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1.
Santa Clara had grown on Sam. Sure it may be the self-proclaimed “freak capital of the world” and Grandpa is way too into stuffing dead things but as he settled in he started to like it. His mum was finally happy, she had gotten a job managing the video store on the boardwalk and was able to enjoy her life without his dad trying to control her every move. He had also made a few friends, some slightly strange kids named Edgar and Alan who helped run their parent’s comic store. Initially he had been put off by their paranoid conspiracies about supernatural creatures living in town, but once he got past that they were actually really fun guys to hang out with. Once his family had been able to afford a TV they had even started coming over to have movie nights. Overall their first few weeks at Santa Carla had really started to make him love the place, the only issue was how it had changed his brother. Ever since that first visit to the boardwalk when he had ditched Sam Mike was different. He started staying out really late into the night and sleeping through most of the day and he got his ear pierced, he never wanted an ear piercing before! It didn’t make sense to Sam, his usually active and present brother sleeping his days away and sneaking around at night. It really started to bother him when the Frogs were over to have a late movie marathon and Michael came in and sulked upstairs without even bothering to acknowledge the other people in the house.
“What the hell is wrong with him…” Sam sighed, grabbing a handful of popcorn from the bowl on the table. “He’s been so weird the past week. I hate it.”
Edgar raised an eyebrow as he paused the film and turned his full attention to Sam. “What do you mean weird?” He leaned forward with a look on his face that screamed trouble.
“I dunno, he’s just been staying out at night and sleeping during the day.” Sam chose to ignore the look that went between the other two boys, he just wanted to get his frustration off his chest without worrying what other people thought about it. “He’s also just been secretive, like he won’t tell anyone what he’s doing! Mom asked him to stay in while she worked a few nights ago and he just awkwardly muttered about having plans and I was left alone with Grandpa.” That night had sucked, Grandpa refused to let him turn on the TV and he was stuck reading his comics while the old man worked on yet another dead animal in his workshop. He didn’t get why Michael was avoiding him so much, he definitely hadn’t done anything, so why was his older brother being such a dick? He was so wrapped up in his annoyance that he hadn’t even noticed the other two boys talking between themselves.
“Sam, we have some bad news for you.” Alan crossed his arms, fixing Sam with a firm glare.
“Your brother is a vampire.” Edgar says, crossing his arms the exact same way as his brother.
“No he’s not, that’s stupid.” That was ridiculous, vampire’s didn’t exist. “You two need to lay off the horror comics.”
“We’re being serious dude, sleeping all day? Awake all night? Keeping secrets? Typical vampire behaviour!”
“You have to stake him.” Sam’s eyes widened at Alan’s comment.
“No way! I’m not stabbing my brother!” Sam got up from the sofa, eager to get away from his slightly crazy friends.
“Okay, but it’s your fault when he decides to chow down on your entire family.”
What the fuck! There was no way his brother was a vampire. Vampires aren’t real, there had to be another explanation for why Mike was being so weird. Sam dropped his head into his hands, he just wanted one evening without a bit of crazy permeating his life and now his friends were convinced that his brother was a vampire. Alan got up to root through his backpack, pulling out a slightly battered comic.
“Here dude, take this.” He held out the comic, ‘vampires everywhere’. “This’ll tell you everything you need to know about vampires.”
“If your brother is a vampire, call us, we’ll deal with him.” With that the two brothers got their bags and left Sam alone in front of the TV with the horror comic clutched in his hands.
2.
Sam had read the comic. It might have been paranoia getting to him but it seemed to make sense, maybe Michael was a vampire. According to the comic, unless Michael had made his first kill he was only a half-vampire, and therefore could be saved. He still wasn’t sure though. It was ridiculous. He would have to do more research, find a way to definitively prove his brother was a vampire before he called the Frog brothers. He didn’t want to have to stake his brother, not if he could avoid it. So he had to find evidence. He had already written down all the things Mike had been doing that suggested he was a vampire, so next he had to somehow get an insight into what he was doing when he disappeared in the night.
“MIKEEE!!!” He called up the stairs to his brother's room, “Can you drive me to the boardwalk tonight?” Sam was pretty sure Mike was planning on going to the boardwalk tonight, and their mum was working so she could drive him back. Hopefully he wouldn’t be able to come up with an excuse to say no.
