Ollie sat in the shower for a while letting the water pelt at her legs and her shoulders before slumping back out to the bedroom. She felt like a fish in a bowl, not free to roam, but on sight for everyone to see. She was within and without.
She thought that vampires were innately dangerous and callous and forever self loathing...but she thought back to Max. If she were being honest with herself she would call him a nerd, but he was awfully kind to her. Olive huffed out a laugh at the thought of it.
How could he hurt anyone?
Walking back to the other door she grabbed the handle with hopes that it would open, but it wasn't a dream. She was still locked in. Ollie paced around for a moment before plopping on the bed, water dripping from her hair onto her shoulders and back. Why would they need to lock the door? If they were vampires, locks would be the least of her concerns. She was starting to think that she was all part of a cruel prank, and that they were trying to mess with her. But if so, why?
She laid back, resting her head on the pillows and staring up to the ceiling.
"What's the point? Why is this happening?" She murmured into the pillows, squeezing her eyes shut. She pulled the towel tighter around her, then added a blanket for safety.
The monsters couldn't get her under the covers, right?
********************
Olive's dreams were hazy, but seemed to be never ending. It felt like a continuous loop.
She was overlooking a carousel, the old horses blurring together, the music pounding in her ears.
To The Shock Of Miss Louise.
She knew the song, watching as the horses flew by with the abrasive tune. Was she humming? She walked closer, pushing through the line and nudging shoulders with those around her. Ollie heard snickers, but something was drawing her to the carousel. There was another voice humming along. A hand reached out, and without hesitation she let it sweep her up onto the ride. She was spinning, her eyes were blinded by the lights and her helper was long gone. The lights twinkled around her and she laughed in delight. It was bliss. What else was it supposed to be? She felt like she was missing something. Looking around, Ollie searched for the hand who helped her up, but she was at a loss. They had all but disappeared in front of her, lost in the haze. A sickly feeling crept over her and she leaned against one of the horses, holding on for dear life. The ride wasn't stopping. Was it speeding up? She must have been seeing things, but she saw someone. Right? There was someone there? There must have been.
Her eyes blinked rapidly, trying to look away from the ride. She looked out towards the boardwalk, and for a moment she thought that she saw something...the fast paced ride had suddenly slowed and she saw...herself. It was brief, but she couldn't help looking at the eyes staring back at her. They were cryptic, old. She wasn't staring back at herself, but at something ancient. Something evil. The eyes looking back at her burned a fiery red. She tried to cry out, to move, to run - but she couldn't.
Wake up.
The carousel jumped to life before she could get a good look, and when she looked back out the the crowd there was no one there. She was all alone.
********************
Olive woke up to a gnawing feeling in her stomach, not knowing if it was from the dream or if her stomach was in revolt. When was the last time she ate? She felt like a zombie. Her hands went to cover her stomach and she curled up into a tight ball with a groan. She needed to eat. Ollie could briefly recall jumping straight into bed after her shower, but had she dozed off for long? She couldn't remember falling asleep. The clearing of someone's throat behind her made her startle up, her head bobbing up at an unprecedented speed.
Ollie looked up, turning to see that Dwayne had been sitting on the edge of the bed. Was he waiting for her to wake up? How long had he been there? His hair fanned down his shoulders, hiding half of his face. His expression was calm, stoic even, and he looked at her with neutral brown eyes.
"Hey." He spoke slowly, his eyes locked onto her.
"Hey." Ollie mimicked, trying to match his stoic tone.
And a moment of silence passed.
"How are you holding up?" Dwayne asked steadily, watching for a reaction. He was prepared for the worst, and watched as Ollie sat up, crossing her arms. She was protecting the towel around her torso.
With a heavy inhale she looked away from him, shaking her head. "How am I holding up?" she repeated with a whisper. "I have no idea. How am I supposed to be?"
Dwayne turned his body towards her, a small grin forming along the corners of his mouth. "I suppose you're tired of being in this room." He stood gingerly, making his way over to the door. "C'mon. If you're hungry, we ordered chinese." He hesitated for a moment, taking one more look in Ollie's direction before heading out the door.
Ollie kept her eyes on the door as he left, shaking her head again. She would have to collect herself before venturing upstairs. She couldn't help but feel a tug in her mind that this wasn't right; it screamed out that she was in danger. It was madness. Ollie stood up, looking down at the mess she had made when she was looking for her phone. A category five storm had terrorized the room. She reached for a pair of dark leggings and an old t-shirt, all wrinkled from the haphazard care. It looked sloppy and she knew it, but who was she going to impress? Realistically, what would she do? Roaming back towards the bathroom she discarded the towel, splashing her face with cold water. It was one last attempt at trying to shock herself into waking up...but a very real fear began to grow that she wasn't in another one of her dreams.
"Damn it." She cursed at her reflection. Olive backtracked into the bedroom, making a bee line out the door.
