flames | The Lost Boys (1987) | revised

| EIGHTEEN |

If I was being honest, I had never truly thought about how I would die before I met the boys. I was lucky in that aspect, looking back. I had known too many people who had planned their deaths, people who met tragic ends, or others who just spent an incredible amount of time anxious about when they would go. Which would it be: at a ripe old age with a life well-lived, or on the side of the road because of a dumb mistake, still too young to have been okay with going out.

I was sure I wouldn't even last the night, now.

Oliver's footsteps were incredibly light for walking throughout the woods, and the animals around us were silent. My hands were tied behind my back with a thin rope- I wouldn't be surprised if it was just twine. I could see two of the lost creatures were by my side, and I knew there was at least one behind. Someone was playing a drum in the distance, a steady beat for marching, but none of us were in step.

We had been walking for what felt like ages, no noise except for the drum growing louder and louder. The sun had begun to set a few minutes ago, showering us in a deep red glow. It would have been utterly beautiful if it were any other circumstance.

We finally came to a stop once the drum grew to a deafening volume and the sun set below the horizon, the moon taking its place. There were no clouds, and when I craned my neck to see the sky, the moon was bathed in a deep red, something I hadn't seen in quite a while.

"A blood moon," Oliver spoke, a grin on his face when I looked at him. "Only once every two to three years, and the only night we can do this. It's kind of special, don't you think. Makes you feel beautiful."

I kept my mouth shut and looked down. He tutted lowly and then kicked my knees out from underneath me, laughing when I fell to the ground instantly. He grabbed my hair and lifted me a bit so I was sitting back on my feet, my knees folded underneath me.

Then, he looked over me and to one of the others. A sound that oddly resembled a chirp rose from his throat, and the others moved in response. I stared up at Oliver as he began to talk again. "Are your boys coming, birdie?" I froze, my blood running cold. "Oh, don't act so surprised. I'm certainly not. Can't expect idiots to change their habits, after all."

I shook my head. "How would they even know where to go?"

'Ivarella,' David's voice prodded into my head, 'I need you to show me where you are again, just some basic idea. Something to look for- listen for-"

Oliver let out a high-pitched scream of a laugh, practically folding over and onto himself. "Are you serious? Do you not think I know all the little tricks vampires have up their sleeves?"

'Don't say anything, doll,' David whispered.

"I know all the weaknesses: stakes, holy water, churches in general, running water - that's just naming a few. I know how your anatomy works from being able to impregnate someone while dead to how you're even able to move with barely any blood pumping. Mind manipulation, flying, mental communication." He giggled again. "You guys may not know shit about us, but I know everything about them."

Another drum began beating, and the cadence changed to one for dancing. Someone was humming- wait, no, more than one. People were singing, a few were dancing, reveling in the occasion. Then, there was fire, a huge flame exploding at once in the middle of the clearing we were in.

"I've got a few tricks of my own, birdie," Oliver cooed. He took a few steps back, making sure I kept my eyes on him, and then he disappeared into thin air. My eyes widened. It was what he had done to David the other day. He reappeared a few feet away, right beside the fire, and he had something in his hands, a powder.