“Yeah sure Sammy, let me just get ready.” Mike shoved his head out the bathroom door, hair still damp from the shower and shaving cream still over half his face. Why the hell was he spending so long getting ready, it wasn’t like he was going anywhere special. Sam rolled his eyes, flopping down on the sofa to flick through a batman comic he had bought recently while he waited. 10 minutes later Michael came downstairs, wearing his new cropped leather jacket and that earring shining in his ear. How the hell did he even afford those anyway, it wasn’t like they had any money left over when they moved here and Michael hadn’t even gotten a job yet. Sam didn’t like it. He wasn’t mad that Michael was changing his look up a bit, it just annoyed him that he hadn’t even bothered to talk to him about it. Usually Mike talked to him about things, even the stupid small stuff. He didn’t have much time to sulk on it as Michael rushed out the door, shouting at Sam to keep up.
Sam hopped on the back of Michael’s bike, clutching on tight to his brother as they sped off. That was another thing, his brother had become slightly more reckless when on his bike. Riding it faster, turning sharper, stopping later. It was like he didn’t care as much if he crashed anymore. That could be another thing to point towards Mike possibly being a vampire, if you’re undead you probably don’t have to fear crashing as much. As they reached the boardwalk Michael told him to stay safe before disappearing into the crowds, seemingly searching for someone. Maybe the head vampire? The comic did say that vampires with the same leader had a sort of pull between them, a mental link that drew them to each other. Sam waited for a second before pushing through the crowds to follow his brother. Michael was weaving through the crowd, constantly turning his head. Eventually Michael stopped, staring at a group of bikers. A punk looking guy with bleached blonde hair leant against one of the bikes, his face split into a wide grin as he spotted Michael. Sam hung back, pretending to look through a rack of sunglasses to not draw attention to him. There were three other guys there, a brooding looking one with long dark hair and a fang earring, a wild looking one in a mesh shirt who at the time had the youngest looking one in the garish jacket in a headlock. Michael walked over, saying hi to the other boys before leaning in and saying something to the punk guy. That grin grew even wider as the punk guy threw his head back, laughing at whatever his brother had said. Really? Had Michael ditched him to hang out with these guys every night? Why hadn’t he told them about his new friends? Sure they seemed a bit strange but there was no reason they couldn’t come over and hang out at their place. What was his reason for not wanting anyone to know about them? Sam decided to go ask the Frog brothers, they had lived here their whole lives, maybe they would have an idea of who these guys were.
The walk to the comic shop was quieter, most people having disappeared to go and see whatever band was playing that night.When he got there Alan and Edgar were sitting behind the counter going through a box of new deliveries to sort them to go on the shelves the day after.
“Sam! You thought more about dealing with your bloodsucker brother yet?” Edgar twisted a stake around in his hands, smiling slightly wildly as he did so.
“Still don’t think he’s a vampire so no. I found out what he’s been doing when he leaves the house though.” Sam scanned through the shelves, at least while he was there he could grab a new comic to read, maybe something without any vampires in. The two boys leant forward, waiting for the information. “He’s been hanging out with these biker guys, proper grunge types.” Sam picked up a copy of batman: year one from the shelves and thumbed through it.
“Those guys?” Edgar exclaimed, knowing who Sam was talking about. “Dude your brother is definitely a vampire!”
“What? They seemed normal to me, maybe a bit strange, but they didn’t have fangs or anything.” They didn’t look anything like the vampires in the comic, no fangs, creepy yellow eyes or sharp facial structures. They just looked like regular guys.
“That’s because they aren’t in their vampiric forms Sammy. Do you really think they’d just walk around looking creepy all the time!” Edgar did have a point.
“Those guys have been on our radar for ages. We’ve only ever seen them around at night and they’ve always seemed suspicious.” Alan speaks up from his place behind the counter, “This girl used to hang out with them and then a few weeks later she vanished, never to be seen again.”
“They definitely ate her, and they’ll probably turn your brother into one of them if you don’t stake the head bloodsucker soon.” Edgar shoved another vampire comic into his hands, “Here take this, if you still need more proof try some of the tests in this book, if your brother responds to any of them call us immediately.”
