Swan Song || The Lost Boys - & The One Who Found Them...

Chapter XII ~ ᛃ ( Jera ) Part III - Drink The Wine, Taste The Blood

[ Temptation ]

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Darkness had soon completely devoured the streets of Santa Carla, the pitch-black tapestry of night rolling across the tired landscapes of a usually sprightly city to swallow the colours of a new-born autumn. Golden treetops turned to black, & the high peaks of the mountains, though still faintly illuminated by the coy lights of distant stars, laid their eyes to rest. Before me there was darkness; darkness as far as the eye could see...

Not a single sound would stir the air except for the roaring engines of motorcycles speeding through the night, four in total, the solid cobblestones of the Boardwalk giving way to velvet-like sand once they abandoned the streets to drive along the at this time deserted beach.

I sat on the back of Dwayne's bike & watched the images of my surroundings pass by like a slideshow, both arms wrapped around the handsome vampire & my own chest pressed against his spine. I was surprised to find myself relaxed despite this being my very first ride on a motorcycle, only clinging so tightly to Dwayne because the desire to be close to him had grown immensely over the past few hours. The time spent in each other's presence had been both short & limited, yet I already knew that I could - & undoubtedly would - put my very life into his hands should the circumstances ever demand it, that's how much I trusted him. Not once had the fear of him abusing my trust crossed my mind; a reassuring yet rather unusual thing given my past. I was so prone to distrust & doubt, would rethink every situation or decision of mine until avoiding it entirely was the only option left.

With Dwayne however, everything appeared different. Everything felt different.
In fact, everything was different.

He gave me an unexpected sense of security, of faith, & made me feel protected in the face of uncertainty; he had done so the night at his hideout in the watchtower as well as last night at my own house. His existence as a creature of the night changed absolutely nothing about that. I wasn't even a bit scared of all the things he could potentially do, as deep down inside a part of me already seemed to be aware that he would never consider doing me any harm.

Something I couldn't even say about my own closest friends...

My eyes wandered away from the sea towards the shore where the other three vampires rode their bikes across the sandy dunes, with David several feet away leading the group, closely followed by an euphoric Paul & Marko, both of them emitting cheerful howls every now & then. For some reason Dwayne had chosen to fall behind & was now keeping a small yet noticeable distance to his companions, occasionally slowing down & removing a hand from the handlebar to squeeze mine as if to ensure I was still there.

I would respond by tightening the hug, smiling softly whenever his skin grazed mine & forgetting about the others, even if only for a sweet few seconds.

The salt-flavoured air in my lungs, the cold clear wind in my hair; the arms of night around me, with Dwayne's heart beating so very close to mine. The roaring motorcycle engines - a sound of freedom, of journey.

It almost seemed too perfect to be true...

After driving along the beach for a while I saw David turn left rather briskly, pulling over to climb up a tall dune where he immediately disappeared between a group of large trees adjacent to the beach. Glancing over my shoulder I realized how far the Boardwalk had fallen behind, the few lights surrounding the already closed amusement park being nothing but little bright dots in front of an otherwise black horizon.

A faint beam of light dancing across the clouds & traveling seaward caught my attention, significantly growing brighter as we journeyed along. Paul was the next one to pull his motorcycle up the dune & vanish in the woods just like David, closely followed by Marko & then Dwayne & me, my embrace around him becoming much firmer as he sped up his bike to make it up the hill.