Vamps Behaving Badly

Pairings – Dwayne/Laddie


***


“You guys, wait till you see what I got for you,” Marko said excitedly once the group was inside and had stepped down the roughly hewn stone stairs onto the dirt floor. He pulled a small plastic zip lock bag out of his jeans pocket.

“Lucky I took them out of my jacket,” he quipped with a chastising look at Dwayne. “I paid good money for this candy.” With a flourish, he produced five small pink pills with a flower printed on one side. Dwayne raised his black eyebrows quizzically.

“This is some new shit I was able to get hold of,” Marko pronounced, handing one to Dwayne who popped it into his mouth without question and curled his bronzed form gracefully down onto the circular wall surrounding the crooked candelabra in the middle of the room. The candelabra had once been the flamboyant focal point on the ceiling of the luxurious hotel’s foyer but when the whole building collapsed into the fault line, it smashed to the floor and now sat askew, a shadow of its former splendour. Candles filled some of the sconces and they were lit. Along with the candelabra, there were myriad pieces of junk about the place. There was that much stuff inside the cave that it was hard to take in all at once. There were items of furniture, scavenged from the hotel’s décor; chairs, chests of drawers, small tables, boxes, trunks, crates, statues. That’s where Star’s bed had come from and the wicker day lounge in her room. All of the pieces were slightly damaged but that’s what tended to happen when a building fell into the earth. And then there were things the boys had brought in. In one corner there was a pile of motorcycle parts - tyres and frames - along with an upended couch and some bedsprings, unwanted relics from the hotel. The guys had lugged in shiny red metal cabinets with drawers, the kind automotive workshops use for storing tools and mechanical parts in. They only brought their bikes into the cave if something needed to be fixed. There were posters on the walls, including movie promotions and a large black and white Jim Morrison one. The guys had gone mental with cans of spray paint, covering every spare surface with graffiti - their names, rock bands, swear words. They even graffitied a marble statue of a woman which once used to stand elegantly in the foyer, multi-coloured paint all over her face and breasts and dress. There were two surfboards leaning against a toppled pillar. The boys had put their mark on the abandoned place and made it their own haven. To add a woman’s touch, Star had provided candles, hundreds of them, and had hung mobiles made out of things she found on the beach, shells, starfish, seaweed and driftwood, along with bones - possibly human - and glass beads. The mobiles made a pleasant tinkling sound when a breeze wafted through the cave. She had also hung the sheer curtains around her bed but on the whole, it was a boys’ retreat. Fires burnt in old oil drums and in torches on the walls, making abstract shapes on the cave’s internal surfaces. Pigeons quietly cooed and rustled up near the ceiling.

“Fantasia. Guaranteed good time,” Marko grinned as Laddie eagerly snatched a pill from him. The curly-haired vamp flipped one in Paul’s direction, who caught it deftly, and then held his hand out to Star, a tiny pink tablet resting on his fingertip. She hesitated. David had always told her that drugs were bad for humans, let alone vampires. Pot was fine, no harm there, but nothing harder than that. With the way their vampiric bodies worked, the results were unpredictable and dangerous. Not that drugs would kill them, but that they might become unstable, rash and reckless, unmasking their real identities to the general community and going on public killing sprees, basically turning haywire. Star knew that the boys sometimes indulged in mind-altering substances and as far as she knew, they hadn’t done anything really stupid. Well, anything stupider than hanging off railroad tracks while locomotives thundered overhead. She hadn’t been game enough to try drugs for herself yet. David would kill her. Not literally - he’d just be really mad. But he wasn’t there so she could partake of the illegal product if she wanted to.

“I don’t know,” she said doubtfully.

“C’mon, Star, it’ll be fun,” Laddie invited. “We won’t let anything bad happen to you, will we guys?” He glanced at the others, seeking their support.

“Totally. We’ll look after you,” Marko agreed with him. “Nothing bad will happen, I promise.”

“Aw, guys, I’m just not sure…” Star nervously played with the end of her plaited hair.

“Be cool, sister,” Dwayne coerced. “Just chill out with us. Your man ain’t here to stop you.”

“The Chief’s right,” Marko confirmed. “You got nothing to worry about.”

Laddie smiled encouragingly, hopping up onto the low wall with Dwayne, draping himself across the brunette’s leather-clad thighs. Dwayne began idly raking his fingers through Laddie’s brown hair. Laddie was gazing at Star, his head resting in Dwayne’s lap, his dark blue eyes glinting in the firelight. Star watched the Native American vampire touching Laddie’s hair with fascination. She wondered if it was wrong to find that supremely erotic. Laddie was like her little brother and she really shouldn’t be thinking of him in a sexual kind of way. It was just that he’d grown up and matured so much over the last six years; he was almost unrecognisable as the same snub-nosed child in the military-style jacket that he used to be. Paul scowled at the way Laddie was clinging to Dwayne like a leech and the way Dwayne was playing with the kid’s hair. The blond was leaning against the lurching pillar near his surfboard, his arms folded in front of him.

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, Star,” Paul told her. Star gazed around at her friends who had all swallowed the pills and were waiting for her to make up her mind. She had two choices; sit back and watch them get high, missing out on a potentially mind-bending journey, or join in and have a ball. Without David there, she decided to be rebellious for once.

“Okay,” she finally consented. “I’ll try anything once.”

“Awright,” Dwayne drawled. “You got just as many balls as the rest of us.”

Marko raised his finger up to her lips and she opened her mouth so he could place the pill onto her tongue. “Atta girl,” he praised her when she took it. He flicked a pink tablet up into the air, expertly catching it in his mouth. Star swallowed hers quickly before the protective coating melted off and the bitter chemicals were exposed. Marko whooped and put a Metallica CD into the rock-box, turning it up loud and ruffling the feathers of a few pigeons. Laddie jumped off Dwayne, in an energetic state.

“How long does it take to work?” Star queried.

