cast no shadow. (the lost boys).

Chapter Five: Tides of Trouble

I had no idea what time it was or whose bed I was lying in. It wasn't until I sat up and checked my surroundings that I found I was still in the cave. The boys were nowhere to be seen. The golden light coming down the steps indicated it was still bright outside, so the boys were most likely asleep.

I was in the bed that I assumed no one had used in a long time, with a sheer curtain draped over the towering wooden poles attached to it.

I got up lazily, trying to remember what happened last night. I walked over to the fountain where I saw my other shoe, alongside numerous empty bottles and smoked joints. That's probably why I couldn't remember a lot from last night.

"Thanks, Paul," I mumbled to myself.

I slipped on my other shoe and made my way outside the cave. The sun was just starting to set, a mixture of luminous lemon and crimson blending together, creating various hues of tangerine that took over the night sky.

The walk back to Max's didn't take long. That's another good thing about being a vampire. When I got there, it was still light, so Max wasn't awake yet. I predicted he would be in half an hour or so. I greeted Thorn and decided to take a quick shower and handle all the other usual things girls do.

Once all that was done, I changed into a pair of denim shorts with a metal chain attached to the yellow cropped tank top I was wearing that had 'Rebel Rebel' printed on it. Even though it was evening, it was way too hot to wear anything else. I paired them with my black Converse, as usual. When I went back downstairs, Max was awake and stroking Thorn, which made me wonder how long I had spent in the shower.

"Hey," I greeted gleefully.

"Hey," he smiled. "What happened to you last night and earlier? Maria left a voicemail wondering where you were because you didn't show up for work, and I noticed you didn't come back here last night."

"Oh, yeah. I'm sorry, I should have said something. I ended up hanging out with people last night and woke up about an hour ago. I'm sorry," I apologized again. I decided to leave out the part about hanging out with the boys. I wasn't sure how he'd react to that just yet.

"No, it's fine," he brushed off. "Just next time, let me know if you want a day off work or whatever."

"Yeah, I will," I nodded vigorously.

"Shall we head down to the boardwalk?" he asked.

"Sure, if you want to," I replied. He nodded, grabbed his coat along with Thorn and his leash.

And then we drove off to the boardwalk, like every other night since I'd been in Santa Carla. We went our separate ways once we got there, and I wandered off in a random direction, as usual. I saw a hot dog stand coming into view and decided to treat myself. They were a favorite snack of mine. Lucky for me, there was no queue, so I ordered straight away and waited for it.

While waiting, I noticed a group of Surfer Nazis staring at me. I wasn't sure if it was because of the slightly revealing outfit I was wearing or if they had a problem with me. Either way, I decided to ignore them and continued waiting for my hot dog.

"Thank you," I smiled at the cashier and walked away. I decided to eat it while leaning on the railing that overlooked the sea. Just as I finished eating, someone stood next to me. I looked to see it was one of the guys from the Surfer Nazis.

"You got a light?" he questioned with an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips.

"No, sorry," I told him and began to walk away. I didn't make it a single step before he put his hand on mine and tightened his grip so my hand couldn't move from the railing. I mentally tried to calm myself (since I couldn't necessarily kill him in front of everyone) while trying to get my hand free.

"Don't make this any harder than it has to be," he advised me while taking the cancer stick out of his mouth. I noticed his posse was a couple of meters behind him.

"What do you want?" I queried while looking to see if the boys were anywhere.

"I know you did something to Brady," he stated.

"Who?" I asked.

"Our friend, Brady. I know you did something to him," he repeated.

"What makes you think I've done something?" I wondered.

"I know you've done something because last night he told us he was gonna talk to the chick that hangs 'round with the Lost Boys. You're that chick and we haven't seen Brady since," he explained.

"The Lost Boys?" I asked with an arched brow.

"Yeah, those biker dudes you hang around with. Better be careful or people might get the wrong impression," he smirked.

"Can you let go of me now?" I inquired as I rolled my eyes.

"No," he replied smugly and purposely tightened his grip even more. "Where's Brady?"

"Beats me. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if someone offed him because of that hideous name," I snickered.

"Listen, bitch—" he started.

"No, you listen. If you don't get the hell away from our girl, I can assure you that you won't live to see another day," David's voice threatened calmly.

The Surfer Nazi was quick to let go of me and take a step back. I was then pulled into someone's chest and wrapped in their arms. I turned my head slightly to see that it was Paul, who gave me a small smirk. Dwayne and Marko were also there. Dwayne was inspecting me to see if I was hurt while Marko watched the Surfer Nazis every move.

"You think I'm scared of you?" the Surfer Nazi cockily asked as his entourage moved behind him.

"I don't know, but you should be," David continued.

"Really?" the Surfer Nazi scoffed.

"Can we leave?" I pouted at Paul. He nodded slowly while softly smiling at me. He let go of me and grabbed my left hand as he jerked his head to Dwayne, indicating that we should leave.

"David, come on," Dwayne said to David lowly. He made eye contact with me before looking back at the Surfer Nazis.

"You come anywhere near my girl again and you're dead," he promised. "Let's go."

We all walked away from the group and went in a random direction, which seemed normal to me since all I do is walk in random directions. We suddenly stopped walking, and David turned to me.

"Are you okay?" he asked. I nodded, and he continued, "Are you hungry? There's a small diner just up there."

"No, I ate a hot dog," I replied excitedly.

"You can eat my hot dog," Paul mumbled.

"No thanks," I told him.

"Yeah, Paul, that's gross," Marko chimed in. "Pffft, boys, am I right?"

Paul shoved Marko while Dwayne rolled his eyes, and David wasn't even paying attention to them.

"What did he want with you?" David demanded.

"Um, Paul, remember that mess I made last night?" I looked over at him.

"Oh shit," Paul laughed. "She killed his friend."

"Yeah, Paul, just say that out loud and in front of everyone," Marko rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, we'll be eating him later anyway," Paul smirked.

"Paul, stop," Marko whined.

"You stop," Paul retaliated.

"I'm not doing anything," Marko replied.

"Yes, you are," Paul disagreed.

"Oh yeah? What?" Marko quizzed.

"Living," Paul simply said.

"Well actually—" Marko started.

"Shut up," David sighed out of annoyance. "We're gonna go find that dipshit and his friends. You wanna come?"

"No, thanks," I shook my head.

"You can wait by the bikes if you want. We shouldn't be long," David told me.

"Okay," I said, and we went our separate ways. I decided to lean on the railings and admire the beach until the boys were done.