The Sight

Later that evening, in the deeper recesses of the old hotel, presumably where the second floor used to be located; the boys slept in a darkened cavern, suspended overhead by a metal beam. This served as their sleeping quarters, where they could rest and take refuge during the daylight hours. The boys slept quietly, hanging from their toenails. Their toenails, just like their fangs and fingernails were able to morph to be quite longer and thicker, amazingly able to hold their body weight, keeping them safe high above ground from potential dangers. Typically, casting one’s gaze upwards is a last resort for most humans. They will keep their search eye level, scanning the shadows and corners, not thinking to raise their eyes for potential enemies.



David flipped off the bar, waking before the rest of his boys, just as the sun disappeared over the horizon. He stopped to grab his boots, which he had rested near the entrance of the doorway while heading to the lobby where he settled into his wheelchair. David placed a cigarette behind his left ear, and another dangled loosely from his lips as he pulled on his black socks and his boots. He heard Dwayne enter the room without having to glance up.



“Morning” David mumbled, as he sat back, inhaling his smoke. Dwayne simply nodded in acknowledgment and sat across from his Sire. He wore a pair of black jeans with noticeable holes in the knees, and his black Converse. Dwayne hardly ever wore a shirt, unless prompted to for important occasions. His tan native skin showed off his well defined abdomen, his sleek black hair framed his solemn, intelligent eyes.



David chuckled at his eldest Childe. He knew that Dwayne was a man of very few words; however, his loyalty was never ending. There was a reason why he was David’s second. Despite their fights and disagreements, Dwayne and David had a history together that only a true friendship can evolve from. David trusted each of his boys; yet Dwayne would remain his unbreakable solidity,



“I am off to Max, after we feed.” David advised. He was answered with another nod, while Dwayne fiddled with a hair band on his fingertips.



David continued, despite the lack of response. “Do me a favor, Dwayne. I want you to keep your eye on that girl from the boardwalk that I ran into last night. I want to watch her until I learn more about her origin.”



“Do you really believe she is something? Or is she just a fuck ‘n feed?”



“There is something. She is obviously marked. And frankly, I want to know why some strange broad suddenly shows up in my town, marked by some other pack. Some broad - that is not afraid of me draining her, but afraid that I will find out she is marked, or afraid of something else. That is only looking for trouble, trouble that we don’t need. I won’t let her slip by till I find out what the hell is going on.”



“You think Max will really let you know what’s up?” Dwayne asked, his voice tinged with obvious doubt. He knows as well as David does, that his Grandsire was the last one to give up information easily, especially information that might benefit him in the long run.



“The old man will tell us what he thinks I need to know. Why else would he interrupt my dinner? Speak of... we really need to feed...” David mused as his stomach began to grumble.



At that moment, Paul and Marko both entered the room, hooting and clapping. Paul already smoking a freshly rolled joint, his wild hair already carefully sprayed solid with hair spray. His hair was wild and careless, just like Sammy Hagar, but without the mass of curls, only luscious blonde waves.



Marko chewed on his thumbnail, giving David and Dwayne a half smile, his cherub looking face and eyes twinkling. He busied himself lighting the oil bins, while reaching his fingerless gloves up, allowing his pigeons to land on his shoulders.



“Hope they don’t shit on you, man!” Paul winked at him. “Wait...they better not shit on ME, man!”



“My birds don’t shit on anyone” Marko groused.



“Marko, man, I gotta ask you, what is up with those chaps? You have some secret life you wanna tell us about? Are you a dominatrix cowboy?”



“Shut the hell up, Paul” Marko growled, his eyes flashing amber.



“Ha! You don’t see me wandering around in fucking chaps, and A-shirts! Check out this, dude!” Paul spun around, showing off his black mesh t-shirt, and tight white pants, complemented with a red duster decorated with safety pins and an assortment of belts draped over his thin hips.



“Enough!” David growled, standing up to his full height. “Let’s go eat, boys.” He shot a glance toward Paul, and chuckled. “Fucking dirty pants.”



“Hey man, what’s the point when I am just going to wear them tomorrow?”



“The point is that they are filthy? Why don’t you at least wear black? It doesn’t show the blood stains.”



“Because white shows off my package better!” Paul answered matter-of-factly, as he rocked his hips.



