ḾṎᕍ⁅ᖇṈ ℄Ṏv⁅ | The Lost Boys

ᏨᏲᾀᑬt⁅ᖇ tᏔ⁅Ṉtẙ-⁅ḭgᏲt

⚠️Warnings: bit stabby⚠️

We arrive at Hudson's Bluff after a tense car ride.

Michael and I sat in the front of Grandpa's "borrowed" Chevy—Michael taking his place behind the wheel and I situated in the passenger's seat.

Sammy and the Frogs squished themself in the back. While i didn't particularly like the idea of those two homicidal kids at my back, I trusted that Sam would keep them from stabbing us.

The Frogs leap out of the car before it comes to a complete stop. "Weapons check!"

Michael points down the cliff to the rickety stairs. "It's down there."

The whole ride, I've been combatting a horrid bought of nausea. But now that I'm here—now that I know what is happening—I feel bile begin to rise.

This isn't right.

I spy the cave from where I stand. Something inside of me was pulling me closer. An urge, a need to go in—go back. Go home.

Stepping back, i brace yourself against the car. I don't want any part of this. I have half a mind to jump in the car and drive off, leaving them to fend for themselves, but I can't go. I know what will happen if I do.

Sam jogs around to the driver's side door, helping Michael out of the car. Michael grips him hard, pulling him close. "I don't want you going down there."

"Well, I'm going," he says defiantly.

"Look—this isn't a comic book, Sammy. These guys are brutal killers."

"So are the Frog brothers!"

I push off of the car, leaving them all behind. I won't listen to this.

The descent down the stairs is just as frightening as the first time, the wood bowing uncomfortably under the slightest bit of pressure.

Standing at the mouth of the cave, I peer into the long, dark cavern. They're in there. I can feel it.

Guilt eats me alive inside. I betrayed them once already. Their hurt expression was still fresh in my mind's eye.

No—I wouldn't feel guilty. I needed to go home to know for sure. I needed time and distance from them and their blood to think clearly.

Now, I knew. Now, my mind was made up.

Edgar elbowed past me, stepping confidently into the cave.

"You're either in or out, girly. No in-between."

"And we don't take kindly to traitors," said Alan. "You're on thin ice."

I step into the cave. It's not as dark as I initially thought. There were holes in the ceiling that I had never noticed before, allowing streams of sunlight into the lobby. Rocks crumbled underfoot, but I made a safe landing.

Edgar lost an ounce of bravado as he looked around the cave. "Holy shit!"

"Vampire hotel!"

Edgar races over to the small section of the main cave I've come to know as Star's room. He throws back the curtains, revealing her sleeping form.

"Here's one! C'mon—let's stake 'er!"

Michael stumbles down the steep stairs. "Don't you touch her! You stay away from her!"

That was all the convincing the boys needed, apparently, because they left it alone, muttering something about vampires having rotten tempers.

"The rest of 'em have got to be around here someplace." Edgar pushes his brother forward. "Let's find 'em."