With that Sam was shoved out the store, the brothers pulling the shutters down to lock the store behind him. He rolled up the comic and shoved it into his back pocket. He was feeling slightly worried that his friends might be right about his brother, what other explanation could there be for his behaviour. Sam made his way to the video store, ready to go home and lay down for the night. He had to think about this.
3.
Michael was somehow getting weirder. He’d started to wear turtle necks around the house, despite the summer heat. When he mentioned this to the Frogs they told him it must be him hiding vampire bites on his neck. He decided he would have to test Michael, if only to reassure himself that his brother was not a vampire and just needed a good talking to about not making his family worry about him. Sam started a list of things he would have to test. The comic had taught him 4 things about vampires. One: holy water would burn them. Two: they were repelled by the sight of a cross. Three: They couldn’t be seen in mirrors. And four: vampires hate garlic. He already knew that Michael could go out in sunlight, but that may have been due to the fact he was only half a vampire at this point. He was sure that if Michael did respond to any of the other four tests then he would have to contact the Frog brothers and save his brother.
He started simple, slipping holy water into Michael’s drinks while he wasn’t looking. He had read in the library that as long as he mixed about 50% of the drink with holy water it should become holy, therefore allowing him to test his brother and conserve the flask of holy water he had managed to get from the local church. He started in the morning, giving Michael some powdered lemonade mixed with holy water. His brother didn’t even bat an eye as he swallowed the drink, just pushing his glasses up further on his head before ruffling Sam’s hair and thanking him for the drink. Initially it was reassuring, he hadn’t killed his brother so he probably wasn’t a vampire, but then he started worrying about if somehow adding the lemonade mix to the water somehow made it no longer holy. He was back to square one.
Next was the crucifix. It was easy enough to find one, Grandpa having a few lying around in his workroom for decorating his projects. He lifted a silver cross necklace off of a dusty raccoon in a miniature priest outfit before slipping it around his neck. He quickly ran out of Grandpa’s workroom, the feeling of glassy eyes staring at him starting to make him shiver. Even though it was past noon Michael was still sleeping. He had stayed out again the night before, only narrowly avoiding their mum getting up to go to work. He was lucky she was all for this hippie free-spirited parenting thing otherwise there was no way he would have been able to get away with staying out so late so often. At least Sam was going to deal with it. He snuck upstairs, careful to avoid the few creaking steps. Nanook sat downstairs on the sofa, curiously looking up at Sam creeping up the stairs. there was a nail above Michael’s door, maybe Grandpa had something hanging there before they arrived. Now, Sam gently looped the crucifix over the nail, letting it hang at about Michael’s face height. When Michael got up he would walk straight into the cross, and if it scared him or possibly even burnt him then Sam would have his proof. He quickly knocked on his brother’s door before scampering back down the stairs, peering over the side of the sofa. A minute passed before Michael appeared, walking face first into the crucifix. He batted it away with his hand, squinting at the object hanging in front of him.
“Sam what the hell kind of prank are you trying to pull?” He plucked the crucifix off of the nail before tossing it over the bannister straight into his younger brother’s face. No burning or repulsion at all… “Dude that wasn’t even scary, try harder.” Michael disappeared back into his room muttering and rolling his eyes before he closed the door. So crucifixes we’re a no go, great…
Mirrors were fairly easy to prove useless. Michael always showed up in them, no matter if Sam jumped out at him with a handheld mirror or he just walked past one in the house. Sam was starting to think that the Frogs really were just a bit crazy and his brother had just fallen in with a bad crowd. He decided to try one final test before he gave up for good.
Sam had managed to convince their mum to order a takeout pizza early that night, complete with garlic bread. This was his ultimate test of vampirism because Michael loved garlic bread. On the rare occasions they had it he could usually eat a whole one to himself. If Michael refused the garlic bread then Sam had decided he would have to take this to stage two, figuring out the head vampire and then sending the frog brothers their way. When the delivery guy dropped off the pizza he helped his mum lay it all out on the kitchen table, even going as far to bring out plates so they could all sit around and eat together at the table. Michael was still upstairs, possibly planning on going out again, he hadn’t been out for almost a week, becoming more and more moody as the week went on. When Michael finally came down Sam, Mum and Grandpa were all sitting around the table. He leaned forward and snatched a piece of cheese pizza.
