First Staked (Alan Frog/The Lost Boys)

Chapter #21: Reassurance

*Katie's POV*

Alan and the others had just left to go get supplies for whatever their "Plan B" was going to be. Walking over to the window in the room, I watched as the three of them rode off down the road on their bikes. I didn't look away until they were out of sight over the slope of the hill.

Glancing away from the window, I looked back at Michael and saw that he was still asleep against his bedside table. On the bed the girl and boy, whose names I remembered being Star and Laddie, were still sleeping as well.

I took the moment of solitude now to look around Michael's room. It was similar to Sam's, just neater and with less posters on the walls. But what really caught my attention was the mirror that he had in the corner of his room. When I passed by it I gasped as I saw my reflection, or my lack thereof. I had forgotten that that's what happens. Putting my hand up to the mirror, I stared at my transparent self...I looked like a ghost.

But I wasn't a ghost...I was a vampire. Half of a bloodsucking, flesheating monster! I was the exact thing I was supposed to be fighting against alongside Sam, Edgar and Alan!

Alan....even he was afraid of me now, I could tell. He was trying to act like nothing was wrong, but even I knew that he could only pretend so much for a situation like this. Not that I blamed him. After my episode in the cave, I'd be scared of myself too.

I raked my hands through my hair, still caked in Marko's dried blood. My voice came out as a whisper.
    "Damnit...!"

Turning away from the mirror now, I slumped back down at the foot of the bed. I let out a sigh and pulled my knees up to my chest. In my sitting position, my back was to the others, so I wasn't ready when I heard another voice behind me.

    "You really care about that boy, don't you?"

I jumped and snapped my head to see that the one who spoke had been the girl; Star. She sat up from where she'd been laying on one of the pillows and wrapped her jacket around herself.

I stared down at the bedspread under me. Swallowing, I mumbled out an answer to her.
    "Yeah...I do. I just wish I could say the same for him about me."

She cocked her head to the side with a confused look.
    "What do you mean? It's obvious that he cares for you."

I jerked my head back to face her, resting my head on my knees.
    "Star, he's scared to even be near me."

Star sat cross-legged on the bed, putting her hands in her lap.
    "We're all scared right now, Katie. But scared doesn't mean loss of affection."
I let her words sink in, not saying anything back to her. She kept going.
    "Think about it. He risked his life to come and rescue you from the cave."

I shook my head.
    "He still thought I was a human then."

    "But he still got you out of there even after he found out that you'd been turned, now didn't he?" Star shot back. When I didn't answer her again, she leaned forward to me.
    "He fears and hates vampires, not you."

By this point, I had glanced away from her and back to the bed, my eyes half-lidded. What she said made sense...it's not like Alan was backing away from me and pointing a stake at my heart. He was still standing near me, holding me, he even still kissed me despite how uneasy he may have felt.

I let out a breath and finally managed to smile at her. A genuine one.
    "Thank you, Star."

She returned my smile with one of her own, but it faded just as soon as it came.
    "You're welcome. If I can't have my own love life, I might as well help others feel better about theirs."
After saying this, she gazed over at a still sleeping Michael.