black roses | rewritten version | the lost boys (1987)

xi.

Dwayne led me from my bedroom, his hand on the small of my back, comforting me as he led me to my beat-up recliner. David was sitting in my other recliner while Paul was laid across the sofa with Marko sprawled across his lap, the taller playing with his hair while they listened to music from my radio. The three all seemed to perk up as we entered the room, catching me off guard.

Dwayne let me settle into the chair before sitting on the ground in front of me, back resting against one of my calves. I sat up a bit at the feeling, smiling and placing a hand on his head to curl a bit of his hair around my finger. "What're we talking about?"

David was the one to speak. "Was what you said in there true?"

I raised an eyebrow. How would he have heard what I said? I knew I talked a bit loud, but not that loud. Still, I responded. "I mean, yeah. I think tenth grade me would be screaming at the opportunity to become a vampire."

"And what if we could give you that opportunity?" David's voice was deathly calm, and it was the only thing that kept me from laughing. It, however, didn't stop the joke that passed my lips.

"What? Is this some kind of cult?" David glowered at the question, but I shrugged my shoulders, crossing my arms. "I thought it was a valid question," I grumbled. Paul laughed at that, only to stop at the glare David sent him.

"I'm being serious," he said.

I huffed. "And how, pray tell, would you be able to do that?"

"Because we are vampires."

I stared at him, disbelief clearly written across my face. "Okay," I drawled out, eyes narrowing as I responded. "I realize that I look dumb and all, but I don't think I'm that stupid. I mean, come on! What would a group of vampires – if they were even real – want to do with me except eat me?"

"I'm always up for eating you out," Marko mumbled from where his face was buried in Paul's shoulder.

I chuckled at that, shaking my head as I watched the two of them adjust their positioning so Marko could look at me, too. "I just mean, am I really-" I cut myself off as I turned to look back at David, freezing in place at the sight of his distorted face. What the fuck? His eyes had changed into a bright shade of gold while his teeth elongated to form fangs, his lip curled into a snarl. It felt like even his face structure had changed, become sharper and more terrifying. I stared at him for a few seconds, entire body frozen in fear. My heart practically skipped a beat before starting back ten times faster. I shook in place, opening and closing my mouth a few times before finally forming words. "Okay, well, you see-"

I flung myself out of the chair, almost tripping over Dwayne, before I booked it to my bedroom, vaguely registering the sight of Rain perched outside in the yard, not able to protect me at all in this situation. I made it into my bedroom in a few steps before I slammed the door shut, locking it as if it would do any good. I could hear the boys scrambling in the living room, Marko the loudest as I heard his body hit the floor before he yelled out a 'what the fuck, Paul.'

I took a few strangled breaths, looking around my room wildly for any defense or hiding only to land on one of the most childish options possible: my bed. I hit the floor harsher than I meant to before scrambling into the tight space, body turned so I could watch the door.

It went quiet, like being in the eye of the storm. Then, a few raps of knuckles against my door. "Evangeline," David called out, his voice softer than I had heard these past few days.

I stayed silent, willing my heartbeat to lower, to calm down even though I was absolutely terrified. Sure, I had talked about vampires before, even dreamt of being one, but this was entirely different. That was a pipe dream! This was real! Really real! They were carnivorous beings that could kill me in a single bite if they wanted to! I wanted to scream, but I knew it would do no good.