“Mike, are you staying with us for dinner?” Their mum spoke up, glancing at his leather jacket with a slight worried look in her eyes.
“Uh, no sorry Mom. I’m going out tonight.” Michael shoved the rest of the pizza into his mouth, flushing a bit as he spoke. At least he had the decency to feel guilty about lying to their mum.
“Hot date?” Grandpa chuckled, earning a shocked look from Michael, face turning even redder.
“No Grandpa, nothing like that. Just meeting a few friends, that's all.” Michael stammered. Sam bit back the urge to accuse Michael of being a vampire, instead shoving the plate towards his older brother.
“Here dude, why don’t you take a few pieces of garlic bread, I know you love it.” He smiled, trying to seem as innocent as possible, hoping that Michael would agree and he could be done with all this vampire nonsense for good.
“No thanks Sammy. Not that hungry.” Michael’s nose wrinkled slightly at the sight of the garlic bread. Oh no, maybe he was a vampire.
“Come on dude, at least take a few pieces for your friends, there’s way too much for the three of us here.” That wasn’t necessarily true, but their mum had raised them to be generous, so offering to take food to their friends wasn't unusual.
“Ah, I dunno, none of them really like garlic bread, it’s better that I just let them buy their own food when we’re out.” Michael chuckled again, damn, maybe they were vampires. Who the hell doesn’t like garlic bread? Sam opened his mouth once more, but was interrupted by the sound of motorbikes outside. “Ah, there’s my ride, gotta go, love you Mom.” Michael leaned down, pecking a kiss on their mum’s head before dashing out of the front door.
“Kids these days.” Grandpa groaned, pulling a root beer out of the fridge.
Sam just sat in shock, maybe the Frogs were right.
4.
A week later Sam finally came face to face with the bleach blond punk vampire he’d seen laughing at Michael. He was sitting on the sofa sorting through the videos his mum had brought back from the store, attempting to choose between Robocop and The Princess Bride. He knew his mum would probably end up watching the movie with him, so he was leaning slightly towards The Princess Bride. Just as he was about to get up to make popcorn he heard the telltale roar of a motorbike outside. Michael poked his head out his bedroom door as he heard the noise.
“Michael, who's that?” Their mum called from the kitchen.
“Uh, It’s just… It’s my friend. My friend David.” He looked down at his shirt, wrinkling his nose at a stain near the hem. “I’m just gonna go and have a shower and get changed, do you mind letting him in and telling him to wait?”
“Of course honey! I can’t wait to meet your friend.” She went back to putting the dishes away as a knock sounded on the door. She gestured to Sam to get it. Sam opened the door to see the blond spiky haired guy leaning against his bike and smoking a cigarette.
“Oh hey, you must be Sam?” The guy got up, flicking his long leather coat behind him as he approached the door. “Is Michael in?”
“Yeah, he’s just showering, you can wait downstairs if you want.” Sam turned around, he could hear David following in after him, the spurs on his boots jingling as he walked. That could also be a sign he was a vampire, leftover fashion sense from when he was turned, who wore spurs in California in 1987? Suddenly he realised he had basically invited David in. If David was a vampire Sam had just made a grave mistake. Was his whole family about to get eaten? Sam made his way into the kitchen, picking at the bowl of tortilla chips to try and calm his nerves.
“Hi, you must be Miss Emerson.” David shook his mum’s hand, flashing a bright smile as he spoke. “Michael has told me a lot about you, it’s nice to meet you in person.”
Their mum laughed, chatting amicably with David as he started to help her put away the dishes. Sam tried to get a closer look at him, apart from being a bit pale there was nothing that seemed to scream vampire about him. His eyes were normal, a light blue instead of the violent yellow the comic told him they would be. Maybe this was something to do with the vampiric form that Ed and Alan had mentioned. Sam decided he would have to try to test things further, maybe by asking him some questions.
“So, David,” Sam fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, “You don’t go out a lot during the day do you?”
David raised an eyebrow at the younger boy, “No, I don’t. I’m a bit nocturnal.” He chuckled as if it was an inside joke that no one else knew. Shit, maybe he was a vampire and this was all funny to him.