David rolled his eyes, and headed towards the entrance of the cave, his boys following closely behind.







~ * ~





David flew overhead, scouting the beach looking for a potential meal. Finally he found what he was looking for, and landed without a sound. The boys hungrily eyed up the local gang of Santa Carla, who called themselves the Surf Nazi’s, that sat spread about lounging around their bonfire. David quickly jerked the nearest man into his arms, and a split second later he had his fangs descended into his scalp, drinking sloppily.



Dwayne grabbed his prey, and immediately began to dismember him. The man howled in pain as Dwayne ripped his arms off, tossing them into the fire. Dwayne ignored his cries and sank his fangs deep into his jugular. The man only had a second to make one last whimper before the lights turned black on him.



Marko quietly wrapped his arms around a wide eyed woman, who sat in shock staring at her friends being devoured by four hungry vampires. She never noticed Marko snap her neck, an instant before he plunged his fangs into the soft skin of her shoulder. His eyes glowed amber as he rocked the dead body back and forth in his arms.



Paul already had his fangs sunk into the remaining women’s neck, bathing in the arterial spray that issued forth. He shook his head, his mane of blonde hair splattering blood along the beach. He laughed and dipped back down to finish feeding.



After they finished, the boys tossed the lifeless, drained bodied of their victims into the bonfire that was already burning. The fire eagerly began to consume, and the smell of burning flesh smoked towards the heavens. The boys paid it no heed, as they left the beach to attend to their evening.



David departed from his pack just as soon as the bodies were disposed of. He landed a few minutes later, and began the descent along the long path that lead to his Sire’s house. David lit a cigarette, and then raised his hand to knock on the door. He was surprised as the door opened, and was greeted by Max’s grinning face before he even had the chance.



“Come on in, David.” Max stepped aside, allowing David to enter the hall leading to his living room. He followed his Childe into the room, and immediately picked up an ashtray from the mantel counter. He passed it to David with a warm smile. “What do I owe for the pleasure of this visit?”



“You know” David answered grumpily as he put his cigarette out into the ashtray. Wasting a perfectly good cigarette. Damn Max, he thought angrily.



Max chuckled and replaced the ash tray back on the mantel. “Please have a seat” he instructed as he motioned to the couch. “Fancy a drink? It’s vintage.”



David nodded looked around Max’s house as his Sire went to fetch the wine. Max’s tastes had certainly changed over the years, and were now perfectly fit to be set in the 80’s. Blinking neon signs scattered his walls, a mustard colored couch and love seat sat in the middle of the living room, and an over sized lava lamp burned in the corner. Before David could finish his personal tour, Max reappeared with two wine glasses, filled to the brim with a red wine.



“1787 Chateau Lafitte. Decent wine.” Max advised as sat in the oversized arm chair across from David. He set his eyes on his Childe as he raised his glass to take a sip. David felt his Sire press into his mind, but only chuckled as he forced Max back out.



“Ahh, getting better, I see.” Max commented. “Well, what would you like to know, my Childe?”



“The girl.”



“What girl?”



“The one you ran into last night, you broke her out of my mind lock.”



“Tsk Tsk, David.” Max cooed patronizingly. “Such petty, childish games. Haven’t I taught you not to play with your food?”



“It’s not the point! You never did that before. Why start now?”



“Perhaps I was feeling charitable.” Max chuckled at his own joke.



“Dammit!” David snapped and slammed his wine glass onto the coffee table, amazingly without breaking the glass.



“Calm down, David. There is no need for such temper.”



David narrowed his eyes and spit his words out slowly, with an underlying growl. “I am not in the moot for games, Max! Just tell me what I want to know!”



Max smiled and gently placed his glass on a green neon striped coaster, doing the same to David’s glass. A moment later, he lunged at David, his face fully fanged, eyes blazing amber. His claws closed around David’s pale neck, his sharp nails piercing the skin.



“I don’t like it when you misbehave, my Childe. Respect and patience is still something you need to learn, I see.”



David tried to ignore the small stream of blood that trickled down his neck, and vainly tried to pull out of his Sire’s iron grasp. His own eyes flashed amber and his fangs descended with his anger. Max suddenly forced his way easily into his mind, shattering his carefully built guard, sending shock waves of agony throughout his body. David felt his face flex in pain, but refused to give Max the pleasure of hearing him cry out.



