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Michael had a lot going on, okay?
He was running from a past that he still wasn’t ready to confront, he’d just been transplanted across states, and he was still overcome with the constant, dreadful feeling that he just had to get out.
He also might be turning into a vampire. That’s probably the big one.
The point being, he didn’t have much time to think about his little brother. He was certainly aware of Sam. They shared a room now, for Christ’s sake, there was no way not to be aware of him. Him and his complaining, and his flashlight under the blankets reading comics at night, and his clothes that took up the entire damn wardrobe. He definitely saw Sam, got annoyed by Sam, and existed in the same general space as Sam.
But he didn’t think about him that often.
That didn’t mean he didn’t notice things though. Like how as Sam got older, he didn’t exactly get quieter, but he did get more careful. He was tense all the time, and jumpy. And while that didn’t exactly ease in Santa Carla, he did breathe easier, despite all his complaints. Michael knew that Sam didn’t really have friends back in Phoenix to leave behind, and he spent most of his time reading his comics — a pattern that didn’t feel like it would change in their new home.
Michael knew all these things, but really, he didn’t think about them. He figured Sam would get his head on straight eventually. He’d hit the awkward phase hard, but he’d grow up eventually. And if he didn’t… well, that wasn’t really Michael’s problem. Like he said, he had his own things to worry about.
The vampire thing, first and foremost. It had been a few days since the… erm… bridge incident, and he was still trying to convince himself it wasn’t real, that David wasn’t what he was starting to suspect he was, and that the blood coursing through his veins was still entirely his own. It was getting harder to deny though. The lurch in his stomach, the ache in his teeth, the burn against his skin.
He was trying to proceed as normal though. As normal as he could given the circumstances, anyway. Which is why, despite everything, he was still planning to head out to the boardwalk to find Star. And if he happened to run into David too… well, maybe he’d at least get some answers.
He was supposed to be watching Sam, technically, but he figured as long as Sam didn’t squeal to mom, his little brother wouldn’t mind the night to himself to read his comics, or take a five hour bath, or whatever it was he did when Michael wasn’t around.
What he wasn’t expecting was to creep downstairs and find Sam in the kitchen with a bag slung over his shoulder, half way to the door.
“Sam?” Michael asked, his voice still sounding hoarse. He’d slept most of the day, and his vocal cords hadn’t caught up to the waking world yet.
Sam jumped so high it looked like someone had prodded him with a hot iron. He whirled around, pressing his back hard against the kitchen door behind him. “Jesus, Mike!” he cried. “Ya’ scared me half to death!”
“Where are you going?” Michael growled, arms crossed.
“I, uh… I thought you were still asleep,” Sam said, trying to sound casual even as his face was white as a ghost.
“Answer the question.”
Sam finally peeled himself from his guarded position against the door, breathing in a sigh of resignation. “I was just heading out to see some friends. I didn’t think you’d care. You’re gone all the time anyway.”
Michael barely bit his tongue before saying you don’t even have any friends. That seemed cruel, even for him. “If you didn’t think I’d care, you wouldn’t be sneaking out. You would have just left.”
Sam stared down at his shoes, idly scuffing them against the rough wooden floor of the house. “Okay… it’s not so much that… it’s… I just didn’t want to talk about it, okay? Especially not with you. You’d only make fun of me.”
“... for going out with friends?”
“You’d say something like ‘you don’t even have any friends’.” He said that last part in a mocking version of Michael’s deeper voice.
Michael didn’t know how to feel about the fact he’d thought that exact thing. “No offence, Sammy, but… you don’t.”
“I do now!” Sam cried defensively. “And we have plans, so…” He turned around and reached for the door handle again.
“Sam,” Michael hissed. “It’s dangerous out there at night.” He thought about the missing posters. He thought about the cold blood running down his throat. He thought about David. “There are things out there that—”
“That I don’t understand?” Sam sighed, fiddling with the straps of his messenger bag. “I think I understand more than you know. My friends do too.”
Michael didn’t miss the way that Sam looked him up and down, or the way he consequently shuttered, staring once more down at the floorboards.
“Besides,” Sam continued, “it’s just to the comic shop. I’ll be fine. I’ll be back before—”
Suddenly, there was a dull thud against the kitchen window, followed by another, much louder thud that made the windowpane shake. Michael was ready to grab the baseball bat, but Sam just sighed and flung open the kitchen door before Michael could stop him.
What he saw was two kids, about Sam’s age, wearing hodgepodged military fatigues, arguing in a loud whisper.
“You don’t throw a rock that big at a window, dumbass,” the shorter one hissed.
“I didn’t think your pebbles would get his attention. It was a tactical decision!” the taller insisted.
“Uh, guys,” Sam cleared his throat, “why are you throwing rocks at my house?”
“You told us not to break in anymore,” the shorter said, as though it were obvious.
“I told you to knock,” Sam stressed. “That’s besides the point anyway. Why are you here?” He glanced nervously back at Michael, but the two kids didn’t seem to notice.
“You missed rendezvous time.” Taller shoved the watch on his wrist towards Sam’s face. “Does ‘meet at 2200 hours’ mean nothing to you?”
“We thought you might have gotten taken by the bloodsuckers!” Shorter lunged towards Sam, either trying to scare him or trying to emphasize the point.
Sam didn’t flinch, but he did stiffen up and glance at Michael. “No… just got caught up talking to my brother.”
For the first time, the two kids seemed to notice Michael’s presence. Immediately, they scrambled an awkward defensive stance, placing themselves between Michael and Sam with their hands stretched out and fingers positioned to make a cross.
