ḾṎᕍ⁅ᖇṈ ℄Ṏv⁅ | The Lost Boys

ᏨᏲᾀᑬt⁅ᖇ tᏔ⁅Ṉtẙ-ຮ⁅v⁅Ṉ

It felt like you had just shut my eyes when Michael was shaking me awake.

It was daylight. The sun was ten times brighter today, glaring down at me through the open window. I hadn't been out in the sun for three days or I would take my eyes some time to adjust.

Michael reached over on the dresser and pulled out a pair of plastic, neon blue sunglasses. "Put these on. It helps."

I accept them and slide them over my prescription frames. It's a disaster, but it's better than nothing.

From downstairs, Sam calls out. "Guys, they're here! Come down!"

Michael takes the lead with me staggering behind. Every move feels like I'm swimming through molasses. If it weren't for the walls, I'd have probably fallen over by now.

The Frog brothers were a curious pair. About Sammy's age with fierce, hateful looks in their eyes. The one with darker hair nods towards me.

"She looks more like a zombie than a bloodsucker."

"You look more like a boy with no bitches than a vampire hunter," I roll my eyes. I've never been good with comebacks.

The lighter-haired boy reaches behind him and whips out a thick piece of wood with a sharpened point. "Should I run her through?"

My eyes widen, looking between my brothers and the tiny menaces. "Where the hell are your parents?"

"Guys." Sam gestures between the two of us. "These are the Frog brothers, Edgar and Alan."

Edgar narrows his eyes, his voice low and gravelly. "I've only got one question for you, and I want an honest answer: have you taken any human victims yet?"

"Of course not!"

"You?" he addresses Michael.

"No!"

He raises his eyebrows, considering our answers. "If you're telling the truth, it means we can save you."

"They're telling the truth!" interjects Sam, "... Right, guys?"

Edgar continues his spiel, fingering a wooden stake of his own, "To free you, we must destroy the leader of the vampires."

I can't stifle my laughter. "You're joking, right?"

"Do you think we carry these stakes to look cool?" he sneers. "We are dedicated to this path, to saving vamposers like yourself. Just tell us who the head vampire is, and we'll free your asses."

"To be honest, I really did think you were carrying the stakes to look cool," I laugh. This time, I don't even care. All four boys shoot me a look. "What? You're not taking them seriously—they're children, Michael."

"Right now, we're your best bet, lady," growls Alan. He eyes me warily. "If you vamp out on us, I won't hesitate to stake you."

He tightens his grip on his stake, and—for the slightest moment—I think he might.

Michael breaks the quiet. "I'll take you to where they live."

You whirl around, eyes wide. You can't be serious, right?

Deadly.

Icy tendrils of dread creep down my spine. I know they're joking—they have to be. But, for the second time in one day, I would be wrong.

"Don't be ridiculous; you can barely stand," says Edgar. "Besides, your basically one of them."

"I said I'll take you there." Michael snarls, looking positively vampiric. "No one's getting near Star but me."

The boys mutter in agreement, and it's decided. There's no shop talk, no beating around the bush; the moment they decided Michael would go was the moment they sprung into action.

I clutch the railing hard enough I feel it splinter under my grip.

Michael hesitates at the base of the stairs. "David and his brothers are bad people. I'm doing this to save us—and Star." His eyebrows pinch inwards. "You're with me, aren't you?"

The lump in my throat grows until it's painful to swallow around.

David ... Dwayne ... Paul ... Marko.

I might've been upset at them but—but I didn't want them dead.

In my mind, I see that picture in Sammy's comic—one of the vampires getting staked. Still, instead of that ridiculous caricature, I see them. It hurts more than I want to admit and I can't explain why.

I swallow hard, my words coming out hardly above a whisper.

"Yes."