cast no shadow. (the lost boys).

Chapter Thirteen: The Bitter Truth

The next few days were... peaceful. David and I were on good terms again, Laddie had settled in and loved living with us, and the boys adored him. The only recurring problem was the Frog Brothers. I had finally learned their names, but the issue was that they were catching on to the fact that we were vampires—and they were catching on fast.

"It's not as if it's hard for us to kill them, so why don't we just do that?" Marko suggested as we all sat in the cave, trying to come up with a plan.

"Because that's what they expect. If we kill them and fail, they'll know for sure that we're vampires, and then they could kill us when we least expect it. You all heard Lizzie explain the vision she had of Marko—what if it was them?" David reasoned.

"Yeah, but who says we're gonna fail?" Marko pulled a face. "They're kids. There's no way they were the ones who killed me in that vision. What could they possibly do?"

"He has a point. How hard could it be to take down a couple of kids?" Paul shrugged.

"We'll figure it out. But for now, just be careful," David advised.

"God, he's so wise." Paul mumbled after lighting a joint, making David scoff.

"Can you not smoke when Laddie is around?" I sternly told Paul.

"Wha— We were literally just talking about killing two kids. I can't swear, I can't smoke, I can't even be myself anymore—" Paul began ranting but stopped when he saw my face. "I'm kidding, of course, angel. I'll go outside." He nervously laughed and took himself out of the cave. I looked over to Laddie. He was by the boombox that was playing music and had his head buried in a comic; he wasn't paying any attention to the conversation.

"For the love of God." Dwayne sighed, throwing his head back on the couch.

"Can we go get something to eat?" Laddie asked, lifting his head from his comic.

"Yes, please!" Paul shouted from outside.

"Yeah, let's go." I rolled my eyes with a laugh.

---

When we got to the boardwalk, we went to a pizza parlor so Laddie could eat. After he had finished, we took him to Max's video store so he could be looked after while we ate.

"Can we go on the carousel again?" Laddie eagerly asked, jumping up and down with his hand in mine.

"Of course we can, little one." I smiled down at him. "You guys want to join?" I chuckled at the boys.

"No." David said, while Paul and Marko said "yes," and Dwayne just decided to keep quiet.

"Come on, man. Don't be boring." Paul flicked David's shoulder. David glared at the hyper blonde, causing him to apologize immediately.

"Fine." David huffed, making Dwayne chuckle to himself while looking down at the floor. "You're coming too, so stop your giggling."

"Fine, fine." Dwayne held up his hands in mock surrender. We began walking to the carousel, but I stopped when I noticed Laddie had stopped.

"Are you okay, little one?" I asked him. By now, the boys had all stopped walking and waited patiently.

"I'm still hungry," Laddie replied sadly, his head down.

"That's okay." I chuckled softly. "We can just get some more food."

"I don't think I want food." Laddie mumbled. He slowly looked up at me, and my eyes widened as his flashed a bright yellow color. I quickly brought his head to my hip, covering his face so no one saw.

"Oh shit." Paul mumbled.

"Um, I'm going to take Laddie back to the cave. Can you guys just hang here while I take care of it?" I suggested to the boys.

"Are you sure? Will you both be okay?" Dwayne wondered, looking worried.

"Yeah, I got it under control." I waved them off. "I'll see you guys later."

"Alright..." Dwayne replied with uncertainty.

"Come on, let's get you home." I murmured as I picked Laddie up, and he buried his head into my neck. Once there was no one in sight, I used my super speed (which I was so glad to have) and took us back to the cave.

Once we were in the cave, I gave Laddie a few minutes to sit on the couch and calm down. I knew exactly how he was feeling—I was the same way a thousand years ago.

"Do you know why that happened, little one?" I questioned softly and calmly.

"It might have been because of the bottle I drank from," Laddie hesitantly told me with guilt.

"What bottle?" I asked, confused.

"This one." He replied, getting up and walking behind a large shelf to retrieve a bejeweled wine bottle. I took it from him and inspected it. When I opened the lid, I quickly smelled the stench of vampire blood. It was Max's blood. I put the lid back on and placed it on the floor.

"I'm really sorry, Lizzie. I know I shouldn't have drunk it. I didn't know what it was. Please don't hurt me." Laddie sniffled, his head hung low.

"I'm not going to hurt you, little one." I promised as I kneeled in front of him. "It's too late to change anything now, but next time, don't do anything like that again, okay?"

"I won't, I swear. I'm so sorry, Lizzie." Laddie kept apologizing.

"It's okay." I assured him as I brought him in for a hug. "Do you know what you are? What we are?"

Laddie shook his head.

"Me and the boys... we're vampires. And now, you're half vampire," I bluntly explained. What other way was there to put it?

"V-vampires? They're real?" Laddie questioned uneasily.

"Yes. But you can't tell anyone, you understand? If you do, you'll get hurt. We'll all get hurt," I warned him.

"I understand. I won't tell anyone. I promise," Laddie assured me.

"Good boy. Now, are you still hungry?" I asked. Laddie nodded slowly.

"It's okay, here." I bit into my wrist and brought it to his lips. "It's not what you really need, but it will help with your cravings and keep your strength up."

Laddie hesitantly moved closer to my wrist and then began drinking my blood. After a minute or two, I pulled my arm away and wiped his mouth.

"You'll be okay, little one. I'll make sure of it." I gave him a small smile. "Now you better get some rest."

I helped him into bed, tucked him in, kissed his forehead, and then left him to sleep. I sat back down on the couch and stared at the wine bottle, waiting for the boys to return.

---

I heard the boys' motorbikes pull up from outside and the booming laughter of Paul and Marko. I was staring straight ahead at the entrance of the cave with an angered expression, waiting for them to make their way down. As soon as they were in the cave, I stood up with the wine bottle in hand and walked over to them.

"Thirsty?" I spat, my voice laced with venom. The sarcasm and anger were evident in my tone. I shoved the bottle into Paul's chest; he quickly grabbed it to prevent it from smashing on the ground.

"Oh." Paul nervously laughed. "Where did this come from?"

"Don't play stupid with me. Why would you have this here, knowing there's a child living here? How stupid are you?" I glared at all of them.

"You know, I actually forgot we had it, if I'm being honest." Marko scratched the back of his neck with a small shrug. I let out a groan and sat back down on the couch.

"Well... the only way to reverse it is by killing Max, and I don't think any of us want to do that." David spoke from his wheelchair. "So, I guess we're going to have to deal with the consequences."

"Oh my God." I groaned again, putting my head in my hands, completely freaking out.

"It'll be okay." Dwayne sat beside me and soothingly rubbed my back.

"I'm not letting him turn into a full vampire while he's this age. I won't." I vowed, shaking my head.

"I know. He doesn't have to. We can wait until he's older. Everything will be okay." Dwayne spoke calmly, trying to comfort me with his words. "I promise."