“Because we’ve just fed, any second now,” Dwayne vowed, lighting a cigarette. The pill would dissolve into the blood in their stomachs and since blood was a liquid, it would be absorbed into their vampiric systems like water into a sponge. Star paced the floor nervously, wondering what was going to happen. It wasn’t long at all before she started to feel the effects. Her heart sped up and a languorous euphoric feeling inched its way along her limbs. She looked to the others. Paul was still leaning against the pillar but his breathing seemed quicker and shallower and Laddie was with Marko, both of them rocking out to the pulsating, adrenalin-pumping heavy metal music assaulting the ambience of the cave. Laddie was bent over at the waist, hair covering his face, head banging and playing air guitar along with Kirk Hammett, while Marko was miming imaginary drums in time with Lars Ulrich, making the same kind of wild-eyed, insanely avid faces Lars did when he performed. Dwayne went and perched himself in David’s chair, set in a precise position in the cave that was under a hole in the roof, meaning whoever sat there got bathed in silver rays of the moon, like a spotlight. David calculatingly put his chair there so that the moon would highlight his pale skin and hair and he’d be the centre of attention, as if he was sitting on a throne, lording it over them all. None of the others had special chairs, only David. As the king wasn’t there to claim his throne, his deputy Dwayne had militantly claimed it and was lounging there, smoking and openly staring at Laddie with his deep-set, almost-black gaze.

“Um, I think it’s working,” Star volunteered, fanning her face as a hot flush passed through her. “Either that or I’m reaching menopause.”

“Good, innit?” Laddie enunciated with glee, grabbing Star and making her dance with him, twirling the older female around, making the thick rope of her plaited hair spin and causing a few ringlets to bounce free. She laughed dizzily. It was a completely different sort of buzz than the one obtained from blood. Lighter, happier, mellower. She had the sudden silly urge to tell everyone how much she loved them but didn’t do it for fear of coming across as a mushy girl. She just let Laddie whirl her around and around the wall surrounding the candelabra in the centre of the cave, Dwayne’s dark eyes watching them, until they spun into the curtains of Star’s makeshift bedroom, collapsing back onto the nearest mattress and giggling like lunatics. Laddie’s weight was heavy on top of Star but not uncomfortably so. Laddie’s face turned serious as he stared down at the smaller female vampire, panting softly, his gaze cloudy and unfathomable. His tooth earring dangled down with his hair. Star stared up at him, her eyes wide.

Omigod, she thought frantically. He was going to kiss her!

Slowly, Laddie leant closer, a look of determined purpose on his face until abruptly, he winced. He turned to Paul, who had just kicked him sharply in the ribs.

“Ow!”

“Get off her, you walking hormone,” Paul said with disgust, taking his denim jacket off and tossing it in a corner. “And move over so we can all fit on here.”

Laddie rolled off Star muttering, “What? I wasn’t doing anything. Goddamn Nazi.”

Dwayne and Marko had both witnessed the incident and were staring through the curtains at the sixteen year old with entertained expressions on their faces.

“Neat idea. Let’s get comfortable,” Star advised, sitting up and sidestepping what had almost just happened. Her bedroom with a double and a single mattress and mounds of cushions and pillows was the most hospitable place in the whole crumbling hotel. There was too much dirt everywhere else to lounge around. The boys didn’t have beds because they slept upside down near the roof in their sleeping chamber, their bat-like feet curled around a wooden pole put there for that very purpose. Star preferred to sleep in a bed with blankets. Laddie used to sleep there with her and his teddy bear in the second bed until he grew too old and then he joined Dwayne and the others on their perch. The only time anyone else was in the curtained-off area with Star was when David wanted sex. Then he stayed and slept through the day with her but the rest of the time the charismatic leader was hanging up there with the guys like nocturnal winged mammals. Star had a brainwave and told Laddie to push the second unused bed up to hers, the two butting mattresses creating a substantial space for the five of them to recline onto. While he did that, she lit all the candles in her room and then sank cross-legged on the top end of her mattress facing Dwayne and Paul. Marko sat to Star’s right. Laddie wisely flopped down between Star and Dwayne, well away from Paul, on Star’s left, the five of them forming a circle. Wondering if they should hold a séance or something spooky like that, Star looked around the group and found Marko peeping closely at her with his big brown eyes.

“What?” she asked in bewilderment. “Why are you looking at me? Do I have blood on my face?” She touched her mouth and chin but couldn’t feel anything.

Half-smiling, Marko replied, “No. I was just thinking you look really pretty tonight. Drugs agree with you, Star.”

Her cinnamon eyes were sparkling and her cheeks were pink. Wisps of her chestnut hair coiled around her face becomingly. Even the amethyst stud in her nose was glittering. She just seemed to be glowing from the inside. Star glowed even more when she blushed at Marko’s praise. The boys didn’t usually compliment her like that. She liked it.

“Um, thank you, Marko,” she answered bashfully. “Do I really?”

Marko’s lips curved up knowingly. “Mmm hmm.”

Giddy with the narcotics in her veins, Star caught one of Marko’s silken curls in her fingers and twisted it around before letting it spring back. His golden hair was just so touchable, like a doll’s. “You know, you’re pretty cute yourself,” she said flirtatiously. Marko grinned and shook his head, knowing she must have been exceedingly smashed to say something like that. With the combination of the pill and David not being there, Star was really coming out of her shell.

“Hey, I got an idea,” Laddie cried enthusiastically. “Let’s play Truth or Dare. C’mon, who’s up for it?”

Dwayne said easily, “Sure, I’m in.”

“Yeah, me too,” Marko said. “I know what I’m gonna ask you first, Laddie.” He pointedly looked at Star, then back at Laddie who ignored him.

“Star?”

She said okay. Everything sounded like great fun to her right then.

“Paul? Not chicken are ya?” Laddie taunted, gazing challengingly at the surfer.

With a heavy sigh, Paul relented. “Fine. At least you’re not suggesting we go put soap powder in the town fountain like last time. Kids.” He muttered this last word and pulled up a knee, slinging his arm around it. There was a rip in his jeans, across his kneecap. The candles and blazing drum-fires caused dancing shadows to flicker across the walls, the light shining through the filmy curtains and turning everybody’s skin golden.

“All right!” Laddie, sprawled untidily on the mattress, gazed around the group with anticipation. “Who’s first?”

“How about you get asked first?” Marko suggested with relish. “This was your idea.”

“Okay, but I get to choose who asks me,” Laddie said logically. “I choose Dwayne.”

“Of course you would,” Paul grumbled with sarcasm.

