To The Shock of Miss Louise (Carousel Series #1)

Chapter 11: Santa Cruz, CA | 1986

"All right, I want you to meet our advisor. She's well educated on the legend." Phyllis clapped her hands for attention. "Please welcome Ruby."

Kiefer looked up, as a young girl in her 20's walked up the boardwalk steps from the beach. She was thin-ish, her waist accented by the pair of blue jeans she wore. They laced in the front, the ends flared and studded with marker patterns and studs. She wore a Depeche Mode shirt, the sleeves cut off and her hair was a bright as embers in a fire pit.

"Whoa..." Alexander breathed. Billy and Brooke were staring too.

Ruby wrapped her arms around herself tightly, her hair down and blowing gently around her waist in the light breeze. She'd done a double take upon seeing them for the first time. They were perfect matches to the Boys. It had taken a moment to realize the crew had worked magic on them. That and pieces of their costumes were real. She saw the one who played Paul had his serrated bracelet on. The one who played David had the silver medallion pinned to his trench coat. The one who played Dwayne had the rat skull on his necklace. And the one who played Marko...

"Marko..." She whispered, leaning towards him unconsciously. All four of the actors stared at her.

"Um that's Alexander." Phyllis was watching her. Ruby blinked and leaned back. "And Kiefer on the left, Brooke, and Billy."

"Hello" Ruby said softly, eyes loosing the far off look. The three looked at Alexander. He shifted uncomfortably.

"A pleasure." Kiefer finally figured if he was playing the leader, might as well be one now. He offered a hand to Ruby. Her own grip was strong.

"Ruby is the town's most knowledgeable resident on the legend." Phyllis smiled. "She's come to keep us true to form."

"You guys have the look down" Ruby managed to say, after a few minutes' silence.

"That's good to know. But I don't understand one thing" Brooke replied, catching the serrated bracelet on his shirt again. Instinctively, Ruby untangled him. He stared at her, as did the other three.

"Sorry." Ruby backed up again and folded her arms round her self. "What's your question?"

"What's our motivation?" Kiefer asked, knowing the others were probably wondering the same thing.

"Simply this. Sleep all day, party all night. Never grow old. Never die" Ruby replied. Phyllis looked at her.

"Can we use that? For the tag line?"

"I guess." Ruby shrugged. She turned back to the actors. "You're vampires. You have little to fear. Sun hurts and burns. But nothing much scares you. You're reckless. Life means nothing, as you're already dead. You drive fast, live hard. Party till you drop."

"I'll be back, I want to run that line by Mr. Schumacher." Phyllis patted Ruby's shoulder and took off. All four actors noticed her flinch.

"So you're the only one in Santa Cruz that really knows the ins and outs of this 'legend'?" Billy asked. Ruby shrugged.

"Probably. No one believes it anyway."

"So..." Alexander was picking at one of the braids done in his hair.

"You want to know more about me, don't you." Ruby smirked. "Why I suddenly showed up, and supposedly know all this stuff."

"Basically," Billy and Kiefer chimed in together.

"There's nothing to know." Ruby smirked again. "Now. Here's what you need to know about whom you're playing.

"Kiefer: David's the leader of the Boys. He has a good heart, but it's become tainted by power, trying to play god. He's trying to impress what's his name?" Ruby paused, rubbing her head. Damn this story. It had so many added elements.

"Um I think you mean Edward's character, Max?" Alexander offered.

"He's the video store guy?" Ruby asked. The four actors nodded. "Ok yeah, him. David's trying to impress Max. He's the whole 'father' figure. Whatever." Ruby sighed.

"What do you mean...?" Kiefer asked, but Ruby moved on without answering.

"So you're trying to impress your 'father', all the while trying to get..." Ruby drew another blank, frustration in her eyes.

"Star?" Brooke offered.

"Star... Yeah. Ok you're trying to get Star to bite Michael and make her a full fledged vampire. Which would so not happen but eh, for story purposes..." Ruby sighed.

"Wait! What do you mean 'story purposes'..." Kiefer asked again.

"Now, Mar-Alexander. You're David's right hand. You do most of the dirty work. Marko is usually painfully shy, but a true sweetheart. And don't pick at the braids. Marko likes them."

"Hey, did you see this? That string matches the one in Alex's hair!" Ruby hadn't noticed Brooke had come up close to her, she was so busy explaining Marko. She backed up, caught by her own braid in Brooke's hands.

"Wait a minute..." Kiefer's eyes narrowed. Ruby was caught.

"I have an idea. You want inspiration?" Kiefer's suspicions were flounced by this offer. The four looked at the girl.

"What do you mean?" Billy raised a brow.

"I mean this." Ruby walked over to Kiefer, who was sitting on David's Triton. "Move." She commanded, and Kiefer was taken back by the power in this tiny creature. She slid onto David's bike and revved the motor. As if a silent feeling overtook the others, Alex and Billy revved theirs in a return call.

"Whoa..." Brooke was staring.

"Get on back. I'll take you to the cav... mean the set." Ruby caught herself.

"Are you sure you can?" Kiefer looked at the massive bike, then at Ruby. Ruby stared up at him defiantly.

"Believe me, I can handle this bike."

Kiefer shrugged and slid on behind her. His hands were warm, alive, unlike the Boys'. Ruby suppressed a shudder and revved the motor again. Brooke, along with the other two, copied her.

"We ride boys." She couldn't help herself. Gunning the engine, she shot down the promenade like a bullet. The other three were quick to follow. Ruby felt the mystical ties between each of the bikes pull tight, each drawn to the other. David was right to have charmed them. Made perfect sense now.

Kiefer held tightly to the tiny girl's waist. As she ran the bike down the stairs, he felt every bone in his body be jarred by the sensation. He could hear the others following closely. It was getting all too real...

Ruby ran the main drag, under the piers, through the oak grove near the creek, and up onto the bluff by the lighthouse. The lighthouse itself had been closed for years. In the daytime everything seemed so dull, so dead. Her thoughts kept drifting back to the Boys, to their midnight rides along this same route. She hoped they were all safe and sound.

Pulling up to the cave, Ruby nearly gasped. The place crawled with camera-crews, set designers, and people just generally on hand to watch. She slid from David's bike, and stared. Her home, crawling with, ew, humans!

"Hey girl! What's wrong?"

"What!" Ruby turned, nearly smacking into Brooke. He looked at her weirdly. "Sorry, forgot your name."

"Um, Brooke."

"Sorry, Brooke."

Kiefer and Alexander shared whispered words. Billy was looking around through the crew, over the bluff.

"You're a jumpy one." Brooke smiled.

Ruby looked at her boots. "Not normally. This is just weird. Seeing this all come to..."

"Life?"

"Yeah."