Light shown through the cave, causing Michaela to wake up the minute the sun's rays hit her in the eyes. She groaned and rubbed them with her fingers, sitting up in the bed as memories of last night came flooding back. The way David was gentle, his hands worshipping everyone of her naked curves, the way his teeth felt on her skin, it sent shivers down her spine. It was the best night she had in a long time and an even better sleep, grinning at the thought of it. As she turned to kiss her vampire lover good morning, she grew astonished to find David's side of the bed empty.
Oh right, she remembered, he's a vampire. She rolled her eyes and got out of bed, finding an extra pair of clothes had been laid out on the headrest for her. She saw it was a burgundy satin half-sleeve dress and sandals, something she recognized as Lucy's old dress she gave her from cleaning out her closet. Michaela's eyes widened when she suddenly forgot all about her family. The last time she interacted with Sam was pounding on his door begging to come in so she could explain herself, but he refused. She hadn't seen Lucy since last night, and it worried her to know what they were thinking about her disappearance. Were they worried? Did they stay up all night thinking about her? Quickly changing into her clothes, she looked around the cave to see if she could use anything to call.
After rummaging through some junk in a corner and on the storage shelf where the men kept the bottle of red, she saw something on the table next to the wheelchair, David's phone. The screen was dark and it hadn't gone off all night, so she thought giving them a call would be good. David would understand, she smiled. Unlocking the screen, she dialed Lucy's number and awaited the dial tone finally followed by a voice.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Mom..." Michaela gulped. "It's me."
"Mikey!" Lucy's voice filled with relief upon hearing her daughter's voice. "Thank God you're calling! Where were you last night, young lady?"
"I was..." Michaela looked around the cave, choosing her words carefully. "I was at a new friend's home last night. We were up most of the evening so they let me stay over."
"You need to come home ASAP, young lady," Lucy sighed. "Sam's been bothering me all night to talk to you, and then his friends showed up proclaiming to be some 'vampire hunters,' We had to kick them out, but Sam was insistent."
Michaela rolled her eyes and sucked in a breath through her teeth. "I'll come home, Mom. Just...can you pick me up?"
~~~
Lucy's old Volkswagen pulled into the driveway and Michaela hopped out, trudging behind her mom as they entered the house. Nanook started barking and trotted up to Michaela, wagging his tail in a happy pant. It was the first time Nanook shown her all kinds of affection without having his ears bent backward or his teeth bared, grinning as she patted his head. Sam came out of the kitchen, promptly stopping his steps once he saw his sister. Grandpa opened the door to his kill room, readjusted the glasses on his eyes, then shut the doors, yelling at Sam that his sister was indeed all right. Michaela shot him a glare before walking into the kitchen with Lucy, taking a seat at the table so they could settle this vampire talk.
"Ok, Mikey," Lucy folded her hands on her lap. "Please, tell us the truth. I'm doing this for Sam's sake, and the sooner we get this settled, the sooner we can go on with our lives. Tell me...what's going on with you?"
"I keep telling you, Mom, she's a vampire!" Sam slammed his hands on the table, scaring Michaela from talking. "Come upstairs with me so we can look at her reflection in the mirror. You won't see anything!"
"Sam, let your sister talk!" Lucy snapped, giving him a warning glance. Michaela scratched her arms in uncertainty.
"Michaela...are you all right?"
"Mom..." Michaela sighed and held her face with her hands. "Sam...he..."
Sam nodded and Michaela inhaled through her nostrils. "Let me just show you."
Lucy observed her eldest daughter rise from her chair, giving Sam an assuring glance and Nanook a sweet smile before turning around and rolling her shoulders back. Gritting her teeth, Lucy pursed her lips as Michaela closed her eyes, awaiting the moment to turn full vampire in view for her mother to see. As her jaw twitched and her fingers fidgeted, she felt a surge of electricity bolt through her veins. Michaela's eyes snapped open, throwing her head back with her hair whipping over her shoulders. Sam and Lucy gasped as she opened her mouth, revealing a perfect row of...white teeth? Michaela stared intently at her family, turning her body to show them her transformation.
"Well...do you see me?"
"Yes, sweetheart," Lucy got up and walked towards her daughter. "I see those beautiful blue eyes and your smile."
Michaela's jaw dropped and she looked at Sam, who shrugged in confusion as well. She hadn't transformed? Lucy watched as she excused herself, grabbing Sam's arm and dragging him and Nanook upstairs into her room. Lucy appeared stunned, rolling her eyes.
"I'll never understand this family."
~~~
"You didn't transform?!" Sam snapped at his sister.
"How is it my fault?" Michaela argued. "I tried to show her I was a vampire, and I felt that surge of electricity, but...it's fading."
"Damn it!" Sam cursed. "This is a nightmare. What can we do?"
Michaela sighed and sat on her bed. "Nothing for now. We have to tread carefully, Sammy. Mom thinks you're crazy, Grandpa's being Grandpa, but I know you're telling the truth. It...it scares me."
