Max stormed into the twenty-four hour drug store where Star worked the night shift. "Guess who decided to stop by my house and scare the crap out of the children?"
Star looked up from stocking the shelves and a worried look crossed her face. "Please tell me it wasn't David."
"Bingo. Why the hell did you not tell him before now that you cheated on him with Michael when you two were still together? Better yet, why the hell did you tell him in the first place!"
"I wasn't going to, but I accidentally ended up telling Marko." Star shifted uncomfortably on the ground. "It just kind of spilled out."
"And on what planet did you think that was a good idea? You now have David hunting you two down, and he's not going to stop until he's able to drink Michael's blood!"
"That's not fair! We split up a while ago; he has no right to start caring now." Her voice rose in pitch.
"You slept with Michael while you were still with David. Not only that but you slept with him in David's bed! Any sane young male would be furious at that." Max paused for a second. "Now how am I supposed to get you out of this mess?"
Star looked at the ground silently trying to figure out how to fix this. "Kill Marko. This is all his fault." Tears formed at the corner of her eyes.
Max's voice softened, "Star, I love you like a daughter, but you have to figure this out for yourself. I'm not the one who started this. You should have never told Marko and David would have never figured out. I suggest you get to David and talk this out with him before he finds Michael."
"You want me to be alone with David and 'talk things out' with him? You know David doesn't talk. He's not rational."
"You'd be surprised. Get him just before he goes to bed, he's too tired to care much about anything. Never wake him up though. He's known for biting off fingers when you attempt the impossible." Max smiled a little and in return Star let out a wispy, quite laugh.
"I figured that out the hard way. He shoved me half way across the cave when I woke him up to say I was going out." This brought on a louder laugh from her. "I squeaked when I hit the wall and Dwayne slapped David without even opening his eyes."
"Let me guess, that caused David to hiss at him."
"Yup, just like a cat. Then they just fell back to sleep like nothing happened! They never mentioned it again."
"That's because me and Marko never woke up." A blonde haired man walked in and leaned against the shelf Star was stocking. "If we would have seen that we could have made so many jokes."
"Paul," Max nodded to him. "I'm guessing David sent you here to get Star. Why didn't he come himself?"
"Because he knew she wouldn't come. He wants you back at the cave. Now." He nodded towards Star.
"I can't just leave my job-"
"For David you can." Paul's playfully dumb look he always held was nowhere to be found.
Star looked at Max before giving an answer. He shrugged in response, not helping her at all. "Well, let me go tell Alexis that I'm taking a break. She's just in the back room."
"Is she cute?" Paul's eyes were bright again and he stood up straight.
"I suppose for a sixty year old ex-trucker she is." Star smiled at Paul as he leaned back against the shelf with a disappointed sigh.
When Star returned to the front, Max was gone and Paul was outside waiting on his bike. "Do I really have to ride with you?" She taunted.
"David's request," Paul said as he started up his bike. Star hopped on and held on for dear life as he sped away toward the cave.
()()()()
"So, do we stay here and wait with him, or do we leave him and make a run for it?" Veronica asked Sam the next morning. They had just dropped Laddie off at his bus stop when a light rain started to drizzle.
"Well, I would suggest shoving him in a garbage can and letting him get hauled away to the dump, but I suppose we could wait with him."
"Hey!" Laddie tried to kick Sam in the knee, but he avoided it and gave a light chuckle as he ruffled Laddie's hair.
"You looked like your brother right then," Veronica quietly said. Sam looked at her and grunted. The air was silent as they watched Laddie jump from sidewalk square to sidewalk square. In about five minutes his bus showed up and they waved him off to school. Some of the kids sitting in the back of the bus made faces at the two- the most popular one was the kissy face.
"What a bunch of jerks," Sam grumbled.
"Oh they're just kids. Now, which way to your bus stop?"
"Just follow me and don't get lost!" Sam ran down the street one block and stopped at the nearest curb.
"That's it?" Veronica skidded to a halt next to him. Her heart was still beating normally from the mild run.
