C H A P T E R T H R E E

{Vampires Everywhere!...or so say the frog brothers}

Grumbling and already in a foul mood thanks to the crowded conditions she'd endured the last hour and a bit, Hesperia finally managed to haul her two extremely heavy suitcases off the bus.

Sweat accumulated on her brow, beading along her hairline while she struggled under the noon-day sun. There was a huff, a tap of a foot, and she moved to the side of the doors to allow the man who'd been staring angrily at her as she'd struggled to exit the bus and storm past her.

He made a point of brushing against her shoulder when passing her, harsh and unforgiving to her plight and her innocence in not deserving his annoyance.

He only got three steps from her before he was tripped by some invisible force, falling flat—with a crack from his nose breaking—on his face.

Cassius cackled, mad like Doctor Frankenstein as he returned to her side and watched the pathetic little worm struggle to get back on his feet. He quieted in rage when a kind woman helping him was pushed away harshly for her efforts.

Blood gushing from his mangled nose, the mans coffee tinted skin blushed red, shamed and embarrassed as he sped off.

"Fucking animal." Cas rightfully observed, aggravated that he couldn't help his sister with her luggage and disgusted by humanities selfishness when no one even offered her a hand. "If he was in such a hurry why didn't he just help you?"

"Because men suck, dude." Hesperia groused under her breath, now having everything under control.

"Yeah, well, what a warm welcome." Murmuring absently, his stony gaze continuing to follow the man until he disspeared around the corner-he supposed such unfriendliness was a fitting introduction to the The  Murder Capital Of The World.

Scoffing, he suddenly seemed to remember she existed, turning to her with an excited smile. "We're finally here! what do you think?" With an expectant smirk he waited for her answer, sure she'd love it.

"I suppose...it's not the shit hole I expected." She muttered, begrudging in attitude, though her eyes gave her away. They sparkled in awe as she looked around her.

The bus had dropped them off downtown, close to their accomodation, and she was enamoured as the tree's lining the beachfront swayed in the warm summer breeze. All kinds of people walked the streets, going in and out of the many shops, all eclectic and colorful in appearance and with their own stories.

It was magical, somehow, despite its name and it was the kind of place, she could tell, that let people feel like they belonged.

Maybe they had come to the right place.

"Come on," She didn't want to seem too impressed when she'd been so against going there, "I wanna put my stuff away before we go exploring."

Nudging him gently, she scooped up the handles to her suitcases' and walked quickly, desperate to escape the relentless heat. Not even her black jean shorts or white gypsy top could keep her cool.

Walking briskly, her heavy black boots thudded against the ground, chains jinngling with each step along the concrete.

Always so impassive, Cassius mused to himself as he watched her go, before snapping out of it and jogging to catch up.

"Hey! Wait for me!"

It was close to sunset now, and after a day of mayhem, the two found themselves standing outside the entrance to the boardwalk, the sun just beginning to dip under the fluffy plumes and canopies of candy pink clouds.

They'd explored downtown, spent more money than she had cared to. She now had a new leather jacket and some earrings—but it had been at a cost.

In a odd job little Jewellery shop, not twenty minutes ago, she'd had her eyes on and picked earrings the same as Cassius's, and he'd teased her about it relentlessly.

She'd grown so frustrated that she had kicked him in his shin, causing him to hop backwards with a string of cusses hurled at her. And then, well, he'd knock over a display case full of earrings.

The shop owner had nearly had a heart attack, staring in shock and awe, confused and horrified as to how it had flown off the counter. He'd turned fearful, accusatory eyes upon her like she was the cause, like she was some sort of witch and she'd not stuck around to be branded a freak—throwing a handful of bills in front of him, sprinting out of the shop.

The only upside from that mortifying experience was Cassius swiping a pair of silver dagger earrings for her which she put in immediately. They had giggled, livened by the mischief and chaos they always seemed to find themselves in, before heading off to the boardwalk.

Her brother had been talking about going all day, and she'd sworn in her mind if it had been possible she'd have shot him just to get him to shut up.

"Here we are, you big baby. What do you want to do?"

Trying to focus on him and all of his exuberant adoration, she was distracted by the bright flashing lights, the smell of fried food and blaring music from a concert that seemed to be happenig somewhere: girls, girls, girls, by Mötley crüe with its booming guitar and high pitched vocals from Vince.

The sounds of screams battled with it and filled the air, and she eyed the Giant Dipper that flew past her, her raven hair flying about her face in a turbulent mess that wasn't trapped in her plaits.

Brushing it behind her ear, fingers getting caught, she side eyed her companion buzzing with excitement.

People were staring at her, like always, but to her shock it didn't seem like anyone was that concerned by her seemingly talking to thin air.