The jet-haired vamp exchanged a glance with Marko and asked the question they all wanted to know. “Truth, Laddie,” he emphasized. “Were you just about to kiss Star before?”

Glaring at Marko and Dwayne who were smirking, Laddie took his time to answer. Star was quite interested to know his thoughts on that subject too.

At last, Laddie said sulkily, “Maybe. So? It was the Fantasia, okay?”

Marko crowed over that bit of information. “You horn dog, Laddie,” he teased. “You want Star, don’t you? Admit it.”

“Bite me, midget,” Laddie retorted and raised his middle finger rudely while Marko and Dwayne laughed outrageously. The pill had lightened Paul’s depression somewhat and he was able to form a smirk, especially since it was Laddie who was getting humiliated. Star felt herself flush slightly, hoping they wouldn’t ask her if she wanted Laddie to kiss her. Because she did, at the time. The boy’s mouth was so lush and ripe and she couldn’t help wondering occasionally what it would be like. Even though she immediately felt like a pervert for thinking that about the kid who she had raised since he was ten.

“My turn, wiener-dicks.” Laddie looked between the Indian and the pixie, trying to decide who to embarrass first.

“Mine’s way bigger than a wiener,” Marko gloated, grabbing his own package, the drugs making him bolder than usual. “It’s more like a Bratwurst.”

“Yeah, you wish,” Laddie jeered, making a wanking motion with his hand.

“But it’s true,” Marko contradicted him. “If you had what I’ve got, it’d throw off your centre of gravity and you’d have to learn to walk again.”

Laddie didn’t believe it for a second. “Uh huh. Okay, Marko – or should I call you Delusion Guy? I’m picking you. Truth. Have you ever sucked cock?”

“Laddie!” Star gasped at the boy’s vulgar question but Laddie paid no attention to her.

Marko reddened but didn’t answer.

“Truth, man,” Laddie reminded him. “Or we’ll make you do a dare.”

“So what if I have?” Marko was indignant. “But that was before I was with Maria. Not that it’s any of your business.”

Maria was the girl who used to work at Max’s video shop. When the new owners took over the store, she remained working there for a while. She was an Italian babe, with long curly black hair, café latte skin and the most brilliant smile. Though Paul had begun audaciously flirting with her, it was Marko’s sweetness that ended up winning her over. Marko had been dating her for ages and was head over heels in love with her. She didn’t know Marko was a vampire or that his buddies were. He was afraid she’d be repulsed if he told her. Eight months ago, Maria broke up with Marko. It was just when he decided he was going to tell her the truth and ask her if she wanted to join the gang. She left Santa Carla and Marko had no clue where she went. Heartbroken, Marko hadn’t dated another girl since. When Star had offered him a shoulder to cry on, Marko had started to have feelings for her, which was a complete waste of time because she belonged to David and Marko could never have her. Needless to say, he did a lot of jerking off and channelled his frustration into feeding.

“Whose cock did you suck?” Laddie persisted, turning Marko’s cheeks even darker. “Was it David’s?”

“You only get one question, Laddie.” Paul’s reprimanding voice silenced him, saving poor Marko from further embarrassment. “Anyway, as a virgin you’re not qualified to talk about sucking cocks. If you had one shoved in your face you wouldn’t even know what to do with it.”

“Yeah, and you know ALL about that, don’t you?” Laddie snickered. “How exactly DO you deep throat without gagging?”

Paul just gazed coolly at Laddie, not bothering to dignify that with a response.

“Your go, Marko,” Star interjected.

Marko bit at his thumbnail, still flustered. He used to bite the thumb of his glove when he was nervous or excited but since he didn’t wear them anymore his nail got bitten as a substitute. He was flustered because Laddie had brought up a memory he really wasn’t that fond of. Part of being initiated into the pack involved sucking David’s dick in front of the other boys. If they did that, they earned David’s admiration and the admiration of the other members. Dwayne did it and so did Paul. Even though he nearly died of shame, Marko did it because he wanted to be a vampire so bad. He was sick of being picked on and bullied at school for not only being vertically challenged but painfully shy on top of that. Because he was small and pretty and softly-spoken, the guys at his high school thought he was gay and beat him up at every opportunity they got. As he iced another bruised rib or dabbed iodine on another split lip, he used to dream of the day he could get vengeance and even considered blowing the fuckers away with a semi-automatic weapon but knew he’d never have the guts to do it. He met Paul at the Santa Carla motorcycle store, where they both bought their oils and chains and other assorted bike bits. It never occurred to him that Paul only went there at night. When they crossed paths, they’d often strike up a conversation while selecting their wares and then they started hanging out and Paul introduced him to David and Dwayne.

When David revealed what they really were and offered him a VIP membership, Marko jumped at the chance and quit school to become a full-time blood-sucker. He knew if he was a vampire, nobody could fucking touch him again. One of the first things he did when he turned vamp was to go belt the fuck out of those guys who’d bullied him. He’d wanted to kill them but knew it’d be too suspicious if they all disappeared at once. As it was, he put them in hospital for weeks and they never bothered him again. Not once. They were so terrified of Marko that they didn’t even press assault charges and fled town. Yes, he could have killed them and that would have given him great satisfaction but he liked the idea of the bullies remaining alive and remembering what Marko did to them, how he hurt them. He liked that idea even more. That way, they would have to live the rest of their lives in fear of Marko, instead of the other way round. He had broken their bones like they were pencils and had felt unbelievably strong, like a newly-reborn ancient deity.

Giving David a blow job was a minimal price to pay for such limitless power.

Star didn’t have to do it because she was David’s girlfriend but Laddie was supposed to. Hell bent against the idea, Star insisted that Laddie be spared the same degradation due to his age and David had generously omitted that part of the ritual. All Laddie had to do was drink the wine in the decorated bottle. David’s blood. And even then he hadn’t been coerced into doing it. As an inquisitive ten year old nosing about the cave, Laddie stumbled across the bottle one day when Star and the others were sleeping, thought it was wine and drank the whole lot. When the boys awoke, they discovered a little half-vamp running around the cave foaming at the mouth and biting the heads off pigeons. Since it couldn’t be reversed unless Max was dead, the gang had been stuck with him. All they could do was make sure he didn’t kill anybody until he was old enough to do so. Even when he grew older and become a full vampire, David never made Laddie do the dick-sucking deed. The kid got off easy compared to the others. Another item on Paul’s ‘Why I Hate Laddie’ list.

