Mike felt nauseous.
He could barely remember his night. One minute he was in his bed, tossing and turning and the next he was on his bike driving down the dirt trail away from the house. He couldn't remember how he got there, or how he had gotten so far without realizing what he was doing. It was terrifying.
His drive led him to the train tracks, but he stopped at the end of the road at the edge of a bridge.
He...he had been there before.
A shiver ran down the length of his back. He remembered falling from the tracks, and those eyes. He couldn't forget them. And there was a voice, strong and taunting. They were playing with him like it was a game of cat and mouse.
Michael. Michael.
And then he was racing back to the house, nearly tipping his bike over every time he took a turn. He was going too fast. He didn't even remember clambering inside or upstairs until he ran into Sam.
She had managed to drag Mike back to his room without waking up their mom and tiptoed her way down to the kitchen to get him a glass of water. By the time she made it back up to him Mike was clammy and mumbling, but none of it formed coherent words.
"It's okay, Mike. It's going to be alright." She reassured blindly, but Sammy wasn't so sure herself.
Mike was burning up. She turned back towards the bathroom for a cold compress, and then for one lucid moment Mike stared up at the ceiling. He thought he was losing his mind.
"Something's happened Sammy. Something bad."
She paused at his doorway, unable to turn away. A beat passed.
"I know." She took a deep breath. "I think I know what's happening to you."
So she tried to tell him. She was telling him things that would have never made sense. Things that were out of character, even for him. He had a hard time believing it. Mike was having visions - memories that he couldn't place.
Mike didn't know if he believed in vampires, but he couldn't deny the fear he felt. The sunlight freaked him out, and he felt drained all day, but he was wide awake all night. Even with his delusions, he couldn't find rest.
And if Sammy was this adamant about finding the girl, Star, it must have been important.
But it was blocked from his memories.
Sam would never spin such tall tales, not about something like this. But he couldn't shake one thing.
"Sammy, what were you doing up so late?"
Looking up from where she was sitting she tried to hide the warmth that ran up her cheeks.
"Oh," she flustered quickly. "I couldn't sleep is all. It's hard to sleep with a looming vampire menace over our shoulders."
She half joked, but half looked at her brother to watch his reaction. His expression was forlorn. Clearing her throat, a more pressing question plagued her.
"Do you have any idea where the vampires could be?"
But nothing came to him. They would have to wait it out and see if anything else came back to him.
They talked until the sun started to rise over the horizon, when Sam started to doze off at the end of his bed. Mike didn't even have the energy to move her before he too was claimed by the day.
And when sleep came it came suddenly.
And that's how Lucy found them, curled up on different corners on the bed in positions that couldn't have been comfortable. But she didn't to wake them.
Lucy needed to get to work, but she did set a blanket over each of them before leaving.
And between Lucy being at work and Grandpa being down in his shop they slept the day away.
It was about three o'clock when Sam groaned awake. The room was sweltering and she woke up hot kicking off the blankets and accidentally kicking him in the arm. He hardly moved.
Sam uncurled from her spot, the touch of a headache pounding behind her temples. She shouldn't have stayed up so late.
She called and talked to the Frogs, and they were on red alert hearing about how the night went. Trouble was brewing, and they warned her to be careful.
They warned that it would be best to stay inside tonight. Sam couldn't find the heart to argue.
So she settled in, reading and re-reading the Vampires Everywhere comic.
Mike woke slowly, just about dinner time, and slivers of the sun were still setting on the horizon. Even though there were no west side windows in his room, it was as if his own internal timer could tell.
With that thought he frowned. He had slept all day, confirming Sam's theory. Sitting back against the headboard he tried to remember something, anything about what happened to him.
Wouldn't he get a bad feeling if he was in trouble? Wouldn't he know something wasn't right? He couldn't remember.
And then, looking over at the nightstand he noticed the map half folded up. Pulling into his lap he wiped at his eyebrow and opened the map. Turning it around he saw different places circled, and he vaguely remembered that it was him. He was the one that circled the train tracks on the map.
That was strange.
There was another place circled - Hudson's Bluff. But he couldn't remember why. Mike must have been there, and suddenly he jumped up from the bed. He felt the need to go there.
He didn't feel in danger. In fact he felt much better than he did the night before.
