Sanctuary

Chapter Nine

"Hey, remember when they first came out with movies? The talking ones, I mean?" Raven looked up at his packmates, his head still in Cahya's lap. "Blew my fucking mind. And now look." Lazily, he motioned to the TV, where they were watching a random Pixar movie. "And we've got cell phones, the internet..."

Cahya chuckled. "Yeah, it's kind of like technological whiplash if you think about it. I still can't use a fucking printer, why'd they make it so complicated."

Onyx rolled her eyes, laughing. "You're telling me. When I was a kid, our entertainment was dirt and a stick. Man... I feel so damn old."

"Well you are the oldest motherfucker here." Cahya chuckled, easily catching the remote Onyx threw at him.

"Yeah, laugh it up choir boy."

Cahya rolled his eyes. Everyone in the pack always felt it hilarious that Cahya had been an altar boy as a child. Later he had lost his faith and became an agnostic, valuing knowledge over blind worship. But of course, living in a heavily Catholic community in his time period wasn't a welcoming place for a heretic.

He was the youngest of the group, not even a hundred years old but still the leader of their little pack. Onyx was the oldest (though she could party and rock out as well as any of them), followed by Daegel then Raven. And if Jake decided to join them...

Their peace was disrupted as Daegel burst into the bus, shouting something incomprehensible and looking panicked. Even without their pack bond, it was easy to see how distraught Daegel was. The three vampires jumped to their feet, sensing the distress of their packmate. Cahya took a quick look and noticed that Jake was not with Daegel. Panic flared in him. What happened to Jake? Was he hurt? Dead? It may have only been a week but they all had come to care for their human brother. Jake was a part of the pack, human or not, and they all cared for him as much.

"Daegel!" Grabbing the flailing, panicking vampire by the shoulders, Cahya shook him none too gently. "Calm the fuck down! Where is Jake!"

"I don't know!" Cahya took another look at Daegel. He was crying, probably had been the entire way back, eyeliner running down his cheeks. His hair was a mess and his fangs were unsheathed. "I don't know Cahya... I fucked up. I really fucked up and I don't know what to do."

"Dae, just calm down and tell us what happened." Cahya led Daegel to sit down on the couch, forcing himself to be calm. If Jake was missing or hurt, Daegel would lay himself out for the sun. They had to figure out just what the hell happened.

Sniffling to calm himself, Daegel took long and shaky breaths as he tried to explain. "I... we... well," he blanched. "I messed up, that's what I did. I scared him off. I chased him away I-"

"Daegel." Raven grabbed his shoulder this time, giving him a light shake. "Just tell us what you did, or what you think you did."

Daegel bowed his head shamefully. "...we were in the movie theater. We were just hanging out, having fun...then he kissed me. And I..."

Cahya's stomach sank like a stone. A cold pit formed in his chest as he understood what had conspired. "...you pushed him away, didn't you?"

"No!" Daegel's head shot up and his eyes were wide. "No! I didn't! I would never-" He cut himself off, blushing bright red and squirming despite himself.

Raven smirked. "I knew it. You do like him, don't you?" At Daegel's bashful nod, he patted his shoulder. "Well apparently he likes you too! So that's great!"

"Not really, since apparently Daegel did something that made Jake think otherwise." Onyx added softly. "Or rather, what he didn't do?" She gently prodded. Daegel nodded again. "I'm guessing you froze, then. And he ran?" Daegel nodded again.