“Uh, okay. Paul.” Marko turned to the figure of the statuesque blond, sitting with his knee propped up next to Star. Paul tilted his head inquisitively, his long flaxen hair slipping over his upper arm.

“Truth. Would you have really killed Laddie if Star hadn’t stopped you?”

Paul’s answer was frosty as ice. “Yes.”

Laddie blanched and shrunk down into the mattress as if it would protect him.

“He seems to forget that I am considerably older than him, not to mention stronger.”

Paul stared at Laddie cowering beside Star, who was appalled at the turn the conversation was taking. She felt like putting her arm around Laddie to shield him but he wouldn’t like that or think it was very manly. At sixteen years of age and five foot eleven inches tall, with underarm hair and stubble, he didn’t want to be thought of as the baby of the pack anymore so she had to squish her sisterly instincts down and let him be.

“That was the last time I will let you go, you understand me, sunshine?” Paul threatened, his blue-grey eyes filled with withheld anger.

Gulping, Laddie nodded tremulously. Marko shared an uncomfortable glance with Dwayne.

“It’s your turn Paul,” Star chirped brightly. She seemed to spend most of her time diffusing fights. There was an overload of testosterone and XY chromosomes floating around the cave. Maybe they needed to bring another female in. She’d love to have a blood-sister to hang out and do girly things with instead of all these motorcycle-riding males. Yeah, she was definitely going to ask David about that when she saw him next. Perchance he knew of a suitable girl who could join the club.

“Ah, yes. Dwayne.” Paul focused on his lover, whom he wasn’t feeling very loving towards at that moment. “Truth. Who do you have a secret crush on at the moment?”

The whole gang felt a prickle of awareness. They all knew the answer to that one. The thing was, would Dwayne admit it? Dwayne considered the query, sweeping his dark gaze unflinchingly over all of his kinsfolk in turn. He was very much in lust with Paul, but come on, everyone knew he had a crush on Laddie.

“Lou Diamond Phillips,” he decreed with a smug grin. He’d managed to nicely avoid the question and evaded causing any more tension between him and Paul and Laddie.

“Oh yeah, he’s totally yummy,” Star agreed about the black-haired actor from Young Guns I and II. “But what about ‘Doc’ Scurlock? He kinda looks like David…”

“I meant someone you actually know,” Paul flung back at Dwayne. “Like another vampire? Like one of us?”

“Nuh uh. You didn’t stipulate that,” Dwayne parried, enjoying the banter. “Lou Diamond Phillips. That’s my final answer.”

Marko sniggered while Laddie was disappointed. He’d been sure it was going to be him. Paul lifted a bare shoulder, not disconcerted. He could just ask Dwayne next time around. All he wanted was a truthful answer and he was going to get it even if he had to beat it out of Dwayne.

Dwayne fixed his arresting sooty eyes on the only girl in sight. “Star hasn’t had a turn yet.”

“Oh no,” she groaned. “Be nice to me, okay, guys?”

Dwayne grinned nastily and inquired, “Who would you most like to sleep with, out of all of us here in this room?”

“Hey, that’s MY next question,” Marko piped up futilely. Dwayne acted as if he didn’t hear him.

“Well?”

Star squirmed with all their eyes upon her, eager to hear which one she’d choose. “Gross,” she mumbled. “You guys are like my brothers. I wouldn’t sleep with any of you. Plus, David. Hello?”

“But if you had to? If your life depended on it? Which one?” Dwayne persisted.

“I’m not gonna choose,” she said staunchly. “Dare.”

A victorious cry rose up for the first dare of the evening. Marko made a face of sympathy as Star chewed her lip in trepidation, wondering if she’d made the right decision. Dwayne conversed quietly in a huddle with Marko and Laddie while Paul chose not to enter the powwow. She received a few scheming glances in her direction. What were they planning to get her to do?

Grinning like madmen, Laddie, Marko and Dwayne broke apart and faced her. “Your dare,” Dwayne announced with flair, “is that you have to show us your tits.”

“You…you…bastards!” Star exclaimed in outrage. Her so-called brothers had the hugest shit-eating grins on their faces because they knew she had no way out. She either had to admit who she would sleep with or flash them. Neither was very appealing but if she didn’t do one of them, she’d never live it down. So, after much deliberation, she took option number two, cursing them under her breath and lifted her mauve beaded top for an instant, feeling cool air against her chest, then yanked the material down, her cheeks burning. A barrage of catcalls and wolf whistles assaulted her ears as she twisted her mouth in a wry imitation of a grin. It was probably the drugs, but she had sort of gotten off on that dare. Her nipples had gone hard. And the boys certainly had enjoyed it. They were still passing comments about her breasts but at least it was all positive. She thought they were too small - she didn’t even need to wear a bra - but the guys thought that a handful was plenty enough.

“All right, all right,” she cut in. “You’ve had your fun. My turn now.”

They quietened instantly but Marko was still nudging Laddie.

“Marko?” He turned to Star and the grin died on his face. She asked him a most unladylike question. “Truth. Who do you think of when you’re jacking it?”

With a heroic effort, he managed to halt the blood rushing up to his face and rued the day she became such a tomboy. Trying to think of a way to get out of answering it, he frowned at Star and began to speak three times before he realised he was trapped in a corner. There was no way he would admit the truth and the guys would know if he was lying. Swearing, he sullenly revealed he would take the dare. Another animated yell came from Laddie and Dwayne. They were having the time of their lives. And so was Star. Those pink pills were splendid. A simple game of Truth or Dare had turned into something as rousing as a prime-time game show.

“Your dare,” Star began with vengeance in mind, “is to show us your dick.”

“Wh…what?” he stuttered, looking at Star helplessly. Laddie and Dwayne broke into uncontrollable laughter again, falling weakly against each other. That smirk had reappeared on Paul’s face.

“You heard me. You’re always bragging about how well endowed you are, so bring that big boy out here.”

“Aw, hey, come on,” he whimpered, wishing he’d never boasted about what was in his shorts.

“Look, I just flashed my boobs at y’all so you can surely give us a glimpse of your manhood, which you seem to be very proud of.”

Laddie and Dwayne started chanting, “Dare, dare dare,” with increasing volume.