So he told Sam, and he told her that he thought he was remembering something. He was going on a drive, to search around town and see if anything was familiar to him before it got too late.
"Don't lose your head." She warned, but all he offered her was a slow smile.
And as Mike drove down the main road he couldn't help a sinking feeling the longer he drove. Wide awake and alert, he also noticed just how bright the stars were and how he could smell fresh cut grass even by the time he drove up to the sandy beaches where no grass grew.
Oh, he certainly wasn't himself.
Things looked just a little bit clearer, and the noises were just a bit louder.
If he hadn't talked to Sammy he would have even thought that he was freebasing.
But then a flash of light passed him, a car that was driving his way, but when he blinked the car was gone. In its place was a lighthouse, flashing in the distance. And instead of driving on the paved road Mike saw a dirt trail, rocks kicking up both in front of and behind him.
Another broken memory.
It felt like a warning, telling him to go home. To turn around and retreat with his tail between his legs. But Mike, ever the brave brother, continued on. On muscle memory he let him bike steer, turning when it felt right, when he could have sworn it was deja vu.
He was on the right trail. He was remembering the lighthouse. The one that he circled on the map.
The cave.
He knew where to go.
**********
Dead, beady eyes looked straight into her soul and Sam let out a surprised squeak as she sat up in her bed. How did she not notice it before? It was an ugly, stuffed woodchuck. She must have dozed off waiting for Mike to come home.
Her mind was reeling with the thoughts of vampires and Michael and even the cryptic phone call from her father. Nothing was right. And now, this.
Her grandfather must have snuck the woodchuck into her room. It was just sitting there, staring at her the whole time.
"Grandpa, what were you thinking?" She shook her head as she talked to herself, picking up the critter by the wooden base. "Scared me half to death."
Keeping it away from her with a perturbed look she walked over to her closet and pushed it to the far corner of the top shelf. Sammy reached up on her toes to push it back farther, and once satisfied she put her hands on her hips.
"I wish he would stop giving me these stupid things."
Sam stepped back to close the door and jumped when she saw Michael on the other side. Her window was only cracked the moment before, and now it was blown wide open. She never heard him come in.
Mike was as white as a ghost.
"Jesus Christ, Mikey," she cursed quietly. She didn't even have the time to understand that he jumped up and into her window. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
Clutching a hand to her chest she took a look at his ghastly state and tried to take a step closer, but he took a step back. He was keeping his distance. The look in his dark eyes was feral, scared.
"Something happened." She voiced tightly, trying to keep as quiet as she could. Something must have happened. He looked like a caged animal.
He looked at her for a brief moment before turning away, towards the door instead of her.
"You were right." His voice was broken, like he was on the verge of breaking down. Michael was losing it. "I - I guess I know what I am now Sam."
The color drained from her face.
"Mike, just wait a minute." She stormed a step closer, raising her hand in warning. "We talked about this. We just need to know who the head vampire is, and, well, and we can stop this."
Instead of hearing her Mike shook his head, denial written all over him.
"It's not that easy. We -"
"Michael. Michael!" A broken yell from outside the window stole both of their attention. Rushing to see what the commotion was Sam pulled the curtains back.
It was the girl from the boardwalk. It was Star.
Iced flashed through Sam's veins. This was what she had been waiting for.
"Star." Mike gritted out, like gravel was stuck in his throat. He wasn't happy to see her.
But that was a good thing. That meant that Michael remembered her.
"Michael, wait." Star half begged, staring up at the second window. "I need to talk to you. Can I come up?" Her broken words shook Sam with a wave of fear, but it wasn't from Star. Her eyes darted back over to her brother. Mike was far from happy, shaking his head wildly.
"No. You can't come up. Stay away from me." He bit out before walking towards the door. With one last look he made eye contact with his sister. "Sammy bar the windows and lock the doors."
A wild gush of wind had Sam's head swimming, and suddenly Star was there, her chest heaving and her eyes filled with unshed tears. She was so close that their arms were almost touching. Sammy could have reached out and touched the glitter on Star's skirts.
"I am so sorry-" Star rushed out, but Mike crossed the room in three large steps, grabbing at Star's wrist to stop her from getting any closer.
He didn't want to hear it.
