First Staked (Alan Frog/The Lost Boys)

Chapter #1: Welcome to Santa Carla

The sunny coastline of California whizzed past the car as we drove along the main rode leading to our new hometown. Waves crashing along the sandy beach reflected in my eyes as I watched with my chin propped against my hand. The leaves of the passing palm trees rustled in the ocean breeze overhead.

    "Are we there yet?" I questioned from the passenger seat of my mom's SUV.

My mother, Rose Calphen, offered me a small smile from her spot behind the wheel.
    "Almost, Katie. Maybe twenty more minutes."

I breathed out a quiet sigh and went back to gazing out the window - a large, colorful, sign beginning to approach the car on my side. It had a picture of the ocean and a little town with a boardwalk on it with the town's name plastered along the top in bright, orange lettering.

"WELCOME TO SANTA CARLA!"

That was it - our new hometown; Santa Carla, California. I kept my eyes on the sign as the car rolled past it, noticing right before I looked away that something was spray-painted on the back. A message in bright red lettering.

"MURDER CAPITAL OF THE WORLD"

"Hmm...comforting, we're moving to a place where people die a lot." I thought as I refocused my attention to the scenery in front of me. I wondered if what the sign said was true, and if it was, who was killing people? Maybe someone around here would be willing to tell me about it?

Mom and I drove for a little while longer, passing the large boardwalk that was supposedly the main source of entertainment in this town. I had read a brochure that we had received in the mail, and it said that the boardwalk was home to several rides, shops and restaurants and frequently had live bands play at the concert stage at night. It really didn't sound too bad, it sounded like a ton of fun honestly, but I was just worried about making some friends to have that fun with.

This was the first time I had ever moved to someplace new, and for a first move, this one was huge. Mom and I had driven here all the way from Ohio, where I'd lived my entire life - all of my family, my friends and everything I knew was back there. Now I was being forced to wipe all of that away and start with a clean slate - a new house, new school when it started back up in the Fall, and new people. I wasn't against the move, at least not completely - I was just worried about how hard it would be to start fresh again and if I'd be able to really do it.

We were up into the hills now, driving on a dusty, dirt road. There were only a few houses along it, most of them made out of a mix of wood and stone. It wasn't long before mom turned the car into one of the dirt driveways, which led up to a nice looking house made of mostly wood and brick. This was it - our new home.

Mom and I got out of the car and immediately began taking in boxes from the back seat and trunk - it took a few trips but we finally got everything into the house. The inside of it had a similar style to the outside; wooden walls and floors in the living room and hallways, the kitchen and bathrooms had tile flooring and painted walls and the bedrooms had painted walls as well with wood floors. I had just set down the last box in the living room next to the others when mom handed me another one labeled: "Katie's Stuff" with a smile.

    "Why don't you go find your bedroom and start setting things up? The movers brought all of the big stuff in yesterday, so your bed, dresser and such should be up there already." She suggested.

Nodding, I took the box from her without question and trotted up the stairs to find my bedroom. It was down the hall from the bathroom, on the right, the door creaking slightly when I pushed it open. Entering the room, I found my bed had been placed in the far right corner by a large window and my dresser and drsk were against the opposite wall. My bookshelf that I kept books and movies on had been placed next to my nightstand by my bed.

Appreciating the setup the movers had given me, I took my box and set it down on my bed, beginning to open it and take things out. This one ended up being mainly just clothes and shoes - which I busied myself with putting away until mom brought up a couple more boxes with my stuff in them.

About an hour later, my room was finally coming together - I smiled as I only had one box left to go through. Opening it up, I found my horror collection - being a huge fan of horror, I had started collecting things from movies. So far I mainly just had some posters, but I had also started adding comic books to the collection as well - I was hoping to find more somewhere here in Santa Carla too.

Once I had hung my posters and shoved my comics and movies on the shelf beside my bed, the sky was starting to get orange outside. I wiped a bit of sweat off of my forehead as my stomach started to gurgle at me. Yeah...now that I had stopped working, I realized that I was pretty hungry - it was definitely time for dinner! Leaving my room, I headed downstairs, wondering if my mom had started anything for us.

To my luck, she was just finishing up preparing some BLTs for the two of us when I entered the kitchen. She held up my plate and set it on the table for me along with her own and a bag of chips. Sitting across from one another, we began digging into our sandwiches - my stomach beginning to thank me after the first few bites. Mom and I ate quietly for a few minutes, going back and forth eating some chips, but after another bite or two, she cleared her throat.

    "I think tomorrow I'm going to go check out the boardwalk for a job. Would you want to come with me?" She asked.

Thinking for a moment, I nodded to her, gulping down another bite.
    "Yeah, sure. Might as well explore this place - maybe I'll meet some new friends."

    "Maybe you'll even meet a boyyy!" Mom chirped, drawing out the last syllable.

I rolled my eyes at her playfully, stuffing a chip in my mouth.
    "Don't get your hopes up."

I had never had the greatest luck with guys, which is why my mother was so persistent on teasing me about meeting one. I never bothered to humor it any, because really - what boy in Santa Carla was going to fall for me that fast?

Mom and I ate the rest of our dinner mostly in silence, a casual comment about the scenery on the way here now and then, but not much else. When I had finished, I walked back upstairs to my room and got comfy for the night in some sleep shorts and a t-shirt. Once I'd changed, I laid down on my bed and grabbed one of my horror comics, flipping through it until it was time for bed.

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The next morning, I woke up around ten o'clock and decided to take a shower. When I got out I dressed myself in a red shirt with a black coca-cola logo, black jean shorts, red converse and put on minimal makeup of mascara and eyeliner. After brushing out my wavy, blonde hair, I decided to wear it down and went on finishing getting ready for the day.

Around 12:30 my mom came into my room and asked if I was ready to leave for the boardwalk. Telling her I'd meet her downstairs, I put away the same horror comic from last night and stood up from my bed. When she left to go start the car, I took a moment to look at myself in the mirror before joining her. Fixing my hair a bit, I sucked in a deep breath.

It was time to start my first official day in Santa Carla!

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A/N: Hey guys!☺ I am soooo excited to finally be posting this story, I've been fine tuning it for awhile now! Meet my other 80s movie obsession: The Lost Boys 😍 Hope you enjoy this fic! It's a little something to put out while I work on finishing Sinner. I'll try and post 1-2 chapters a day if that works for you guys. Hope y'all are doing well! Love to you all!
💚-Katie-💚