“Screw you guys,” Marko swore.

“You gotta do it, bud,” Paul chimed in, amused in spite of himself. “You don’t wanna be a pussy, do you?”

“Yeah, dwarf. Show us the goods,” Laddie goaded him.

“Go on, Marko,” Star purred persuasively. “I wanna see it.”

He struggled with himself for a while then sighed in defeat, stood up and looked at Star. He wouldn’t have minded just showing Star but he didn’t feel like lugging out his wang in full view of the other guys. “You’re gonna pay for this, wench,” he guaranteed peevishly. His right hand paused above the waistband of his jeans before he popped the buttons and hauled the front of his boxer shorts down for a moment, all while looking at the spider-webbed ceiling in a huff.

“Yeah, go on, laugh,” he gritted out as he did his jeans back up fumblingly, feeling like he was back in high school again. But nobody did. Nobody said anything. They were all too shocked. Marko hadn’t been exaggerating. The cherub-faced boy was hung like a horse. It was probably nature’s way of recompensing for his less-than-towering height. The atmosphere of the room changed intangibly and the vamps knew they were all thinking the same thing. What would it be like…?

Star cleared her throat. “Uh, thanks, Marko. You can sit down now.”

He slumped back next to Star and brightened as he realised it was his turn again. He joyfully asked Star what her most erogenous zone was and she punched him on the arm but answered it, not keen on doing another dare. She told them about her finger sucking fetish. All David had to do if he wanted sex was suck on her fingers and she was his. Marko mentally filled that piece of data away to be used somewhere in the future. Hopefully. The rest of the group latched onto that question and they all had to answer it in turn. They discovered Marko wanted his stomach kissed, Dwayne had a very sensitive area on the back of his neck and Paul’s nipples were his hot spots. At only sixteen, Laddie was still a virgin so he didn’t really know much about erogenous zones, apart from what he learnt when he masturbated. Unfortunately, a penis was not classified as an erogenous zone so he admitted that he liked his hair being played with, which Dwayne seemed to know already, Paul noted in annoyance. As the group was fascinated by each other’s sex lives, the questions were centred on fantasies next. Dwayne declined to uncover his real fantasy about Laddie and opted for a dare and had to pierce his own tongue with the same needle he had used to put a hole in Laddie’s ear. Being a blood-loving creature of the night, he seemed to get sick pleasure out of the procedure, as did everyone else. Star couldn’t help grimacing though, as he waggled his tongue indecently at her, needle poking out the top and bottom. It looked dreadful. She told him stop it. As Dwayne had no suitable barbell to insert into the new hole, he had to remove the needle and the piercing closed up in a matter of seconds, leaving nothing but a dot of blood on the surface of his tongue. Paul took the needle off him and scratched the point of it into his own kneecap through the rip in his jeans, writing, “DIE LADDIE,” while repressing the urge to stab it into the younger male’s eyeball and pluck it out like an olive on a toothpick.

Not noticing the death threat Paul was etching into his knee, Laddie answered his turn and wished he could screw in the back of a red Lamborghini. Then he digressed and divulged that he just wanted to lose his cherry and he didn’t care where it happened. Marko patted his arm and told him his time would come. Then they all chortled at the witty pun. The shortest guy of the pack and the most romantic, Marko, gave away the fact that he desired to make love on the Santa Carla lighthouse overlooking the ocean. Dwayne reminded him that he had to get over Maria and find another girl first. Marko thought about telling him he HAD found another girl but sensibly held back with that information. He was embarrassed by his inappropriate emotions towards Star and was sure the boys would mock him ceaselessly about it if they knew. They were vampires but predominantly, they were guys. And guys mocked each other. That’s what they did. They either had to take it or be thought of as a blouse-wearing Nanna. Marko regularly got mocked about his five foot seven inch height but it didn’t really worry him. Unlike school, it was only good-natured teasing. Now that the gang had seen his dick that would be the next thing they would mock him about. However, that would only stem from jealousy and every time they taunted him about it would be like a compliment. Besides, they all got mocked for various things. Dwayne was mocked about his eyeliner-wearing vanity, Paul was mocked for his frizzy hair and Dee Snider resemblance while Laddie was mocked for being the baby and the virgin. Star got a few jabs about being the only female, with references about PMS and cramping which was an incorrect assumption because she didn’t get her period anymore and the only cramping that went on in the cave had to do with the guys’ wrists from being such ignorant wankers. They all were the recipients of intermittent ridicule but not one of them dared to mock David in any way, shape or form. At least, not when he was present. They liked their throats right where they were.

As Marko had been dumped by a chick and wounded horribly, Laddie suggested he give up on girls and start pursuing boys instead, prompting Marko to whack him with a pillow. Laddie thought this was a grand idea and began whomping Marko back until Star broke it up, not wanting feathers all over her bed. The pigeons did enough of that already. Putting a downer on the spirited game, Paul informed the group that he often fantasised about snapping Laddie’s scrawny neck like a twig and no one knew what to say after that. The gang had never seen him that pissed before. He glared at Laddie, practically willing him to say something and give him an excuse to finish the job he started earlier but the kid didn’t even look at him. He was too scared to.

When it was Star’s go, she tried to lift the mood – if not lift it then at least modify it - by saying she was curious about watching two guys make out. She’d never seen Paul and Dwayne making out because they were always doing it outside of the cave, in places where nobody could interrupt them. They liked their privacy. From the faint scratches and bites they sometimes sported when they came back, she gathered that their rutting was fairly fierce and she pitied the person who stumbled across them doing it because they’d likely tear the intruder to pieces and get right back to it. She knew they were getting it on but she’d never seen it.

As soon as Star had brought that topic up, Laddie just jumped right in.

“Hey, you dare me and I’ll do it,” he ventured. “I’ll kiss a guy, I don’t fuckin’ care. I’ll do it. I’m game.”

Star raised her eyebrows at him in intrigue. “Really? You’d do that?”

“Shit yeah, it’s only kissing; it don’t mean anything.”

Laddie didn’t inform the clan that he’d never been kissed before. They most likely knew that already. With Star and Dwayne constantly hovering around Laddie like his bodyguards, Laddie hadn’t received the opportunity to be alone with anyone, never mind get to first base. His teenage-vamp hormones were intensified by the pill he had ingested and he was envious of everyone screwing but him. He was horny. He’d love to get laid but at that point, he’d settle for a kiss, provided it had tongue.