“Do you like bats?” Wow Sam, that is a normal question to ask someone.
“Uh, I guess.” David rubbed his gloved hands together, wincing slightly as he flexed his fingers.
“What about vampire bats? I heard they drink blood.”
“You’re a strange kid, aren’t ya Sammy?” He flashed a wide grin at the younger boy, picking the tortilla chip out of his hand and crunching down on it. The leather of his glove was cold to the touch, as if no blood was running through the fingers beneath. Sam’s eyes widened, cold skin, the strongest sign of someone being a vampire. Sam was just about to make up another question when he heard his brother clomping down the stairs.
“Sammy? Where are you?”
“We’re in the kitchen Michael!” Their mum called, stirring the pot of chilli on the stove.
Michael stepped through the door, shouldering on his new leather jacket. Something in his face flickered at the sight of David. A sort of softening in his eyes an upturn of his mouth that Sam had never seen before. It was over in an instant.
“Uh, hi David.” He glanced around the room, suddenly turning nervous. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah, sure thing Mikey.” David flung his arm around Michael’s shoulders, steering him out of the kitchen. Before the door swung shut behind them he turned to throw a wink at Sam and his mum. “I’ll have him back by 12 Miss Emerson.”
Sam stood in the kitchen. Attempting to process all the new information he had received. If anyone was the head vampire it had to be David, how else could you explain Michael being so obsessed with him?
“What a lovely boy.” His mum poured the chilli into a bowl, picking up the chips as she went. “Come on then Sam, did you decide on a movie?”
5.
Sam had decided to stay up late. Mum was sleeping early for work the day after and Grandpa was out at the widow Johnson’s house doing, well whatever he did there. Sam didn’t want to think about it. Michael had gone out earlier that night with David. Sam checked the clock, 12:36am, Michael had said he’d be back before 1. It wasn’t that Sam was waiting up for him or anything, his movie was just running longer than he expected. He settled back into the sofa, stroking through Nanook’s fur as the film reached its climax, the hero and villain finally battling in the rain. He couldn’t fully focus. The anxiety that his brother might be a vampire and he would have to “deal” with him taking over most of his waking thoughts. Michael could still seemingly go out in the day, so hopefully he would only have to stake David and then they could be done with it. Michael could go back to being his normal, awkward, big brother self and Sam could stop worrying all the time. Just as he was about to turn off the TV and go to bed he heard the growl of a motorbike engine outside. Maybe it would be a good idea to confront Michael about this now, while no one else was around to judge him or call him crazy. He settled back down on the sofa, waiting for Micheal to come through the door.
The door swung open, Michael stumbling inside and pressing himself up against it as it closed. He winced slightly as he rubbed his hand against his neck. With the light from the TV Sam could see his entire shoulder was mottled with bites and bruises. Michael looked like someone had tried to chow down on his neck, why wasn’t he concerned? At that moment Sam decided enough was enough, and got up to make himself visible.
“Michael.” His older brother jumped, hand coming to clasp at his neck as panic descended on his face.
“Uh Sam, listen, this isn’t what it looks like ok. I- Oh shit…” Michael needed to know that he knew, and it was okay. He would get his brother safely out of this.
“Mike. I’m your brother, why didn’t you tell me?” Sam let the concern wash over him, the weight of it making him want to crumble. If Michael had told him about being a vampire sooner he could have helped him.
“Listen Sammy. Can we just talk about this tomorrow? I’m kinda drunk right now and I don’t think I can handle this conversation.” Mike pushed himself up from the door, swaying slightly as he walked towards the stairs. Had those vampires really pumped him with alcohol and then sucked his blood like he was their own personal wine casket? What the hell was wrong with these guys!?
“Sure Mike.” If his brother needed a day to get a plan together then he could wait. As long as he was alright in the end. “I just don’t know why you didn’t tell me sooner?”
“I didn’t know how Sam…” Michael slumped against the wall, snuffling as tears started falling from his eyes. “I was gonna tell you, Mom and Grandpa. I promise. I was just scared.”
