#muse:dwayne

Dusk quietly claimed the skies of Santa Carla, and it wasn't long before night reigned supreme. Dwayne sat on top of one of the benches at the empty skate park, where he smoked a cigarette and stirred in his thoughts.

1987 was like a bad dream, too surreal to have occurred, yet it only happened not that long ago. In the blink of an eye, just about everything Dwayne lived for as a vampire was gone. The selfish greed of a head vampire, Max, cost him nearly his entire family, including his own life. The only ones who survived the aftermath of a disastrous plan were the two oldest boys: David and Dwayne. Technically, Dwayne had died, but David, being ever resourceful, was able to bring him back to life. Most humans failed to realize how difficult it was to truly destroy a vampire, and it also depended on the type of vampire. It was mere dumb luck that the teenage vampire slayers got the jump on the Lost Boys, on top of Star's failure to kill Michael, and Michael's persistence of maintaining his humanity that helped them prevail.

Decades passed since it had only been Dwayne and David, but even then, Max had been around as the father figure for them. Now, it was just two Lost Boys, trying to rebuild their lives after losing so much.

"That a fact?"

Dwayne's tone came off nonchalant, but what she said was true. No matter how many times they passed by one another at the boardwalk, they really never engaged in any real conversation until now. He was often with David and the others, and she was doing whatever. For the first time, they were alone with one another.

Big Ed, one of the security guards of the boardwalk, waddled over to the Surf Nazis and wasted no time telling them to leave.

The dark haired Lost Boy turned his back to the scene and started to walk off, as he was already bored with the scene, although he threw a quick glance over at the girl, curious if she would follow or not. He wasn't one to waste words if it wasn't necessary.

The last thing Dwayne remembered before falling into the darkness was electrifying pain surging through his entire body. His flesh burned and melted off his bones, and his screams of pain turned into nightmarish, high pitched howls. That punk ass brat fired one lucky shot and it was enough to pin him to the stereo, where he met his untimely end.

Wasn’t he supposed to live forever? Wasn’t eternity a gift that was bestowed upon him? Was sleeping all day and partying all night supposed to lead to such a gruesome end? It was bad enough they lost Marko while they were asleep in their own cave, but to die at the hands of mortal brats was such a low blow to the vampires’ egos.

Dwayne faintly remembered his elderly grandfather talking about what happened to their spirits once they died. The story varied from different tribes, but many of them spoke about rejoining the earth and becoming one with nature. Would the same hold true if one chose the darkness and became a blood drinking killer? Dwayne had no regrets of joining David and Max, and he never mulled on whether there was a heaven or hell. Back then, he was focused on living in the now and ruling over Santa Carla’s nightlife.

Now, he wasn’t sure where he was. He moved so sluggishly in the dark that it was difficult to tell which way was up. It was all too quiet, such a contrast compared to the chaotic scene that was Michael’s house. Was he going to be stuck in limbo forever listening to his own thoughts?

A warmth wrapped around his body like a thick blanket on a chilled winter’s night. Dwayne hadn’t felt cold in decades, being undead and all, but he welcomed the sensation.

What’s this?

He still couldn’t see anything, yet he was growing stronger. He was even able to move himself about more freely. He no longer felt like he was treading in quicksand. If anything, it felt more like he was floating in mid-air.

Behind him, he heard the familiar sound of bats screeching along with wings flapping in the air.

The cave…

A gentle light from above shined down upon him, and after blinking from the sudden brightness, Dwayne found himself emerging from a vat of blood.

Crimson liquid splashed over the edge and leaked onto the floor. Dwayne was sitting up and gripping the sides of a large tank with such intensity that he created intends with his fingertips. He was panting heavily and searching the area with his penetrating dark eyes. It looked like one of the many chambers inside the cave with a simple torch burning in one of the oil drums a few feet away.

“The hell?” were the first words Dwayne uttered.

Dwayne was drawn to the music stage as of late. Not that he expressed the desire to perform in front of the boardwalk, but rather, it was one of the performers that piqued his interest. She was a stunning dark haired female with a captivating voice. He only caught a handful of her shows, but it was enough to reveal how much the spectators enjoyed her.

Tonight was another night where he found himself standing by the rails, gazing out at the stage, where the beach was crammed pack with enthusiastic fans enjoying the free concert courtesy of a local band trying to make a name for themselves. A shame that the raven haired girl wasn’t crooning to the crowd. Dwayne already knew she was better than these yahoos screaming into the microphone.

Dwayne wasn’t sure why he allowed himself to be stopped. He didn’t exactly have any other place to be, and he wasn’t being summoned by David just yet. Skies were still dark enough...

His long fingers curled around Alice’s and he gripped her hand tight enough to where he could carefully haul her up to her feet. The smell of blood was ripe since she was physically so close to him now. The tips of his fangs pressed against the insides of his cheeks. He then slowly started to release his hold on her.

“Lead the way,” he said while his eyes searched the area around them to make sure no more of those dickbag Surf Nazis were around. 

Dwayne raised a brow over the strange, somewhat cryptic, but also amusing question.