She'd seen the missing posters at the entrance...thousands, it seemed, and she guessed that abnormalities were the reality for Santa Carla residents.

Cassius was looking forward but slightly to the right with a boyish grin on his youthful face.

She followed his stare, unsurprised to discover a comic book shop was the source of his childish glee. With an evil smile, she looked up at him. "Would you like to go to the comic book shop, Cas?" She cooed like she was talking to a five year old.

It was all in jest. He could detect her playfulness in her tone. He glared at her, annoyed anyway, but she could see he was trying not to laugh.

"You know, I'm always surprised by your abilty to be this bold. Especially to someone whose existed for thousands of years."

"And doesn't that explain your Prima Donna ways." She mused, winking.

Snorting at her lack of interest in what he'd said he shoved her as penance.

When he allowed his thoughts to travel back, he certainly hadn't expected the broken sixteen year old he'd found three years ago would turn out to be this strong, independant and unafraid to speak her mind. He was glad he'd been able to give her the chance to discover herself.

"You should be grateful for me, brother. Someone had to match your level of pent up bitchyness. Feel lucky I'm here to handle it now." Flipping her hair with a cocky smirk she strained her neck to look up at him, softening at his affectionate grin.

"Yeah, I guess I should be."

Throwing his arm over her shoulders he steered in the direction of the store, his longs legs making it nealry impossible to keep up. As they entered he immediately went over the the Marvel comics. She took her time, walking slowly throughout the shop.

There was a couple behind the cluttered counter, dressed in fashion from twenty years ago and looking like they'd been transported straight from woodstock, leaning on each other as they snored. The smell of weed hung heavily in the air, and she didn't have to guess why they were knocked out.

Carrying on, she made a beeline for the DC comics. Wonder Woman was her jam, and she picked up #323 to flip through the glossy pages, glancing up as Cas cleared his throat and pointed to an Iron Man comic he wanted to get.

It always amused her, that he was so old yet he had to ask for her permission—A nineteen year old woman, to get stuff. Like she was his mother.

Bobbing her head discreetly he cheered, hopping on the spot, staring at it longingly before coming to read over her shoulder.

Idling at the art, a flutter of movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Turning her head, she only managed to catch a flash of green dart behind a wall.

She squinted, suspicious, before letting it go and going back to her comic, trying to focus on reading it.

Seeing it again though, she huffed and turned quickly—this time, she jumped when she made eye contact with a boy who could be no older than fourteen or fifteen.

He'd appeared out of nowhere.

He was a few inches shorter than her and had light brown hair tied back by a red bandana. His camouflage vest and millitary trousers made him look like a small, less intimidating Rambo and she found it fucking hysterical. Cassius seemed to agree and she heard him start giggling to himself as Rambo Jr stood straight with his arms crossed, staring her down.

She assumed he was trying to look intimidating.

He just looked constipated.

He was a kid, a boy, and they were easily upset so she tried not to damage his ego and biting back a smile, she slammed the comic closed to reluctantly put it back.

Ignoring Cassius as he whined that he was enjoying it, she strolled, carefree and and naive like she couldn't see him stalking her from a row over, stopping at the Batman Comics.

It was then she noticed another boy about the same age, and with unneeded violence he was slotting comics expertly, eyes only on her.

She came to the conclusion they were brothers. He had a similar style, wearing a khaki vest instead, the silver dog tags hanging from his neck ringing and clanking together when he flexed his nonexistent muscles.

His hair was shorter and darker and fell into his face slightly. Lifting his hand to push it back he crossed his arms, attempting to scowl at her, but his features were too soft and nice.

This time she allowed herslef to send him an amused smile, trailing a perfectly kept black nail over the glossy cover of a random Batman comic, tensing as she heard their boots scuff along the floor.

She prepared herself for what she felt would be a number of questions she really couldn't be fucked to answer and when they stopped behind her she whirled around, leaning against the comic stand. Cassius leant next to her and crossed his arms as he wathced them with an entertained gleam in his green eyes.

Looking each other over for a moment she was the first to speak.

"Something wrong, fellas?" Asking it sweetly, she seemed to catch them off guard for a moment.

The dark haired one was automatically disarmed by her charm, made obvious by the pale blush on his cheeks and ears. Internally she rolled her eyes as he looked her over and waited for some sort of response.

"You new 'round here? Haven't seen you before." The 'tough' one questioned haughtily, obviously forcing his voice to sound gruff.

His brother just continued to stare at her like a lovestruck puppy.

She had to scoff out a laugh at the two of them. It was like some bad comedy act.

Surmising that the couple at the desk must be their parents, judging by the box of comics Rambo had been carrying earlier, they must have basically ran the place.

It was clear to see they'd had to mature quickly, and she felt sorry for them. But this whole 'macho' thing they had going on was definitely an act to hide the fact they were kids. Children...and they were hurting.