It was quiet and dark, and the only thing she could see was the lit up staircase in the corner of the room. And to top it all off, she tripped almost immediately when she was spooked by her own shadow. Great, just great.
"Hey sleepyhead." Startling out of her thoughts Olive turned around to see one of the other guys meeting her at the top of the stairs. The expression on his face was soft and welcoming, but there was a light burning in his eyes. A cheshire grin fell over his lips. Looking up to him, he was the perfect image of a kid; hell, he even looked a bit younger than Ollie. She was immensely conflicted. How could someone who looked so innocent be so malicious? With fearful thoughts swimming through her head, Olive paused her ascent, offering a small hand wave.
"Hey...." she started, but she fell short. "It's Michael, right?"
A small laugh escaped him. "Michael-" He trailed off, shaking his head. "Michael is a terrible name." he repeated, looking off into the distance behind her. "It's Marko."
"Sorry." She scratched at the back of her head, but Marko laughed again. "I didn't mean-"
"Don't sweat it." He started again. "I knew a guy named Mike once - you could say he was a real buzz kill." He grinned again, and by that time Olive made it to the top of the stairs.
"He probably wasn't a problem for long." She murmured quickly, not processing what she was saying before it was out in the open. Ollie slapped a hand over her mouth in surprise. Why would she say that? Why would she say that out loud? She was caught off guard by his laugh, and he was shaking his head with amusement.
"Are you scared of us?" He inquired with a laugh, cocking his head to the side as if it were a joke. He perched one of his hands under his chin, watching with interest. It must have been one big laugh. Olive let out a short breath, nervous to answer. Are you kidding me? - that's what she wanted to say, but she wasn't going to slip up again.
"Because you shouldn't be." He answered his own question. "Well," he paused, leaning in with concern, "maybe you could be scared of Paul. He's an ass." Marko's eyes flickered as something passed behind them.
"That's enough." Olive span around to see Dwayne lounging in the corner, his eyes glued to Marko.
"Hey, it's no harm done." Marko spoke curtly with a wink before heading out of the room.
She looked up to Dwayne. How did she not notice him before? Was he there the whole time?
"Is everyone here?" She whispered, Dwayne's focus shifting back to her. His eyes were dark and intense, and she had to take a moment to focus. "I mean..."
She didn't know what to say. Hey, my dad was torn to shreds in front of me and you were the only one not decorated in his blood and guts. Not to freak you out or anything, but I hope they're in the next room. She gulped, feeling sorry for herself.
Dwayne took a step forward, but he stayed silent. They had messed with her mind, and she wasn't thinking straight. Dwayne didn't know the extend of the damage they had done.
"They won't hurt you." He reassured quietly, but she pulled back.
"And you? Are...are you one of them?" She didn't want to know the answer. She knew the answer. With a slow breath Dwayne extended his arm, hooking her arm with his.
"We won't hurt you." He corrected, pulling her close to his side. "Come on. Are you hungry?" Dwayne asked, changing the subject. She was startled, as cautious as a newborn rabbit. For her sake, he hoped she wasn't too jumpy.
Looking forward, Olive thought about not answering. A smooth breath of desperation passed her lips, and she realized the chances of her running off were slim. Her voice was small, and her stomach was in knots.
"I...I am." she admitted with defeat.
He led her out of the living room and back into the kitchen, and the smell of chinese was a godsend. She almost didn't realize that everyone else was already in there.
"It looks like sleeping beauty is out of the dungeon." Paul joked like an old wizard, leaning against the counter. He looked up to her from behind his carry out container of noodles. "Did you sleep well?"
"She better have." Marko heckled, opening the fridge. He pulled out a twelve pack of coke, setting it on the counter. "You were out for two days." He cooed like a concerned parent, looking over his shoulder to Ollie.
"It's no wonder that you look like a zombie." Paul agreed methodically. Their banter was lighthearted, and Olive couldn't believe her eyes. It was such a casual interaction.
She rubbed her head, Paul passing her a box of takeout. How was she asleep for two days? How was that even possible? Marko tossed a can of Coke at Dwayne, and he handed it lightly to her.
"Thanks." She popped open a box of noodles next to her, looking around the room. Everyone was so casual, even David who sat down on a bar stool, chowing down on a box of rice. A simple silence fell across the room, everyone content with eating. No one was going to address the elephant in the room.
Olive lost track of the guys around her, invested in filling up her belly. Oh god, she was hungry. Why was chinese so good? So many noodles, so little time.
"She's going to town." Marko smirked, obviously amused.
"Yeah, it's gross." Paul agreed, mocking a face of distress. "No manners whatsoever."
Olive grunted, ignoring them. They were ones to talk.
"Maybe she should go and put her on the Atkins diet -"
"I'm not used to hibernating like a bear, okay?" she grumbled, cutting Paul off. She was tired and hungry, and she felt as grumpy as a bear. From across the room David's face twisted into a sly grin, his glance lingering on the box of noodles.