Star surveyed the others. “So, you’d kiss someone in this room?”

“Yeah sure, why not? Except for Paul, I don’t trust him. He’d probably bite my tongue off,” Laddie muttered sardonically.

“What makes you think I’d kiss you anyway?” Paul replied scathingly. “I hate you, twerp.”

Laddie was used to the blonde’s heckling and pretended he didn’t hear Paul’s slur.

“So, who wants to kiss Eager Beaver here and make my fantasy come true?” Star requested. Marko firmly shook his head, Paul was out so that left Dwayne. The group all turned to look at him.

“It’s a dare, Dwayne,” Marko deemed, even though the rules of the game weren’t being strictly adhered to anymore. “You and Laddie, how about it?”

“You’re on,” the Indian said with a confident smile, tossing his hair over his shoulder and displaying the ruby glinting in his earlobe. He couldn’t believe it. Nobody wanted him to even touch Laddie in the past and now he was being dared to! Even Star wasn’t objecting. Astounding how one pink pill altered everyone’s attitudes and stripped them of their inhibitions. Dwayne was definitely taking advantage of the situation. Laddie was over the moon that Dwayne was the one who accepted, being his Lord and saviour and all. That was precisely what Laddie had wanted. He wanted Dwayne to kiss him because that would be the biggest and best “Fuck you,” he could ever give to Paul. Dwayne got up on his knees and shuffled over to where Laddie was sitting and knelt on the mattress in front of the boy. Despite his foul disposition where Laddie and Dwayne were concerned, Paul couldn’t help thinking that Dwayne’s ass in tight leather pants was a sight to behold. That ass was supposed to belong to Paul. Now Laddie was going to get his dirty mitts on that ass and Paul couldn’t do jack about it. He would be forced to sit there and watch Dwayne kiss the infuriating brat because it was part of the game. Hoo boy, Laddie was gonna fucking pay for it later, Paul was going to make certain of that. Dwayne too, since he wasn’t exactly concealing his enthusiasm for what he was about to do. He could have at least feigned some margin of reluctance or distaste for Paul’s sake instead of practically drooling all over his own shirt.

Laddie gazed up at Dwayne in reverent adoration as the older male tangled his fingers in the kid’s messy brown hair and bent his head back so he could reach the boy’s bubblegum-pink lips. Dwayne murmured as their mouths met, his pulse skipping a beat. It seemed incredible that he was actually doing it, after six years of longing and not one of the gang was stopping him. Fuck yeah. He was going to make the most of it. He kissed Laddie as if he was kissing a girl, thoroughly and sensually, bringing his other hand up to caress the youth’s smooth cheek with his thumb. He eased his tongue into Laddie’s permissive mouth and the boy shivered. Dwayne tasted like blood and smoke. Forgetting about Paul, Laddie closed his eyes and opened up to Dwayne as their jaws moved together in a clearly double-sided meshing of soft lips and wet tongues. Dwayne’s black whiskers rasped on Laddie’s chin like sandpaper. Laddie didn’t know how to French kiss so he was duplicating every move that Dwayne made. When Dwayne thrust his tongue, Laddie thrust his back. If Dwayne nipped his bottom lip, Laddie nipped in return. If Dwayne applied mild suction, Laddie copied. Heart thumping like a bass drum, the teenager knew he was going to remember his first kiss forever. Because it was with Dwayne. And Dwayne was the centre of his universe. All too soon, the elder broke their mouths apart and smiled down at Laddie who appeared wide-eyed and shaken, as if he hadn’t expected it to be so good.

“Not bad, Laddie,” he mused and wiped the spit off the swell of the boy’s lower lip with his thumb before getting up and throwing Star an exultant look. “Was that hot enough for you?” he gloated to the girl, falling back next to Paul, who gaped at the Native American in disbelief. Paul was jarred to his core. He wasn’t jarred by the fact that Dwayne kissed Laddie in front of him; he was jarred by his own shocking response. Watching his lover tongue-kiss a sixteen year old was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen in his life! But how could that be? He loathed Laddie with all his soulless soul! He didn’t want him kissing Dwayne. Not ever! So, how could Paul have possibly LIKED it?

Star had a similar reaction. She thought it was way sexy too. She stared at Dwayne and then at Laddie and back again with her mouth open. “Oh my God,” she whispered, quite turned on. “Do that again.”

Dwayne gave an insinuating laugh at her titillation. “How about we dare you to make out with Marko?” he rejoined, his dark eyes flashing like chips of jet. “Come on, Star, ever wondered what that’d be like? I’m sure if you asked him nicely, he would lick your-”

“Okay, that’s it.” Marko cut him off loudly, making a time-out motion with his hands as the group turned in his direction. “This is getting way, way out of hand. No offence, Star,” he babbled, throwing her a placating glance. “But I’m not kissing or licking anybody, all right? First of all, David…You remember, our all-knowing, all-seeing leader? Well, let’s just say he would NOT be pleased if I was to do anything to Star.”

“Shut up, Marko,” Dwayne commanded. “Stop being such a wimp. You know what? I think your good-boy act is just that. An act. I think you really do want to get your dick wet. C’mon, it’s been months since Maria left. Your balls have gotta be busting by now. So, drop the frigid performance and admit you want some action and you want it with the girl sitting next to you. Am I right or am I right?”

Marko was speechless. Dwayne had hit the nail right on the head. Perhaps his clandestine desire wasn’t so clandestine after all, if Dwayne picked up on it. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Star, petrified of what he might see on her face. Wishing a giant yawning hole would open up and devour him, he blinked and stammered, “I-I gotta go pee,” rapidly getting up and pushing through the curtains, making his way outside. All remaining eyes were focused on Star.

“You knew that, right?” Dwayne said to her, arching a brow. “You knew Marko had a thing for you?”

Blushing, Star nodded. “But that doesn’t mean I should…you know…DO anything about it…”

“Oh c’mon. Don’t be so cruel,” Dwayne scolded. “The guy really needs to get laid. He could have fucked a dozen girls since Maria left but he hasn’t and you know why? He’s been saving himself for you. Why don’t you help him out? Why don’t you give him a slice of that Star pie? Huh?”