“It’s okay Mike. Let’s just get you to bed huh…” Michael must have been having the worst few weeks and he didn’t even think he could tell anyone. Sam slotted himself under his brother’s shoulder, glancing at the bite marks that littered the base of his neck as he helped him up the stairs. He would have to get some cream on those in the morning. Did cream work for vampire bites?
They slumped into Michael’s room. Sam allowed his brother to flop down on the bed before he made his way to the door to their shared bathroom. Sam turned in the doorway, looking at his brother as he kicked his trainers and jacket, crawling under the covers. “You know I love you right?” The question spilled out of his mouth without much thought. “No matter what, you'll always be my brother and I’ll always love you.”
Michael stared up at him, eyes wet again. “Thanks Sammy.”
Sam turned his back, allowing the bathroom door to swing shut behind him. He breathed in there for a while, listening to the sounds of his brother getting ready for sleep before he finally made his way into his own bedroom. He slipped into his bed, already dressed for sleep. The last thing he heard before he drifted off was Michael’s voice, whispering to someone on the phone.
+1.
Sam wakes up bright and early. The revelation from last night made him eager to go and talk to Michael as soon as possible. The sooner they could talk about this vampire situation the sooner they could deal with it. Once he’d talked to Mike he would call the Frog brothers and plan how to deal with it. If Michael knew where the vampire lair was then maybe they could sneak in during the day and stake the head vampire. Sam rolls out of bed, slipping into the conjoined bathroom to brush his teeth. The bin is filled with bits of slightly pink tissue, evidence of the bite marks over Michael’s neck last night. Once he finishes he listens at Michael’s door, hoping that his brother is up so they can talk. There is no noise apart from faint snoring. Michael must have been knocked out from the stress of last night. Did he lose a lot of blood? The vampires clearly didn’t drink enough to kill him but still, he’d probably want something to eat. Sam slips down the stairs and into the kitchen. Mum is up, mixing something in a jug on the counter.
“What are you making?”
“Good Morning Sam.” She greets him cheerfully, “Just some pancakes, thought we could all use something to pick us up for the end of the week.”
“Great idea.” Pancakes would be incredible. “Do you think I could take some up to Mike? He said he wasn’t feeling too well when he came back last night, so breakfast in bed would be nice for him.”
“Oh Sam, that's so kind of you.” She reaches to ruffle his hair and for once he doesn’t duck away, enjoying the simple act of affection. “Michael has been acting off lately. I thought he might be hiding something from me but maybe he’s just not been feeling well.” She frowns a bit and Sam has to resist telling her that she’s right. Michael has been lying to them, or at least keeping secrets. “I’m just going to finish these up and then I have to dash to work. Grandpa should be around if you need anything.” She pours some batter into the pan, allowing the pancake to cook to a golden brown before flipping it. Sam grabs a tray, stacking it with plates, two glasses of orange juice and finally a few pancakes once his mum is finished cooking. She waves him off as she leaves the house and he begins the journey up the stairs. The tray needs two hands so he can’t knock on the door, choosing instead to call out Michael’s name before pushing the handle down with his elbow and shouldering his way in.
When he turns around Michael is sitting up in bed. He rubs the sleep out of his eyes with both hands. His neck is littered with purple bruises and bite marks, both which seem to have some sort of shiny cream freshly painted over them. In the soft light of Michael’s room Sam can see them more clearly, a lump forms in his throat at the sight. Michael must have really been through it with those vampires.
“Hey Mike.” He clears his throat. Michael’s head shoots up at the sound, an expression akin to terror running over his face. “Uh, I just bought you breakfast.” Sam walks forward, setting the tray down on what seems to be a lump of pillows underneath the covers of Michael’s bed.
“Sam sto-“ Michael can’t even finish his sentence before the lump Sam thought was pillows begins to shift, spilling the orange juice over Michael’s sheets. A figure sits up in bed, sheets slipping off their head to reveal a shock of peroxide-blond hair and pale skin. Sam’s eyes widen. Shock coursing through his veins as he recognises it as David. What the fuck? Why was David in Michael’s bed? Did he use his vampire powers to seduce his brother? Sam can’t do anything but yelp, turning and sprinting down the stairs to find anything that he could use as a stake. Maybe this would be his only chance to kill the head vampire. If David knows that he knows then he might send his vampire friends after Sam’s entire family. Best to end it now. He careens into his grandfather's workroom, picking up a mounted pair of sharp animal horns before turning around, coming face to face with Michael.