"Well, you are eating like an animal." He joined in smoothly.
Ollie paused.
"She probably wouldn't care what she was eating." Marko watched on, keeping a careful eye on David and Dwayne.
"Honestly." Paul joked. "Like, what if you were just going to town crunching on dirt, or maggots, or -"
"Worms?" David offered, looking from Olive to her box of food.
"Yeah, totally." She rolled her eyes, sarcastically joining in on the joke. "Good one."
Ollie looked up to David, watching him with interest. What kind of game was he trying to play? "I get it, I get it. I'm not eating like a lady."
"I'd slow down if I were you." He warned, and Olive's glare on David shifted as she felt a sickly wriggling around her hand. She blinked. She clutched onto her fork tightly, but she felt it. There was wriggling from the fork, brushing against her fingers. Worms. There was no way.
"Relax, there are no worms." Dwayne's voice cut in, covering the top of the box with one of his hands before she had the chance to look down. His tone was soft, but his gaze was hard, matching David's glare. David broke the stare, shaking his head.
"Let the girl eat." Dwayne lounged back, watching with relaxed eyes. The others scoffed.
"Oh, chill out man." Paul laughed, throwing a pair of chopsticks at him.
"You're messing with my head." She directed at David, her ears hot with embarrassment. Ollie sat down her container of noodles, pushing all thoughts of worms from her mind. "Get out of my head."
"I don't know what you're talking about." David replied smoothly, but it was far from innocent, and he took another bite out of his box. He looked from Dwayne to Olive, and couldn't help the quip of the corner of his mouth. She didn't listen - she was too far gone thinking about how hazy her head felt.
"And you drink blood. And vampires are real. And the next thing you're going to tell me is that you can fly or some other shit." She rubbed her temples, her head swimming with wild possibilities.
"Well, we do fly and shit." Paul deadpanned, not looking up from his food.
Ollie's eyes widened in horror as she faced him. They were vampires. Flying vampires. Paul looked up a moment later, his face as serious as he could muster but he couldn't hold it in any longer before cracking up. "She's got jokes! This girl's got jokes!"
"She's cracked. A screw is loose." Marko offered with concern.
"Girl, you've got one serious case of denial." Paul jumped up. "That is my official prognosis."
"W-what?" She stuttered, leaning against the counter. "Are you insane?"
"Uh-oh."
"There she goes."
"He's never going to shut up now."
She looked between David and Marko quickly, catching their distraught exchange before inevitably looking back to Paul. He wore the goofiest grin, but was silent, rocking slowly in his seat. What tenth level of hell did she open? Before Paul could start a riot a voice cleared next to her and Dwayne stood up straight.
"I think that's enough excitement for one night." He nodded in Paul's direction, making sure he wasn't going overboard.
"Okay, okay. Baby steps." Paul rolled his eyes.
"Please stop." Olive spoke up with as much bravery as she could muster. How did she end up like this? She was sick of their calm and collective behavior, she was sick of being scared. Her hair stood on end thinking of her downhill spiral since landing in Santa Carla, and for the first time in a while she had a moment of clarity. It was as if a fog was lifted.
"Has everyone gone crazy here? What's the matter with all of you? None of this makes sense! My dad was killed, and I don't feel an ounce of sympathy. I can hardly remember it. How fucked is that?"
"Ollie, slow down. You're going to hurt yourself." Marko spoke up quickly.
"I think you should give us time to explain." Paul sobered up, resting his head in his hand.
"But this is not okay! None of this is okay. Do you get that?" She pleaded. "None of this is normal, and I don't know you. What if," she started, fuming, "what if I want to go home?"
A tangible tension flooded the room, and David stood up, his gaze snapping from Dwayne to her with no time to spare. In an instant he was in front of her.
"Olive, that's not how this works."
His piercing stare moved to her and she flinched. It almost felt like she was on fire under his gaze, a heat rising up in her cheeks.
"David, stop. You're scaring her." Dwayne bit out. He would never admit the gritty pain he felt, but David pounced without mercy.
"Whether we like it or not, you're here now." He drew out with a breath. "And you can call it fate or bad luck, but you're stuck with us."
Olive was silent, frozen to the spot. Her heart was hammering and her breaths were shallow, a surprising change from moments before. She was scared.
"Do you want to know why you're here?" David tested, locking his jaw.
She couldn't answer. She couldn't speak a word.
"David." Dwayne warned, stepping closer to her. She couldn't move, and David didn't flinch away.
"You're cursed, kid. Get used to it."
********************
A/N:
I love the idea of Olive falling for Dwayne immediately, but we're going to have to have a bit of an exposition dump to help push along the story. Buckle up, and get ready for the ride! I hope that this Sunday is an enjoyable one! -Crimsonsky132