Smiling her best and loveliest grin, she responded. "Fresh off the bus this afternoon."

It seemed to be what they were expecting her to say. How much attention did they pay around here to be able to tell who was new and who was a local?

"Care to tell me your names? Then I can stop wasting brain cells making up nicknames you wouldn't appreciate."

The one who seemed to be the leader of their little pair went to respond, but he was cut off by his brother nearly yelling in his haste to answer.

"Alan!" Faltering as he realised how loud he'd been in his zealous greed to gain her attention, he cleared his throat, speaking up in an embarrassed and much quieter murmur now. "This is Edgar."

Edgar was gracing Alan with a bewildered stare, but he puffed his chest when he turned his head to look back at her, inspired to do so by her laugh.

"Like Edgar Alan Poe. Nice. I dig it." She grinned amiably, Cassius grinning along with her. These two certianly were...something.

Her laugh—as always—Cassius noted, was contagious enough and terminally delightful enough to relax their stern, protective exteriors for a short moment.

Edgar felt his lip twitch, but he steeled his expression, walking a few steps away before coming back to stand in front of her. "If you're new here then you need to be informed of the horrors that fill Santa Carla." He said it in such a serious tone that both her and Cas stopped grinning. He shoved something roughly toward her and taking it with hesitant hands from him, she perused the cover and breathed out a chuckle laden with disbelief.

"Vampires?" Exasperated, her question was short and bemused. She read the title on the cover again, 'Vampires Everywhere!' Red, like it was a true and real warning.

These kids...they were just getting weirder and weirder.

Cassius leant closer to her as she voiced it, looking at the cover. He had to appreciate it was done quite well, he wondered if they'd created it themselves.

"Santa Carla's a haven for the undead." Edgar defended, half tempted to snatch it back from her at her ridicule. "Why do you think it's called The Murder Capital Of The World? Haven't you noticed the missing persons posters? There's too many unexplained deaths and disappearances!We know that vampires are the culprit."

Edgar spoke so strongly, with his brother nodding along passionately, that it was clear this was something they believed in—the honesty in his voice truth enough for it.

She didn't know whether to laugh or just walk away, but before she could decide he carried on

"You think we work here for our folks? This is just a cover. We're dedicated to a higher purpose, fighters for truth, justice and the American way. We'll stop at nothing to protect this town from the creatures that come out at night."

It was silent for a long moment, before she burst into disbelieving laughter. "You're funny, kid. Really." She gasped, "I actually almost believed you there for a second." She huffed out another little laugh, standing straight and placing the comic on the stand.

She strolled over to the marvel section, picking up the one Cassius wanted, striding back with more purpose to the counter to pay. She wanted to leave. "I get it though. Must be fun to scare the tourists with this kind of shit but I don't scare easily."

Edgar growled in aggravation, stalking over to her, roughly snatching the money from her hands. While she was accepting her change he took the opportunity and placed  'Vampires Everywhere!' back into her hands.

"Believe it or not, thats up to you. We'll be here when you need our help. Our numbers on the back," He pointed a finger, tapping it twice. "Pray, you never need to call us."

"Okay then." She agreed, sarcastic and jarringly pleasant. "This has been fun, but I've gotta dash. Places to be, people to torment, lives to disrupt. You know the drill." They were looking at her like she was the oddball now.

"Nice meeting you!" She called over her shoulder as she exited the shop, Cassius falling into step beside her and to really give them a show, he ruffled some comic books, dragging his hand along them as he walked, ripping the pages.

Hearing the two boys start screaming their lungs out about 'poltergeists' and 'telekinetic abilities' was worth making them think Ria was a witch.

Glancing down at the comic, a weird feeling was creeping its way into her chest as she looked at the vampire sinking its teeth into some innocent girls neck. It brought back...bad memories, warnings she wanted not to remember and passing a trash can, she let Cas take the opportunity to stuff it inside, just as perturbed as she was.

They were keen to forget about the weird comic shop boys and continue on with their exploring.

Head tilting back to look at the sky, she didn't like how dark it had gotten after her encounter with the teens. They did a good job of spooking people, she'd give them that. "What time is it Cas?"

He draped his arm around her shoulders, a habbit he seemed to have, and responded. "Not too late, nine. The night is still young," He crowed in the dulcet tones of Bela Lugosi's Dracula, mocking the spouting of vampires they'd just experienced, jostling her and smiling at her giggle.

Spotting some railings that faced the ocean, he smiled. "Lets sit over there, yeah? Call it an early night after that riveting encounter with Holmwood and Helsing, huh?"

She followed his gaze and decided that she could use a rest. He was onto something about those two...because trying to understand Edgar and Alan's vampire obsession had taken all of her energy.

