flames | The Lost Boys (1987) | revised

| EIGHT |

My family made it back home the next day around noon. I was still passed out in my bed and woke up mid snore to the door slamming shut. I had almost fallen back asleep, knowing I had only slept for a few hours beforehand, when I heard a small knock on my door. I stared at the door for some moments, debating on getting up, before lifting myself completely when there was a second round of knocking, this time a bit louder. I padded over to the door and opened it, meeting the face of my smiling aunt.

"Good morning, did I wake you up?" she questioned.

I shook my head. "No, I've been up," I lied.

Aunt Julia didn't seem to believe me but continued. "We got you something while we were out!"

I raised my eyebrow. "What is it?"

She made a motion for me to follow her, and I complied, following her outside of the house and towards where they parked the cars. On the way out, my mother rolled her eyes at me and stomped away. My aunt came to a stop a few steps outside of the door and motioned in front of her. I followed her movement, and I let out a loud squeal of excitement at what was in front of me.

Parked in front of us was a bright red motorcycle. It looked a bit beat up with a dent or two and some scuffs, but it was beautiful.

"Do you like it?" she questioned, patting my back.

I turned to her with an excited grin. "I love it! It's beautiful!"

She chuckled. "While we were in town, we stumbled across it, and it wasn't that expensive, so I figured I'd get it for you. You can take it out tonight if you want to. You look a bit too tired to drive around now, but I won't stop you."

As much as I wanted to drive it right now, I had to admit that my mind was still a bit hazy from lack of sleep. I ran my hand along the handlebar of the bike. "I'll wait until later," I declared. "How was your trip?"

Aunt Julia seemed excited to talk to me, and I was just as excited to talk to her. She made me feel comfortable just being around her, and a part of me wished that she was my mother instead of my real one. She didn't even seem shaken up by whatever lies my mom had most likely told her.

She told me about their trip over a cup of coffee in the kitchen. She talked about her son and her friends and how my mother had seemed to loosen up a bit while out. She had just finished a story about my mother and her when they were kids and the trouble they would get in when she changed the subject. "What about you, though?" she questioned, holding her coffee up to her face. "Are you enjoying Santa Carla? Have you made any friends?"

I nodded, trusting her enough to talk about the boys. "Yeah, I became friends with these biker boys on the boardwalk." She cocked an eyebrow, and I bit my lip. "One of them literally ran into me on my first day here, and I became friends with him and his group."

"He's not a surf-nazi, is he? Because that's one thing I won't tolerate-"

"No, no, no," I cut her off, laughing loudly. "No, it's- actually, they said they know you. David, Dwayne, Marko, and Paul. They said you've fed them before."

She seemed to relax at the clarification. "Oh," she said, "those boys." She was quiet for a few moments. "Yeah, I've known them for a bit. I was friends with them for a little while when they first moved here, mainly because I would give them food since they said they didn't have a home. I had caught them stealing from a stand and didn't want them to feel like that was their only choice. Have you noticed anything weird about them?"

"Weird? No, I don't think so; was I supposed to?"

She took a long sip of her coffee. "No, maybe not." We fell into silence for a few moments before I let out a loud yawn, rubbing at my eyes. "Maybe you should take a nap," she said, giving me a small smile. "You've only been up for a few hours, but you look wrecked. What time did you go to bed?"

"I don't know," I said, yawning again, "it was late. The sun was up," I drawled. "I didn't mean to, it kind of just happened."

My aunt took my cup from in front of me along with hers and moved to the sink. "Well, go rest some more. I'll wake you up for dinner and then you can go out if you want, as long as you're home by midnight."

"Okay," I mumbled, "thank you." I made my way upstairs and passed out on my bed almost instantly, my hand on my match necklace.

Dinner was uneventful, to say the least. My aunt and I continued our talking, but the presence of my mother who made it clear that she wasn't happy to be around me dampened the mood a bit. I found myself hiding behind my food so I didn't have to speak as much.

After dinner, I dressed in all black again, jeans this time instead of a skirt, and I left with a smile and wave at my aunt. Roaring the bike to life put a bright smile on my face, and I took a moment to really appreciate the machine before I flew down the driveway.

Before making my way to the boardwalk, I ran around the streets of the city. There was barely any traffic even though Santa Carla was a tourist attraction, I hadn't even realized it. Once I made it to the boardwalk, I weaved through the people, knowing what I was doing was certainly not allowed. I was looking for the boys' bikes, though. I knew they always parked somewhere around here instead of in the parking lot. Once I found the bikes but not the boys, I hopped off my bike and began searching.

After a few minutes of looking around, I saw David's hair out of the corner of my eye and turned. The four of them were on the beach, standing near a bonfire party. I was going to call out to them, but then, David was moving faster than I'd ever seen, and the boys followed. Then, there was blood, so much blood. I looked around to see if anyone had noticed, but everyone was minding their own business, none the wiser.

I took a few steps back as I caught one of their faces in the firelight. It was Paul, but it certainly didn't look like him. No, his face had changed considerably, and he looked utterly terrifying. I felt dizzy, my head spinning and spinning, and I found myself moving away from them, running through the crowd as fast as I could.

What the fuck were they? They certainly weren't human, that was for sure, and they weren't eating the people. But, the blood. Vampires? Vampires weren't real as far as I knew, but there was no denying what they were doing. I could throw up at just the thought. In fact, as soon as I reached my bike, I clutched onto the railing closest to it and hurled onto the sand below the boardwalk.

I wiped my mouth as soon as I was done, groaning lowly. I sat down on my bike, trying to wrap my head around what I had just seen, but everything was foggy like my brain was trying to block it all. I kicked my bike to life and took off through the crowds, trying to speed home as quickly as I could.

Unfortunately, only a few feet into my driveway, my tire hit a huge stick I hadn't seen, and I was sent flying. I hit the ground face-first and let out a low whimper at the feeling of my nose bleeding. I flipped myself onto my back, touching my face softly. I was definitely cut up, but from what I could feel, my nose wasn't broken. I lifted myself off the ground with a low groan, walking over to where my bike was thrown.

There were a few new chips in the paint, but overall, the bike looked completely fine. I picked it up and leaned it against a tree to fully inspect it when a hand clasped around my mouth and stomach. I let out a yell from shock as I was dragged back a few steps, looking up to meet the mask of the fox.

His steps were fluid as he approached me. The hand on my mouth let go as the fox's gloved hand grabbed my chin, pulling me closer to him. He was quiet for a few moments, and I could feel his stare against my skin. When he finally spoke, my head reeled for a bit, trying to process what he was saying. "You're going to have to choose," he said, his voice just as scratchy as the last time he had spoken to me. "One lost group or another. Eternity spent in different places entirely, but eternity nonetheless."

I shook my head the best I could. "What do you mean? You never tell me what you mean," I cried, letting tears fall freely down my cheeks.

He chuckled. "You have the pieces of the puzzle. Put them together." He let go of my face and took a few steps back. The person behind me let go, and I fell to the ground on my knees, looking at my hands in my lap. Their footsteps faded in the background.

"What does that even mean?" I whimpered.