“Are you going to behave?” Max chided.



David struggled for a moment, but then relaxed, allowing his face to morph back into his human persona. Max let go, patting him on the shoulder before taking his seat once more.



“Good boy.” He leaned over and handed David his wine glass once more. “More wine?”



~ * ~



Dwayne walked along the boardwalk, searching for the mysterious red head his Sire wanted him to watch. His fine tuned senses picked up his Sire’s discontentment, and he instantly knew the meeting with Max was not going pleasantly. Not that he thought it would. Dwayne was all too aware of how Max could react, changing his moods without warning.



He walked passed Frog Comics and peered inside. Dwayne smirked slightly as he noticed the Frog brothers slapping each other high fives. His sharp hearing picked up their excited cries.



“We are the awesomist Monster bashers! For truth, justice, and the American way!”



Another boy, standing beside the Frogs caught Dwayne’s attention. The small blond was close to their age, perhaps even a year or two younger, which Dwayne estimated to be about 13 years old. The boy grinned happily holding up his fingers in what looked like to be the sign for “love”. His clothing was the most unsettling thing about him, he stood in a pair of bright green shorts, and a blue neon tank with “MTV ROCKS” plastered in white lettering on the front.



“Stupid kids. Not even good enough to pull apart.” Dwayne muttered as he continued on his way. A few blocks later, he finally noticed the girl. “There you are.” Dwayne listened closely, easily picking up the conversation between her and a young brunette man.



“Yea! Grandpa said it would be fine. We have plenty of room. Hey, I can show you my weight set, and it would really be helpful if you could help me count my reps.”



“Oh yes, um... thrilling.” The girl responded with a bored tone.



“So, we just gotta grab your stuff, Charity, and then I can help you carry it over. I’m sure my mom will be stoked to meet you. I bet with all of us guys, she gets to missing another female around.”



“Listen, Michael, really, I don’t want to be a bother. I’m sure I can grab a cheap motel.”



“Oh, heck no! Come on, girl! We will have an awesome time. Plus, I don’t want to be stuck in that creepy house myself. Sure Sammy is there, but he is a pain in the ass. Not to mention Grandpa has dead animals everywhere.”



“Oh how nice” Charity answered dryly.



“We can bring out Monopoly! I’ll be the banker.”



Dwayne sighed as the boy continued to rant about much fun he and Charity would have. He couldn’t help but to smile at the girl’s unenthused expression. Dwayne also knew who this guy’s grandpa was. He was that crazy old loon, Emerson, who hung out in that old cottage, and lived a few miles north. The guy was a few fries short of a happy meal himself. Where did David get these ideas from? Dwayne settled himself down on a bench, and lazily draped his arms over its back. He smiled at a few cute women who obviously were tourists, and very lucky he already fed earlier.



Michael and Charity continued to have a quiet discussion, looking as if they did not plan too leave anytime soon. Dwayne finally decided that he had enough, and muttered “Fuck it” to himself. He stood and stretched, deciding David would just have to be happy with what he has found out, which wasn’t much and certainly was nothing interesting.







~ * ~





Max took another deep sip of his wine, before sighing and crossing his legs. “The girl is marked by another pack.”



“I know that already...”



“Hush boy. The girl is marked. She is also what you may call a “Seer.”



“A what?”



“Visions. I don’t know to what extent, but she has the ability to see things before they happen. I am quite sure this is the reason why she was marked, as the vampire pack probably decided to use her ability for their amusement.” Max regarded David coolly as he continued, “I want you to keep an eye on her. There is no need for any interaction, David. Just watch her, and alert me if necessary, until I decide what to do.”



“Why wait? And what could you possibly do?”



“There are factors.”



“What factors?”



“David, do try not to be so tiresome.”



David sighed internally as he gulped down the rest of his wine. This conversation was obviously not going to give him any answers. “Ok. I’ll watch her.”



“That’s my boy.” Max smiled proudly as he followed David to the front door. He continued to smile as David turned around before exiting.



“You will keep me updated?”



“Of course. I have every intention.”



David shook his head as the door shut behind him. Unfortunately, Max and his good intentions might be too late on this one, which is why he would have to find out on his own if this girl was a danger to his pack. Something like this was not something that could just sit on idle, waiting for his Sire to do whatever it is that he thought he needed to do.