Sam looked at the ground and Nanook laid down, whining with his head between his paws.
"But I know one thing," Michaela ushered him to her bed, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "We have to stick together, Sammy. We have to help each other."
"How, Mikey? This isn't like getting a D in school."
"I don't know," Michaela shook her head. "But I need to figure things out first. For now, just lay low, ok?"
Sam grew uncertain and unsettled as he shifted his legs on the bed, laying his head on his sister's lap. Michaela stroked her brother's head and stared at the mirror hanging on her closet, her reflection vanished from sight.
~~~
On the Santa Carla boardwalk that evening, Sam, Edgar, and Alan were busy discussing the best strategy to take care of Michaela. Edgar grunted as Sam showed them the comic of a vampire being killed, reverting the woman back to normal on one of the pages. Edgar nodded his head, while Alan pointed a finger to the portrait of the glowing blonde.
"So all we have to do is kill the head vampire, and your sister will return to normal. Sounds easy enough," Alan nodded.
"Did she say who he was?"
"She has a hunch," Sam shook his head and closed the comic. "But she doesn't really want me trying out anything yet. She's trying to figure out what she can do about this."
"Well, tell her it's easy!" Edgar jumped out and pulled out a steak from its holster behind his back. "All she has to do is steak the vampire that turned her in the heart and she'll be human again!"
"No, Edgar!" Alan snapped at his brother. "We can't be reckless. Look, if it were me, I'd say the same thing, but...It's obvious that from what Sam told us, she's having conflictions about this 'vampire.' What did you say to me about it?"
"Sis mentioned someone named David," Sam informed Edgar. "When I asked her about him, she got really angry and shouted out the window everything was his fault. However, it didn't sound like she was angry about turning into a vampire. It sounded like...he broke her heart."
Edgar and Alan remained quiet and eyed each other even more confused than before. Was Sam's sister in love with the possible vampire that turned her? Sam recalled the day she came home, Michaela smelled muskier than before. She had a dreamful gaze in her eyes, as if she were dancing on stars. He sat in the living room eavesdropping on their conversation they had in the kitchen, picking up the mention of David's name after Lucy inquired about his name. Michaela had a smile on her face, but when Sam saw her pass him in the living room, there was a glint in her eyes and her smile faded into a deep frown. Was it the same David she screamed about, or was it another man named David? There were billions of them in the world with the same name.
~~~
Sunset fell a few hours later and Michaela walked around the edge of the boardwalk a nervous mess. After calling her mom on David's phone, she decided to type in her contact information so he'd already have it in case he tried to call her. Thankfully, he sent her a confirmation message, meeting her request to see her at the boardwalk. By nightfall, it was packed with late night tourists, families with small toddlers, teens and adults her age just having a good time. She parked her motorcycle right next to the steps with other bikes and scooters, shifting nervously on her feet. Sam kept his promise not to mention any vampire talk to Lucy or Grandpa, and the Frog brothers were respecting his request to leave her alone. Her mind went back to their conversation with her mother, her trying to change in front of her only to end up embarrassing herself. How come she couldn't change for her? Sam was telling the truth! Michaela growled in frustration and tightened her grip on the iron bars of the railing.
"Well, there's my beautiful girl," Michaela jumped, whirring on her toes to see the devil before her. David snickered as he dropped the cigarette he smoked to the ground and stomped, beaming at Michaela with those same icy blue eyes that made her melt and surrender under his spell.
"What brings you here tonight?"
"You, David," Michaela smiled back. "I wanted to see you...after last night."
"Why, Mikey Emerson, are you asking me for round two?"
She eyerolled and punched him in the shoulder, warning him that children were around. David scoffed and reminded her that she didn't care about that as she was begging for him in his bed.
"Ok, I get it," Michaela held her hands in surrender. "I...I need to talk, David."
"Of course, sweetheart," David stood next to her and perched his gloved hands together on the railing. "I'm all ears."
Michaela inhaled a deep sigh and stared out at the beach watching the bonfires. "I tried transforming in front of my mom. I...I wanted to show her what happened to me, but...there was nothing. No fangs, red eyes, or long fingernails. She thought I was a lunatic."
David's smile grimaced. His hands tightened on the bars as he sucked in his lips between his teeth. "You couldn't transform?"
"No," Michaela shook her head. "I needed her to see it for herself, but it didn't work. At least my brother knows that I'm-"
WHOOSH! Michaela's eyes bugged as her back was now jammed against the boardwalk bike parking, David's hands trapping her on both ends. His towering form brought back memories of their first encounter in the pet store, and it was happening all over again. He growled and cracked his jaw, opening his red eyes and giving Michaela a look that she couldn't recall the night they slept together in the cave.
"Your family..." David's voice was deep and throaty. "Doesn't understand what you are. If your mother doesn't believe you, what good does that do you? You couldn't transform because you held yourself back, Mikey. You were afraid, afraid of showing your true potential. Your brother may know what you are, but does he understand the gift of being one of us? He doesn't understand the feeling of living forever, the taste of blood on his lips, the feeling of flying through the night free."