“Sam, what the hell are you doing?” Michael’s face is contorted by pure confusion.
“Getting something to defend myself, what does it look like I’m doing?”
“What? Why would you need to defend yourself, I thought you were cool with this?”
“Michael, He’s a vampire, we have to deal with him.” At this point Michael stopped completely. Brows furrowing as he processed what his brother had just said.
“Vampire? Sam what are you on about?”
“Don’t you remember? We talked about this last night. David is a vampire and he turned you into a half-vampire and the only way to turn you back is by killing him.” Sam expected Michael to remember, expected his brother to agree with him. He did not expect Michael to double over laughing.
“How did you…” He gasped a breath between laughs. “How did you come to that conclusion Sammy?”
Sam’s face fell, how could his brother be laughing at a time like this? There was a vampire upstairs in their house who could kill them all on a whim and Michael was laughing? What was wrong with him?
“Well first of all you sleep all day and stay up all night, also wearing sunglasses indoors.” Sam started, Michael propping himself up with a hand in the doorframe. “Then the Frog brothers told me they never see your friends out in the daytime. Vampires can’t go out in sunlight so that explains that.”
“Keep going Sam.”
“Okay. They don’t like garlic bread, that’s weird.” Michael huffs at that, why is he still finding this funny? “Also David’s skin is unnaturally cold. Almost like he is dead, like a vampire.” Michael shakes his head, amusement still on his face.
“I can explain that Sam, but it feels like you still have more to say.”
“Yeah, finally you came home last night looking like someone had mauled you, and you were all woozy like you had major blood loss or something.” Sam is waving his free hand about now, the other still clutching on tightly to the mounted antlers.
“Sam. David isn’t a vampire, I’m not either.” Michael runs his hand over his face, amusement at the situation finally gone. “Listen, do you want to put the antlers down and come sit on the couch? There’s something I’ve got to tell you.” Michael turns, leaving Sam distressed and alone in their grandpa’s workroom. If they aren’t vampires, what are they? Werewolves? Ghosts? Another freaky creature he doesn’t know about yet? Curiosity gets the better of him and Sam follows, still clutching into the antlers. He sits down at the other end of the warm leather sofa, leaning against the armrest.
“Sam. First off, yes, the reason I’ve been staying out so late is because of my friends, but not because they are vampires.” Michael runs his hand across his face again, sighing heavily. “When we moved here, I had no one apart from you guys. That first night at the boardwalk I spotted the boys and they seemed cool, so I went to talk to them. They accepted me pretty quickly, inviting me to hangout and drink, maybe smoke a bit of pot… Don’t tell Mom.” He quickly interrupts himself at Sam’s shocked expression. “Anyway, that’s the reason for the glasses, either I was still slightly high and didn’t want you to be able to tell or I was hungover and the bright lights made me feel sick.”
“You haven’t proven they're not vampires yet.” Sam notes, crossing his arms defensively.
“Ok, the reason we hang out late is because the boys have day jobs up by Luna Beach. Paul and Marko work in a record store together. Dwayne works in this small alternative clothing store, he actually paints and customises jackets for people sometimes, it’s really cool.”
“And David?” Sam interrupts, not really caring about the rest of the boys, none of this proved David wasn’t a vampire. Even if Michael wasn’t one, David could still be using some sort of charm to convince him to become a vampire.
“David isn’t working right now. That’s why it’s so easy for him to stick to his ridiculous sleep schedule.”
“So where do you go when you hang out with them? There’s no way you’re all at the boardwalk otherwise the Frogs would have thought you were a vampire before I asked them about it.”
“The boys all rent out this house. Some old guy used to live there but it was a bit too out of the way for him so he let them move in together when he moved down to the seniors home. Gives him a steady retirement income I guess.” Michael shrugs his shoulders. “It’s nice Sammy, it has this long wooden boardwalk leading up to the house, a big garden, lots of rooms, perfect for parties and stuff. He even let them have his dog, Thorn. He’s too old to look after him anymore.” Sam lets the information sink in. Sure, his brother could be lying, but something in Michael’s eyes tells him to keep listening.