Nodding, she followed him sluggishly, the events of the day catching up with her. He helped her lift herself up before jumping to sit next to her and placing the comic book in her lap, she opened it to the first page, letting him lean his head on her shoulder as he read it and used his hand to turn the pages.

Lifting her head, sharp and alert, she jumped in fright when loud music blared in front of them. An ecstatic grin stretched across her face as her eyes landed on an old looking carousel that was spinning slowly. If Cassius hadn't been reading his comic she'd have suggested they join the very long line that had formed; she was content to just lean her head against her brothers and watch the ride go round.

The peaceful atmosphere was broken by a horribly loud noise.

She winced as the sound echoed louder and louder—miraculous, over the bustle of screams and laughs and music, until finally, four punk bikers pulled up in front of the carousel.

They were what she'd been expecting with such a noise...but then, the longer she avoided staring at them, the more she wanted to. As much as she tried to stop it, Hesperia couldn't contain the want—no, the need to just have a peek until finally, she caved.

They had a very dark...more bordering along the lines of a malefic and intimidating aura around them.

She was not afraid. If anything, such blatant and purposeful mystery and terrifying intrigue captivated her all the more: A moth hypnotized to fly into the blazing light.

They didn't get off their bikes and instead sat and watched the crowd, two of them joking amongst themselves, two of them alert and prepped for something ambiguous. Like predatory animals ready to pounce at the first given opportunity.

She noticed, the more she became entranced by them, that strangely, no one was walking anywhere near them or even looking in their direction. Not so fucking obviously like she was. Their survival instincts must have been much stronger than hers.

The wide birth of space—an invisible force field no one dared cross, gave her a chance, however, to observe them as individuals.

The first man she just had to start with—he was flailing his arms and shifting and bobbing his head, basically begging to be looked at—had a wild rockers mane of blond hair that fell a bit passed his shoulders and a light dusting of stubble along his jaw. He was grinning, leaning against the handle bars of his bike.

His eyes from what she could see were a light blue, and they crinkled when he laughed, which was a lot. His mesh top was covered by an old looking tail jacket that had a sache of coins down the left side. He bounced his leg up and down when he spoke, like he couldn't sit still and he was wearing white pants that and seen better days and needed a serious wash—secured with a black belt with silver rings on it, cut off by a pair of knee high socks? Or boots? She couldn't see from there. He was...enigmatic. To say the fucking least. He seemed to have one of those easy, carefree and playful attitudes.

As did the man next to him, the one he was laughing with: shorter than him, adorned in the most amazing jacket she had ever seen. It was colorful and was made up lots of different patches with brightly colored tassles hanging from the right shoulder.

He had some seriously enviable curly hair that turned into a long mullet, framed to highlight his deceptively adorable face. Olive green eyes held an inoccent gleam like his cherubic appearance, but she could see something dark lurking inside them.

Dark denim jeans were covered by leather chaps, his heavy black boots tapped against the floor. She assumed they gave him a bit more height to match that of his friends.

He brought his fingerless gloved hand to his mouth and bit down on his thumb as he smirked at the tall blond.

She shifted, naturally and without thought, her eyes onto the next man. He was of Native American decent and he was the fucking definition of tall, dark and handsome. Deep, mysterious brown eyes scanned the crowd, and they were so intense and intimidating she was glad he wasn't looking at her. His face was blank, and she wondered what he was thinking behind that silent, brooding stare.

Leaning back against the seat of his bike, he pushed his long, shiny hair away from his face, showing off his bare chest and black leather jacket that had a leopard covering the left arm. Hesperia couldn't stop the rosy tint in her cheeks as she stared at his abs, for as sad as it was she'd never been intimate with anyone and that was a crying shame—because it led to moments like this. Her getting embarassed easily. Everything else was black, from his jeans to his boots—except for the red bandana hanging from one of his pockets.

The last man...now he was the one who made her inhale sharply.

His presence alone was intimidating enough, and she spied that he was the one who recieved the most fearful stares. It was obvious that he was the leader. He was bringing a cigarette to his lips as she gasped, uncontainable and full of a sudden thrill, as he stared into the crowded masses with a calculating gaze.

Light from the carousel illuminated his face and spiky bleach blond mullet, and catching a glimpse of the colour of those eyes through the light, she froze. They were a somehow deep icy blue and she felt...if she looked into them she'd never be able to look away. Like the glean in them, his expression was guarded. He gave away nothing, yet something told her he could read others like an open book.

Black was his staple—it was all over him: black top, black leather jacket, black jeans and a long black coat that reached his ankles, brushing against his black cowboy style boots.

Cassius shifted his head on her shoulder to get more comfotable, snapping her out of her daze. Observing them for a moment longer she readied herslef to look away, but it was too late. She was caught.

Her amber eyes met the eyes she'd been so scared to look into.