"Nope, and now we wait two hours for the bus." Sam watched her face crinkle up in confusion. "I'm just kidding! We've got about five minutes to kill, and it already looks like we have company coming to join us!" He waved to a face Veronica knew all too well. Tommy. Sam saw the look of worry on her face. "Don't worry, I'll keep him preoccupied. Just keep an eye out for the bus."
Luckily for her, Sam upheld his promise and kept Tommy busy with the latest gossip in school: the new girl and certain "things" she would do if a boy would buy her lunch. Veronica looked up at the cloudy gray sky and thought about the events that occurred last night.
If David really was a vampire that meant Max might be one, too. And what about David's gang? Were they also vampires? What would happen if Sam was turned into a vampire? She slid her eyes over to him.
I suppose he wouldn't be that bad of one, he just needs a motorcycle, she thought to herself.
The bus came and took them to a boringly average day of school. Veronica and Sam went back to acting like they didn't know each other, but he made sure his friends took it easy on her. When the last bell rang and Veronica headed out the double doors she saw her mother waiting for her in their old blue pickup truck. She was looking down picking at her nails, something that rarely happened unless...
"Mom?" Veronica got in the truck and tried to get her to look at her. "What happened last night?"
"Nothing sweetie. How was school? Did you end up with homework?" Her mother drove away keeping the left side of her face out of Veronica's view.
"He hit you again, didn't he?"
"What are you talking about dear?" Her mother gave a laugh that was on the border of a whimper.
"Kirby," she glared at her mother. Veronica angrily sighed when there was no reply. "There was no Will, was there? You went and saw Kirby again!"
Her mother pinched her face in pain, "He said he just wanted to see me again-"
"I don't care if he said he had a million dollars! I told you I don't like him and he hits you Mom! He hits you like you're just some piece meat that he doesn't give two farts about!"
"You watch your mouth!" She raised her voice at Veronica. "Kirby happens to be a very nice gentleman; I just say the wrong things sometimes. Remember that pretty green bike he got you for your birthday?"
Veronica snarled, "I hate the color green and I didn't get that for my birthday Mom, I got that as an apology gift for hitting me when I tried to break up a fight between you two. And must I remind you about the time he snuck into my room full of vodka and wine and tried to touch me?"
"Shut up!" She yelled. "Veronica you made that up and we both know it. Kirby would never do something like that, and that's awful of you to accuse a man like that."
"Yeah Mom, Mr. Perfect isn't a pedo. You keep believing that." Veronica bitterly scoffed. They drove on in silence until they pulled into their driveway. Veronica got out and slammed the door shut as she stared heading to the sidewalk.
"Where are you going?" Her mother demanded.
"It's none of your business!"
"You are my daughter and you will tell me where you're going." She chased Veronica down the street.
"I'm going to find David and hire him to kill Kirby!" Veronica shouted, rapidly blinking tears away.
"Who the hell is David?"
"You'll find out when he walks in to save me!" She took off running in the direction of Sam's house.
When she reached the home, she found Sam in the backyard up in his tree house reading a new edition of ThunderCats. She hauled herself up the ladder and he barely glanced at her when she plopped herself next to him.
"How much would it cost to hire someone to kill a pedophile?" She asked when he turned the page. This made him close his comic.
"That was a creative greeting."
"I'm being serious." Veronica looked at a stack of comics between them. "I was thinking maybe David would do it. He seemed like he needed to get some anger out last night and killing a pervert would do the trick."
"Uh, did something happen on the way home from school?" A look of concern crossed his face. "Some old weirdo didn't come up to you, did he?"
"Kind of, but it wasn't just some old weirdo and it was a few years ago."
Sam dropped his comic aside and opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't think of anything to say. He snapped it shut and waited for her to continue.
"Last night my mom said she was going on a date with Will, but there is no Will. She went out with Kirby. He's one of her ex's that used to beat her. The only reason I found out she was lying was because she had a nice shiner on her left eye. No one else used to do that to her, not even Chris- you know, the gun runner.