"David...what do you mean?"
"What I mean is," David wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pointed to the beach. "Blood is what we need to survive. Look around, Michaela. There is an endless sea that my brothers and I need to thrive on. We come out at night, we hunt, and then we go home. Until you came along, that's all we've ever done. If you want to show your family what you truly are...you need to feed."
Michaela's eyes widened at his words. At first, she did not understand, but now, she knew what he was referring to and it made her nauseated.
"David, I can't kill them!" she snapped, prying herself free from his grip. "My mom and brother are all I have after my dad left us with nothing!"
"That's not what I meant," David shook his head. "You want to be together, don't you, Mikey?"
Michaela looked at the ground and pursed her lips. "Y-yes, I do."
"Then join us, Michaela. But in order to do so...you must feed."
Michaela stayed silent as David turned on his heels towards the beach, motioning her to follow. Gulping, her shaky legs carried her where David was leading her. As her flip-flops hit the sand, she and the vampire biker were ways away from the crowd and to a more secluded part. Two feet from her, however, she spotted a bonfire with a group in her age range dancing around and drinking. There were around two girls and four boys, laughing and carrying on without a care in the world, Michaela watched one of the girls lean on her boyfriend's lap and kiss him, moaning when one of his hands traveled under her bikini top. Rolling her eyes, Michaela muttered something under her breath and turned to David. However, to her surprise, he was nowhere in sight. The leader of the lost boys just vanished into thin air, as if he left her to fend for herself.
"What in the world is going on?" she asked herself. As she turned to the group partying around the bonfire, she thought it'd be best if she returned to the boardwalk. As she started in the opposite direction, the last girl in the group of drunks stumbled towards her, knocking her off her feet and sending her tumbling into the sand. Michaela grunted, spitting sand from her mouth and gagging.
"Watch it, you bitch!" the girl snapped, shoving her as she stood. Michaela dusted off her top and glared at her.
"Excuse me, but maybe you should watch it. I mean, I wasn't the one who decided to party hard on the beach and drink myself into oblivion."
The girl gasped and snarled. "My group will tear you apart for that!"
"Let's see you try in your drunken stupor. Now if you're done wasting my time, I'd like to go home."
As Michaela passed her to leave, she felt two hands on her back push her into the sand once again. Michaela whimpered and the fall was harder this time, faceplanting and drawing blood from her nose. The drunken woman laughed and pointed at her, calling her a bunch of names.
"You're such a dumb slut! Honestly, I don't know why you bitches think it's a good idea to come to the beach. Us rich kids like to party without your poor asses ruining our beach. So if you want to leave, you'll be doing it with bruises!"
As the girl went to slap her across the face, she gasped when Michaela rose and grabbed her wrist. The drunken woman watched in terror as Michaela's head snapped back over her shoulders, revealing a set of red eyes that came to light. Opening her mouth, two long rows of fangs protruded from her gums, sending her into another frenzy.
"AAAAH! KENNY, GREG, MARLEY! HELP ME!" the girl shrieked. Michaela tilted her chin and smiled viciously, snickering at her fright.
"Silly girl, you should never mess with someone who's part vampire."
Her victim tried screaming, until Michaela's fangs latched onto her throat. The drunken chick's eyes widened until her body slagged, dropping the beer can she held in her hands into the sand. After a few more seconds, Michaela dropped the unconscious partygoer to the ground before giggling. A couple of the woman's friends came rushing over, halting as she hovered over her body.
"Mackenzie!" one of the boys tried to help her, but froze when Michaela shot them a deadly gaze, opening her mouth to reveal her fangs.
"Your friend tried attacking me, so consider this self-defense. She won't remember what happened in the morning, but if any of you mention this to anyone, and I mean anyone, the next time you see Mackenzie will be in a body bag!"
As Michaela kicked her limp form to the group, she sauntered away, a wicked smile spread across her face. She licked her fangs of the blood that stained them, laughing to herself at the group's fright. Truth be told, David was correct. Blood did taste like strawberries, sweet with a little twang. She kicked sand behind her feet as her vampire lover joined her seconds later.
"So...how did it go?"
"It went well," Michaela smiled. "I didn't kill her; I just had a small sip. It wasn't enough to end her life, but in my defense, she attacked me first."
"A little sip doesn't do much, but it's a start," David was satisfied. "Plus, people don't turn after you bite them and drink their blood. If they were, you'd have to be a true vampire."
"So, she's half-vamp now?"
"No," David corrected. "In order to become half-vampire, you need to drink blood offered or be bitten by someone who's fully turned. You're only half, and in order to become full, you'd have to kill."
Michaela stopped in her tracks at the mention of death. David frowned and gave her an evil eye. "How do you think my boys and I survive? Humans are our prey, Mikey. It's either kill or be killed."
"Those reports," Michaela's voice came back to her. "Are...are you responsible for those missing people?"
David turned away and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Not all of them."
TO BE CONTINUED
A/N: All images belong to the original owners.