught by David’s, though, as he told Marko to leave and get food for everybody. Before she knew it, Marko was gone, obeying David, and Michael was smoking a joint offered by David.

David led Brandi to a seat and asked her how she came to be kissing Marko, and she haltingly explained, starting with why she moved to Santa Carla.

“Well, my parents just got a divorce. Dad was fooling around, going on ‘business trips’… the whole cliché. It had been going on for years, but Mom couldn’t hide from the facts any more after Dad got sued for child support. So, Mom dragged me, Michael, and Sam here. This is where she grew up. Unfortunately, this whole thing happened just as I was supposed to be getting my license, which means I’m still dependent on Michael for a ride. So I asked Marko for a ride when Michael was obviously going to go with you. As for the kissing part, well… Marko’s just, I guess he’s just Marko. I asked him why you were essentially having a pissing-contest with Michael, and it just kind of rolled from there.”

Luckily Marko showed up with Chinese food, so Brandi didn’t have to go into anymore detail. He sat down next to her, but unfortunately, so did Michael. David started handing out food, and managed to convince Michael to take some rice. Brandi contented herself with stealing some of it.

“How are those maggots?”

Brandi stopped mid-chew at David’s words. However, the food in her mouth still felt like rice, even though the carton appeared to be full of squirming maggots. She swallowed the rice in her mouth, and just to calm herself, took a bite of the gotsgots”. Once the forkful reached her mouth, it was rice again. Michael, however, was not as assured as Brandi was, and, once David repeated himself, spit out his mouthful and dropped the carton.

When the laughter died down, David offered Michael and Brandi some consolation noodles. She just closed her eyes and took a bite. Michael felt it necessary to point out that they appeared to be worms.

As everyone laughed at him yet again, Marko slid his arm around Brandi's waist and gave her a gentle squeeze. David chose that moment to beckon Marko over. After a whispered conversation, Marko went over to a cabinet and brought out a bottle of wine. He handed it to David, and stood by as David took a drink.

The look on David’s face made Brandi realize that the contents of that bottle were going to change her life. But when he handed it to her, she felt no hesitation and immediately took a drink. Then she took another, slower, one as the sensations and feeling of the liquid made her close her eyes. She barely noticed as Marko came to stand behind her, supporting her with his weight, but she did notice when he whispered in her ear.

“You have to pass it to Michael.”

Brandi kept her eyes closed and blindly held out the bottle, and leaned against Marko, trusting that he wouldn’t let her fall.

She stayed that way the rest of the time they spent in the cave. The Boys (except for Marko) were dancing around the cave, celebrating for some reason. Brandi only took a slight notice of this however, all of her attention being on the feeling the liquid had caused and the sensation caused by Marko’s lips trailing all over her neck.

But Marko and Brandi eagerly followed everyone as they left the cave. As she started to climb up behind Marko on his bike, David spoke.

“Ride with me.”

Brandi turned and looked at Marko, apologizing, and quickly climbed behind David. The ride was the most intense thing she’d ever done, with the possible exception of kissing Marko. Because David rode in front of everyone else, she had no time to prepare for the twists and turns they made. But they finally arrived at their destination: a train bridge. David made a curious remark as everyone got off the bikes: “Perfect timing.”

Everyone was quiet as we walked along the bridge. At least until Michael stupidly asked, “What’s going on?” Brandi would have asked herself, except that she knew David would tell them when he was ready and not before. As it turned out, she was right.

“Michael wants to know what’s going on,” was David’s reply. He then turned the question into a game. “Marko, what’s going on?”

Marko replied, “I don’t know,” and then added, “What’s going on Paul?”

Paul didn’t even attempt to answer the question. “Wait a minute. Who wants to know?”

“Michael wants to know,” Dwayne replied readily.

By then David decided that was enough, and spoke up.

“I think we should let Michael know what’s going on. Marko,” he added at the end, nodding his head at Marko, who was standing beside Brandi with his arm around her waist. He had grabbed her as soon as they were off the bikes.

As soon as David nodded his head at him, Marko stepped away from Brandi, and stepped toward a gap in the bridge. He looked at her, winked, said, “Goodnight Michael,” and jumped off the bridge. Michael was startled, but Brandi figured this was just another test like the food had been. So she merely smiled as Paul and Dwayne followed Marko, and when both of them had jumped, she followed suit.

When Brandi jumped, she managed to grab a bar close to Marko and was able to maneuver herself to where she was facing Marko. He took it a step further and swung over so that they were right on top of one another. Then he kissed her. This one was so powerful; Brandi accomplished the feat of holding herself up with one hand, the other holding Marko to her.

“Don’t ever make me leave you,” Brandi panted when they finally broke apart. Marko grinned and looked over at David, asking permission. David grinned and nodded, and Marko answered Brandi with another, shorter, kiss. They were interrupted however, by a train passing overhead. Then she truly understood what David had meant.

It was quite fun, if you ignore Michael cussing. Paul and Dwayne were head banging, and Marko would have been, except his head would have hit Brandi's. Then Paul let go and fell.

As quietly as he could, Marko whispered in Brandi's ear, “Hold onto me,” and she did so with no hesitation. Then in a slightly more normal tone, Marko yelled over, “Don’t be scared Michael,” and let go himself. Marko and Brandi fell together, but she didn’t remember anything about the landing.

Brandi did remember waking up in a sleeping bag in the cave though. She got up, and decided to wander around. Eventually she ran into a cabinet, and when she opened it, discovered the bottle of liquid she had been given the night before.

She poured some of the liquid out into handhand, and looked at it in shock. It was blood. Yet, it wasn't entirely for a joke that they had given this to Michael and her to drink. David had taken a swig too.

Brandi's mind started racing with questions. Why had the Boys given them blood to drink? What had happened on the train bridge? And why did she feel a pull towards the back caves? Since she didn't have anything better to do, Brandi decided to go ahead and investigate that last question.

She slowly made her way through the caves, ending up in one that was pitch black. Slowly, her eyes adjusted, and Brandi looked up at the ceiling and saw the Boys. They were all hanging by their feet from bars that were strung across the cave. Her small gasp of surprise sounded so loud, she was surprised they didn't wake up and ask her what she was doing there.

Brandi sat down on the floor of the cave, her mind still racing, even as she slowly fell asleep, propped against a wall, looking at the weirdness that was thoup.oup.

The answer to all of her questions (almost) presented itself when she reemerged from unconsciousness. She looked into Marko's face, which was right in front of her (they had woken up sooner than she did), and spoke.

“You’re vampires,” Brandi said flatly. Marko nodded somberly. “Is this the part where you tell me that you guys only feed on bad people and you don’t kill them even then?”

Marko looked at her for a minute.

“Is that what you want me to tell you?” he asked seriously, sitting down beside her.

“Tell me what you do,” Brandi told him.

“We kill,” he began, “and we enjoy it. We kill whomever we want, and we make a big bloody mess that baffles the police. We laugh while we do it, and generally party afterwards.” He said all this without emotion, just telling Brandi the truth.

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank god. I don’t want to spend eternity with Louis.”

“Louis?” Marko asked, puzzled but still relieved.

“Haven’t you read Interview with the Vampire?”

“No. David did though. Laughed his ass off,” he said, standing up. He offered Brandi his hand and pulled her to her feet, then led her out of the back cave and into the cavern where the rest of the Boys were.