“What about David?” Sam asks, “His skin was super cold, I could feel it through his glove.”
A cough sounds from behind them, making Sam jump and spin around. David is standing at the bottom of the stairs, he’s wearing a pair of Michael’s pyjama bottoms and a soft grey t-shirt that is too big on him. A beam of sunlight shines through the window, lighting his blond hair like a halo. Sam realised he’s not on fire. If he was a vampire that sunlight would have killed him.
“I have a condition Sammy.” David speaks up. “Raynauds, mean’s my circulation isn’t the best so I have to wear gloves.” He flexes his fingers, frowning down at his hands.
It finally all settles on Sam, the past few weeks of believing his brother was being manipulated by shit-sucking vampires was just paranoia. He drops the mounted antlers on the floor, burying his head into his hands as guilt crashes down onto him. He hears the other sofa creak as David sits down.
“Sorry I was gonna stab you David…” Sam peeks through his fingers to see a serious look on David’s face, one that sends a chill down his spine.
“Yeah, you’re gonna be sorry.” David throws a hand over the back of the sofa and tilts his head. Sam pales at the threat.
“David!” Michael hisses, standing up to swat at the back of the other boy's head. David ducks forward as Michael messes up his hair, shucking off the hand before it can do anything serious.
“I’m joking!” He chuckles as Michael settles back down. “He’s your brother, not my problem to deal with.”
“He’s sorry David! Stop being a dick.” Michael grumbles.
“Oh I thought you liked my di-” David doesn’t get to finish his sentence before a pillow hits him square in the face. He splutters as it falls away from his face, rubbing his eyes. Sam had been hit with pillows by Michael enough to know that it stings. Once he thought he had gone blind for a few minutes before his vision finally cleared up and his eyes stopped burning. Sam allows himself to laugh, ignoring the glare from David and turning towards his brother’s reddening face. His face, ears and neck were flaming. Sam’s attention was drawn back to the poorly hidden bruises and bite marks.
“Wait. Michael?” Sam chews on his lip, unsure of how this conversation was about to go. “If David isn’t a vampire, why does your neck look like that?”
Somehow Michael’s face got even redder. He stares at Sam, mouth slightly agape.
“I- I thought you knew…” David begins to snicker and Sam frowns.
“Knew what? I thought you were a vampire dude!”
“Sam… Ugh shit, how do I explain this?” Sam was getting impatient.
“JUST SPIT IT OUT MICHAEL!” He didn’t mean to shout, Michael just took too long to explain something sometimes.
“Sam… I’m dating David.” Michael looks at Sam nervously as he takes the information in. His brother is dating another guy, cool. He didn’t know Michael liked men but as long as David makes him happy Sam doesn’t care.
“Ah, that’s cool dude. As long as he makes you happy that’s cool.” Michael relaxes, smiling at his younger brother. Sam’s mind drifts back to the bruises, suddenly realising how Michael must have gotten them. “Wait, that means that David…” He points to the marks and then slaps his hand over his mouth. “DUDE! IT WOULDN'T CHANGE IF IT WAS A GUY OR GIRL BUT- NOW I HAVE AN IMAGE IN MY HEAD OF YOU. AGH!!” Sam shakes his head, he does not want to think about his brother. Doing It… No. That’s his older brother. David is fully cackling now, seemingly getting great enjoyment from the embarrassment of both Emerson siblings.
“Just don’t think about it Sam.” David winks, switching on the television and swapping through the channels till he reaches a show he likes. The three boys sit and watch in comfortable silence. Sam’s happy for his brother, even if he had thought David was a bloodthirsty vampire for a few weeks. They don’t register the swish of their kitchen door, all jumping when he speaks up from behind them.
“Sam, Michael…” He sips on his root beer as he addresses them. “Michael’s boyfriend…”
It’s David’s turn to blush now, confusion written over his face. All the boys look at the old man in shock.
“Wait, you knew??” Michael gapes.
“You’re not as subtle as you think. Maybe next time you’re making out against the shed, check that I’m not on the porch.” He laughs at them and disappears into his workroom. Sam cackles as Michael and David sink into embarrassment.