Sam sidestepped the two of them back to her bed, her eyes catching on the phone more than once. If only she could call the Frogs.
"You know where they took me tonight." Michael's tone was cold, his eyes filled with a newfound malice. "You know where David took me tonight. You know, don't you Star?"
Remorse was carved in the lines of her face. "Yes, yes I know." Star was bitter. "And I am so sorry. I tried to warn you, Michael. I tried to warn you."
Mike steamrolled over her, and the anger in the room was palpable.
"Warn me?" He chuckled, but it was far from humorous. "Well now I'm just like them."
Them.
Sam's thoughts were running a mile a minute. Star didn't need to be invited in. She just came inside, no invitation needed...Maybe, just maybe she wasn't the problem. But if there were more of them what kind of chance did they stand?
"No." Star quickly assured, shaking her head. Her hair was falling wildly into her face and tears had drawn a path down her face, but she didn't care. She needed him to know that he wasn't alone. "No you're not. You're still you, Michael. You're stuck, just like Laddie and me." She added, holding her hand over her heart. "We're not one of them until -"
"Until you make your first kill." Sammy finished Star's sentence, not looking at either of them. She stepped to the side, closing her window gently with a cautious look outside. Then, finally turning back to Star she took a breath. "You're not one of them?"
"No." Her voice was drowning in guilt. "No, I'm not."
She turned back to Mike and put her hands on his cheeks. She needed him to understand her, to know she was being sincere. "I'm not like them Michael. D-David wanted you to be my first, but I couldn't do it. I wouldn't do it."
Her admission was met with a cold, doubtful expression.
"I'm not like them. I'm not a killer." Her voice broke. She had a hard time saying the words out loud. "I'm not a killer."
Michael was still on the defensive, but he put one of his hands over her own.
"Please Michael. Please forgive me." She begged. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."
For a moment there was a glimmer of life, of fear that pulled him from his reverie. Star didn't want this. He didn't want this. But she dragged him into all of this. It wasn't supposed to be like this? Sure, whatever.
"Because you care so much about me?"
His question was met with a simpering sob, and Star tried to hide it behind her hand.
"Yes. Yes I do." Tears were falling down her doe eyes, and she was afraid that her resolve would crumble entirely. Mike leaned in to her touch, but overwhelmed with his own grief and anger his hand slid away from hers.
"It wasn't wine they gave me to drink, was it?" When he pulled back to look in her eyes Star had to turn away. She couldn't find it in herself to face him, and he pulled back with a bitter chortle. "It was David's blood."
And then with a speed he suddenly possessed Mike picked up the bedside lamp and threw it against the wall. He was seething.
Star didn't blame him.
"I have to go." She sobered up, taking a step back to the window. "They'll be looking for me."
Blocking the way Sam shook her head. If Mike wasn't going to help, she would have to.
"There has to be a way to get you out of this. To get you both out of this."
Star let out a hint of a sigh. She was poisoned, trapped in the choices she had made. The light at the end of her tunnel was going out. Sam could see the defeat in her eyes and she turned away, shaking her head. This wasn't fair. There had to be something that they could do. Maybe there was.
David. They had mentioned him more than once. If they thought that this guy was the head vampire they could go after him.
"Just hold on a little longer." Sam stepped away from the window, offering peace. "I think I know what to do."
With that Star raised the bar just far enough to slip out, nodding at Sam with empty eyes. She couldn't find it in herself to look back at Mike. With another gust of wind she was gone. Mike's anger had disappeared as soon as she left, a wave of sadness pouring over him. He shouldn't have gotten angry. He should have listened to her. Looking down at the shattered lamp he couldn't believe his outburst. This wasn't him.
Luckily for him, Sam had connections. As she pulled the phone into her lap Mike pushed his hair back and out of his face. They had to think fast. Sam didn't know it yet, but after what he had seen down at the bonfire he knew that they were on thin ice.
He didn't know the extent of their power, but something told him that David wasn't going to keep up with this dance. They were running out of time.
The cave. They would need to go to the cave when the guys were at their weakest. It all made sense now. It was no wonder why Mike had never seen Star, or any of the others, during the day. While Sam was on the phone with the Frogs Mike was scheming. He had an idea.
"We're going to need a car."
Sam stopped mid sentence and raised her eyebrow at him. She knew just the thing.