“I…David…”

Scoffing at her pathetic squeaking, Dwayne countered, “David. David, it’s always about fucking David. Why’s everyone so frightened of him when he’s not even here?”

“David knows what you’re thinking, man,” Laddie piped up, displaying the appropriate fearfulness of the powerful alpha male. “He gets into your head.”

Again, Dwayne scoffed. “Not all the way from Max’s house, he doesn’t. He’s miles away, too far to read anybody’s minds.”

“Do you like Marko?” Paul asked Star enquiringly.

“Of course I like him,” she said ambiguously, averting her gaze. “He’s one of us, isn’t he? One of the pack?”

“Yeah, but would you fuck him?”

Dwayne’s blunt question made Star feel like squirming but to her credit, she stayed composed. Well, as composed as one high on pink pills could be.

“Who I would and wouldn’t fuck is none of your damn business, Dwayne,” she sniffed arrogantly.

Dwayne smiled comprehendingly. “That wasn’t a no. You’d do it wouldn’t you? I know you get lustful urges for other guys. I’ve seen it. You’re on the boardwalk, there’s a hot new guy in town and you’re following him around like he’s the tastiest thing you ever saw. It’s normal to feel like that; you’re a vampire, girl. You have too much passion inside you to only have sex with one person for the rest of your life. And you’re gonna live a helluva long life,” he reiterated with elevated brows for emphasis. “We all are. We’re immortal. Especially now that those wannabe vampire slayers have left town. David shouldn’t expect you to fuck him forever and you’re deceiving yourself if you think he’s not screwing around on you because he is. He’s probably doing it with one of Max’s girls right now. If he can do it then you can, Star. C’mon, stop holding yourself back. Be naughty. You’d fuck someone else if you had half a chance. Even Marko. You’d sit on his big dick. Wouldn’t you?”

“Quit asking me obscene questions, you sex freak,” Star deflected in irritation, irked because Dwayne had a knack for divining one’s deepest thoughts and what’s worse, telling everyone else. “It’s not even your turn.”

“Whose go is it?” Laddie asked, swivelling his head between Star, Dwayne and Paul.

Dwayne shrugged. “Eh, I don’t even fucking remember anymore. With Marko hiding in shame, we’re down one team member anyway.”

“Somebody should go talk to him,” Star interjected, feeling sorry for the guy and how Dwayne had mortified him without remorse.

“Why don’t YOU?” Dwayne recommended, a leer in his voice. Star shut her mouth.

None of the four vampires sitting on the bed could recall whose turn it was to play Truth or Dare so they all eyed each other in the flickering firelight, wondering what to do next.

“I’m so fuckin’ wasted,” Laddie offered gleefully. They all were; the tell-tale signs of dilated pupils and jitteriness were evidence of that. Dwayne was tapping his fingers against his leather-coated thigh, Star had no control over her right foot which was jiggling unstoppably, and Paul was sniffing repeatedly, as if he’d just snorted some coke and his nose was itching. Laddie was just hyper. He was bouncing around on the bed, grinning madly. It was like they all had Attention Deficit Disorder.

Paul spoke over the sounds of Metallica blaring in the background. “I have a question for you, Laddie.” His smoky blue eyes were tuned unsettlingly on the sixteen year old who abruptly stilled his fidgeting.

“Why do you insist on pissing me off no matter how many times I warn you not to?”

Laddie just stared at him. Star wanted to tell Paul not to do this, not now but he continued.

“Do you actually want me to kill you? Is that it?”

Laddie frowned, making his unlined forehead crinkle. “I don’t want you to kill me, dude. No way!”

Paul regarded him impassively. “So, you’re just a moron then. You do it because you’re a big retarded kid and have no idea what’s coming out of your mouth or what trouble it will get you in. You’re just brain dead, aren’t you?”

“Hey, Paul, don’t,” Star interrupted softly. Laddie’s pretty face started to darken in irascibility. But Paul wasn’t stopping his awful tirade.

“You know, ever since Star brought you back here, you’ve been nothing but a pain in the ass,” Paul ranted. “You yap so much, you’re like a fucking Chihuahua and you’re always clinging to Dwayne like a parasite, trying to worm yourself between us and make us break up. That’s what you’re trying to do, aren’t you? You’re trying to steal Dwayne off me. ”

“No, I’m not-” Laddie insisted but Paul tore right into the middle of the boy’s disputation.

“Yes, you are. You’re nothing but a slut in the making,” the blond spat maliciously. “You want Dwayne to fuck you and you’re doing everything you can to shove me out so you can fill my place. You’re a little fucking whore and I wish you were dead!”

“Paul!” Star bleated in horror. Laddie’s eyes filled with angry tears of humiliation. He uncloaked his ghoulish vampire face and glared past Star at Paul with his freakish iridescent orbs, his chest rising and falling heatedly, his lip curled back, his dangerously spiked teeth unconcealed. The hard-rock song playing on the stereo was ironically very fitting for a fight scene, if they had been in a movie. James Hetfield’s screaming vocals were virtually egging the two vamps into acts of aggression.

“You think you can take me on, Laddie?” Paul incited, coiling his muscles, getting prepared to leap up and attack the brown-haired boy. “Give it your best shot, fucker. You won’t live to see dawn, I guarantee you that.”

Luckily, Dwayne was sitting between the two night-creatures and separating them or they would have gone for each other like territorial jackals. The Indian was perched on the edge of the mattress, tensed, ready to rush in and break it up if either of them had lunged.

Eventually, Laddie burst.

“Why do you hate me so much?” he wailed, his face melting back into the face of a distressed human youth. The tears spilled over and ran down his cheeks. “What did I ever do to you, huh? Do you think I like being ignored and insulted and detested? You think I like being treated like shit? Well, I don’t, Paul!”

Paul genuinely appeared alarmed and dismayed at Laddie’s outburst. He’d never seen Laddie cry. Ever.

“I never w-wanted you to hate me,” the younger one bawled, his blurry, tear-filled eyes beseeching Paul. “I just wanted to fit in here. I just wanted to be one of the gang. And when you started treating me bad, I was only smart to you because… because I didn’t want you to know how h-hurt I was. You hurt me, Paul. I just wanted you to like me. That’s all.” He hid his face in his hands and bawled great, hitching painful sobs that tore Star and Dwayne up inside.