"Well one night her, Kirby, and a few of his friend were having a few drinks down in the basement and my mom ended up getting wasted and passing out. His friends dared him to go upstairs and get me to have a drink with them. I refused and he got mad so he locked my bedroom door and...well...he attempted to touch me. But I locked myself in my closet until he gave up. I ended up staying in their all night until my mom came to get me because I was late for school. I have to say, that wasn't the best night of my life. When I tried to tell her this she didn't believe me and sent me to school late like nothing ever happened. A few weeks later they broke up because he couldn't stand my mom and her "whininess" or something like that. I thought we were rid of him for good because he moved to Texas, but the next thing I know he's back and apparently dating my mom again!"
Sam was silent for a while as he tried to digest this new information. "I'll kill him."
Veronica snorted, "Thanks but I'd much rather have a va-uh adult do it. Has David ever killed anyone before? If he hasn't I don't want to put his soul in danger of going to hell, but if he has then he's already destined to go there so..." She shrugged.
"David? A soul? Ha! A tree has more of a soul than David. Plus he has no morals. But still, I wouldn't do business with him. You ever hear of stories where Genies grant wishes, but the wishes end up turning into crap because the person who made the wish wasn't very exact on his wish making, so the Genie went and twisted it all around? Well David would be the Genie and you would be the wish maker."
"Oh." Veronica's hope popped like a balloon, and you could hear it in her voice.
"But if you tell Max, I'm sure he could find a way to rid you of your troubles."
"Oh no! I couldn't tell Max! Do you know how embarrassing that would be? I could barely tell you, and I left out all the details!"
"Then how were you supposed to tell David?" Sam asked.
Veronica went silent. There was no way she would be able to tell the man of her dreams that story. "I guess I didn't think it through all the way. In my fantasy world he already knew and just busted open the door and saved me. And I was older with really nice hair."
"Well geez, why'd you make David the hero of your story? Do I not exist or something?" He laughed at his joke then blushed when he re-thought what he said. "Wait...that's not what I meant." Veronica grew a sly evil smile. "No really! You're taking it the wrong way!"
"Then why is your face as red as a tomato? You want to be my hero!"
"No I don't! You just took it the wrong way you pervert!"
Veronica's face fell. "What am I going to do if the real pervert starts living with us again?"
"If you want, come and stay with us." Sam shrugged. "It seems like we already have half the population of Santa Carla living with us when David and his gang stay, so why not add another?"
"David stays with you?"
"Sometimes, whenever they get trapped there. I mean, like when their uh, apartments...yeah! When they get locked out of their apartments they have to stay with us. They all live in the same building."
Veronica crinkled her nose in confusion, "Why do they get locked out?"
"Because the owner hates them and their bikes. So he just goes to the front door, clicks it locked, and walks away with a smile on his face. No more dealing with them assholes for the rest of the day!"
"Can he legally do that?"
"Probably not, but the guys are too stupid to realize it." He smiled a toothy grin. "Now how about you and me go raid the kitchen? My mom will probably scold us, but hey, we're just kids!"
"Scold?"
"She never yells. Ever. Not even when Michael started getting...weird on us." Veronica crinkled her nose again in confusion. "You know, he actually thought about joining David's gang."
"Oh, was she the one worrying about her Dad?"
"Yup, she worries a lot, too."
"She reminds me of a mouse."
"You're not the first to say that," Sam laughed. "Hey, maybe if you're extra sweet to her you can get her to make us some Kool-Aid! Ask for the red kind, it's my favorite."
"It must be because it matches the color of your face every time you look at me." Veronica giggled.
"Not this again," Sam groaned.
They climbed down and ran toward the house. Sam attempted to trip Veronica, which only earned him a face plant in the dirt. She laughed hysterically as she stepped into the house and acted as a proper young lady should in order to win them some red Kool-Aid.
☢ ♥‿♥ 𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓴 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝒇𝓸𝓻 𝓻𝒆𝓪𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰! 𝓓𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝒇𝓸𝓻𝓰𝒆𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓿𝓸𝓽𝒆 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝒇𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓸𝔀 𝓲𝒇 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝒆𝓷𝓳𝓸𝔂𝒆𝓭 𝓲𝓽 ♥‿♥ ☢