Haunted by Blood (The Lost Boys)

Conversing with Vampires

Lily stared into David's eyes. They weren't the gold that sometimes haunted her nightmares over the years. No, right now he looked just as human as she did. That was the problem, though. Neither of them were human, at least not completely human in her case.

Clearing her dry throat, the girl did her best to put her thoughts into words for the first time in years. "Back then, you used me to come back..."

"Yeah but you kinda knew that already, even back then, didn't you?" Paul was the one who spoke, even though her attention was on David.

"That wasn't a question... You're right. I did know." Lily took a deep breath before exhaling slowly, "My question is why... Why did you give me the blood?"

David raised an eyebrow. "I promised you could live forever, I kept my promise."

"That's it? It's that simple? Because you promised me?" Her words were painted with pure disbelief. To be fair, she didn't know what she had expected to be the answer.

The vampire merely shook his head, "I answered your question. Now you answer mine; why did you drink the blood?"

Lily looked away from him then as the accident briefly flashed before her eyes. The teenager willed it away, refusing to have any kind of episode in front of them. She would not appear that vulnerable to clear predators.

Her gaze made its way back to his and she answered, "I didn't want to die."

He held her stare for several seconds that seemed like an eternity before the blond nodded, "So now what?"

Lily was confused but tried not to appear like she wasn't following his line of thought. He either noticed this or simply decided to continue anyway as he approached her.

"You didn't want to die but, tell me, do you feel alive right now?" He was no longer a few feet away but directly in front of her.

Lily blinked and furrowed her eyebrows trying to concentrate on his words instead of his proximity, "You don't seem to realize that not dying and living are two different things." His tone was more thoughtful than inquisitive, "So, tell me which do you really want? To live or just not die?"

"Kinda hard to live when you're undead isn't it?" Lily did kind of get what he was telling her but she was going to do what she did best and be snarky because that was how the teenager dealt with things she didn't like.

David didn't pay her smart mouth any mind, though, unlike her dad and instead imparted more wisdom, "I only ever lived after I first died."

Why was he telling her this? What did he want? She wanted answers but instead all the half-vampire was getting was more questions.

His hand reached out, setting on her still hooded head. She froze stiffly for a moment before slowly relaxing as he rubbed her head gently and spoke again, "I think I understand you a little better now. It's not that you value others' lives or even your own humanity."

Lily tensed again as she didn't like the sound of that.

"You want to live but you're afraid to die first. The thought of your heart stopping scares you."

He wasn't wrong that that was a terrifying thought, but the other stuff about humanity and the lives of others? Clearly, he was wrong about those things; they did matter to her. Lily lurched away from him. "You're wrong."

Her tone was defiant but he didn't appear to believe her. "Your words are at odds with your eyes."

Lily glared. "What?"