“Oh, Laddie,” Star whispered in empathy. Laddie let her take his shuddering body in her arms.

“Out,” Dwayne barked at Paul, one finger pointed at the cavern entrance. “Get the fuck out! Now!”

His face and eyes hardening to a mask, Paul pushed up off the mattress with his feet and rose high into the air, using his power of flight to zoom up and out of the cave in a streak of denim and blond hair, leaving Star and Dwayne to soothe Laddie. As he cried his heart out, Star buried her face in his smoke-scented hair. Dwayne came over and put his arms around Laddie as well, exchanging a gloomy glance with her. Laddie wept and the two others hugged him, murmuring useless words of comfort. At long last, the boy was down to sniffling and a few whimpers. Star and Dwayne let him go and he wiped his face and nose with his shirt. He looked at them with his reddened eyes and streaked face. He was so beautiful it made Dwayne’s heart squeeze tight.

“He’s never gonna accept me, is he?” Laddie said miserably. He hiccuped and fought back more burgeoning tears. “I don’t know what I can do to stop him from hating me. It’s not fair. Maybe I should leave.”

Fearing Laddie was going to get all worked up again, Star cradled his face in her hands and made him look at her. “Sweetheart,” she said tenderly. “I love you. Dwayne loves you. So do Marko and David. We all love you, okay? No matter what, we are your family now and we don’t want you to leave, not ever.”

“You promise?” His voice was small.

“We swear, Laddie,” Dwayne said, tucking his wayward hair behind his ears affectionately. “You are one of a kind, buddy. You make us laugh, you’re always happy, always up for anything. Life wouldn’t be the same without you, man. And,” he added mischievously. “You are a damn good kisser.”

Laddie grinned shyly at that comment.

“Excuse me for a moment, boys,” Star said apologetically and rose from the bed. “I got some peacekeeping to do.”

After she had exited the room, Dwayne rubbed Laddie’s arm comfortingly. “You feeling better now, kiddo?”

Laddie nodded. “I’m cool.”

“Don’t listen to what Paul says,” the Indian advised. “He’s kinda messed up at the minute. Drugs are probably fucking with his head.”

“No, I’m cool,” Laddie repeated like a champion, even though Paul’s statement still stung most heinously. He knew it wasn’t just the drugs making Paul act that way. It was him. Laddie was making him act that way. Paul was only saying what he’d been thinking all these years. And Laddie knew why. He met Dwayne’s eyes, a question in their cobalt depths.

“Dwayne?”

“Yeah?”

“You remember in the lighthouse?”

Are you fucking kidding? Dwayne wanted to exclaim. Of course he remembered. The memory of that incredible night still burned bright in his mind. It was something he thought of every day with a confounding blend of both good and bad feelings, usually culminating in a furtive shameful jerk-off session to stop him from doing something he might regret later. Not sure where Laddie was going with his questioning, he restrained himself from getting too excited and answered neutrally, “Yes. I remember.”

Laddie searched Dwayne’s guarded gaze, looking at the older male through his lashes with those vivid blue eyes, so wide and naive and yet so perplexedly provocative and challenging. When he looked at Dwayne that way, his eyes screamed that he wanted to be kissed. It seemed almost as if he was daring Dwayne to do it. But if Dwayne had kissed him every time he saw that look, the boy would have been kissed to death long ago. Maybe Laddie didn’t really want that. Maybe Dwayne was misinterpreting that look, seeing what he wanted to see. Maybe that was just the vampire he was seeing in the boy’s eyes. Not a challenge. Granted, he had kissed Laddie within the last hour but that had been due to the game they were all playing. Truth or Dare. Here’s the no-holds-barred truth - what he wanted from Laddie involved much more than mouth to mouth contact.

Referring to the lighthouse event, Laddie inquired, “How come you never did it again?”

“You know why,” Dwayne replied quietly, looking down at Star’s quilt cover. He wished he knew how Laddie felt about what he had done, his unwise, spur-of-the-moment act of lust. They’d never discussed the incident before. Laddie had kept his promise and not told anyone about it but he hadn’t ever spoken of it to Dwayne either. Dwayne just wanted to know if Laddie thought it was wrong, if he had scarred or traumatised the poor boy in any way. If he had a valid reason to feel guilty. While he had not stolen Laddie’s innocence from him, he had, for all intents and purposes, given the kid his first sexual experience. Back then, he was only ten and while he had said it was fun at the time, Laddie might think an entirely different thought now that he had a lot more adult knowledge crammed into that skull of his.

Not telling Dwayne what he wanted to know, Laddie guessed, “Because I was too young?”

“That and other reasons,” Dwayne assented cautiously.

“But I’m older now,” Laddie said with a defiant lift of his chin.

“Yes, you are,” Dwayne agreed, fighting the overpowering impulse to throw the teenager back onto the bed and forcibly remove every scrap of clothing with his teeth, to view that lean body – all of it - with his hungry kohl-lined eyes, to feel that smooth pale flesh under his bronzed hands, to taste it with his thirsty tongue. But he couldn’t do it, not until he knew for sure. Laddie was a physically demonstrative kid, always hugging him, climbing on him, play-wrestling with him. He’d always been like that and it’d only gotten worse as he’d gotten older. Not knowing if those were unspoken advances or just innocent displays of brotherly affection was torture for Dwayne. With that and the unclassifiable looks Laddie had been giving him lately, Dwayne was about ready to scream and tear his hair out. Completely alone with the sixteen year old, he could make a pass at Laddie right that second but the possibility of rejection was the only thing halting Dwayne from doing it.

With simple logic, Laddie queried, “Well, if I’m older, then why haven’t you done it again?”

Dwayne groaned in exasperation and let his face drop into his palm. Gritting out his words, he replied, “Christ, Laddie, isn’t it obvious? Because I’ve been waiting for you to make the first move, okay? Either make it or leave me the fuck alone.”

“Jeez, Dwayne. Why didn’t you just say so?” Laddie reprimanded, grasping a clump of Dwayne’s ebony hair and yanking the surprised Native American his way. Just before their lips connected, Laddie murmured, “Consider yourself moved on.”


***


A/N: More coming soon!