Sam just sighed, burying his face in his hands. “That’s not gonna help anything right now, fellas.” He placed his hands on either kid’s shoulder, breaking apart their defensive blockade to stand between them. “Frogs, meet Michael. Michael, meet Edgar—” he nudged taller forward a step, “and Alan—” shorter, “Frog. The Frog Brothers.”
Michael was at a loss for words. He’d already been shaken when they’d mentioned bloodsuckers, and beyond that, he didn’t know what to make of the military clothes and jargon, the fact that one of the brothers might have been a girl, or the fact that they’d seemed to feel the need to protect Sam from… him.
The Frogs didn’t drop their makeshift crosses until Sam grabbed their wrists and forced them down. “He’s not gonna hurt me, alright? Please, just wait outside. I’ll be out in a second,” Sam sighed.
The Frogs didn’t leave, just positioned themselves on either side of Sam and stared daggers at Michael, trying to look threatening as two teens in oversized military clothes could look.
Edgar leaned closer to Sam’s ear but kept his eyes fixed on Michael. “What if—”
“He’s not going to suck my blood!” Sam snapped, exasperated.
“If you’re not out in ten minutes, can we torch the place?” Alan looked far too excited at that prospect for Michael’s liking.
“What? No! Just—” Sam groaned, burying his face in his hands again. “Just get out, okay? Out, out, out, out, out—” He started herding them out the door while they protested. When he finally shut the door behind them, he leaned against it, hitting his forehead against the rough wood. He didn’t even turn around before saying. “Just… say whatever you’re gonna say. Get it over with.”
Michael finally shook himself out of his stupor. “I don’t even know where to start. Where’d you even find them?”
Sam hit his forehead against the door again before finally turning around to face Michael. “Comic book store,” he mumbled, not meeting Michael’s eyes.
“Entirely new town of people, and they’re really the best you could do?” Michael chuckled. He meant for it to come off as a joke, but for the first time, Sam’s face twisted from fear to anger.
“Yes,” Sam muttered. “And for your information, they’re nice. And loyal. And they think I’m smart, and brave, and funny, and they don’t care that I’m—” He sped up as he talked, but cut himself off suddenly at the end, eyes wide like he’d almost been caught.
“Don’t care that you’re what, Sammy?” Michael watched him closely, the way his eyes flicked frantically around the room, the way his fingers twitched against the strap of his bag. He could hear Sam’s pulse racing, his heart thundering in his chest. It seemed to Michael a disproportionate response to a conversation about Sam’s new friends.
“Just that I’m… different,” Sam mumbled, turning his face away from Michael, which did nothing to disguise the deep red shame creeping up his neck. “The kids back home cared, dad cared, you care, even mom worries. They just… they don’t think I’m that odd. Sure, maybe it’s because they’re ten times weirder, but… that works for me.” He glanced out the window, and Michael followed his eyes to see the Frog Brothers wrestling over what looked like a walkie talkie on their front yard.
“You’re not that weird,” Michael said halfheartedly.
Sam scoffed and fixed him with an unamused look. “Sure, yeah, and all those kids in Phoenix that liked to dump me in trash cans, and steal my comics, and call me—” he cut himself off again, physically flinching at whatever it was he wasn’t saying. “They were all just wrong, I guess. Every person in that school that avoided me just had a bad eye. Sure, that makes sense. I don’t need your sympathy, Mike. I know what I am,” he flinched inwardly again, curling his hands into fists as he wrapped his arms around himself. “I have the black eyes and the busted lips to prove it.”
Michael hadn’t really known it was that bad. Sure, he’d seen the bruises, the muddy clothes, and the ripped comic book covers, but he’d… well, he guessed he’d never really thought about it. He also couldn’t get past the feeling that there was something about this conversation he was missing. Something lurking just below Sam’s words. Something that his little brother was scared to tell him.
It put a weird, aching feeling in his gut, different from gnawing hunger he’d been feeling for a few days. This new feeling was entirely human. He did love his brother, really. Even if things were rocky. Even if rocky didn’t even begin to describe it.
After a few moments of tense silence, Sam finally said, “Can I go now? They’re waiting for me.”
“It’s dangerous, Sammy.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “And yet you’re out there every night.”
Yeah, look where that got me, Michael thought bitterly to himself. He knew, ultimately, that he should just let Sam go. It’d just be a few hours, and he was with friends, and as long as they stuck to the crowded pier, they’d be fine. Especially if Michael went out and found David and the Lost Boys himself, which he was planning to do anyway. Instead, Michael found himself saying, “You’re hiding something. What is it?” He could hear it in Sam’s blood. The way his heart raced with terror, the mounting pressure, the need to just get away. Michael was all too familiar with that feeling.
Sam looked like he wanted to flee, but mustered up a defiant tone in his voice. “Like you’re one to talk about secrets. You’re always out with that band and that girl, and they… did something to you. You’re changing, and something's wrong, and you won’t tell mom and I anything about it. You’ve never cared about me before, Mike. Don’t start now.”
Sam reached again for the doorknob, and Michael was gripped with an unfamiliar sense of panic, like if he didn’t figure out what was happening at this moment, he’d never get the chance again. His mouth opened before he could stop it, “We’ll trade then. Secret for a secret. I’ll tell you what happened to me, you tell me what’s going on with you. Square deal.”
Sam glanced out the window where the Frog brothers were now nowhere to be found, then back to Michael, then back out again. He still looked like he wanted to run, but instead he echoed, almost in a whisper, “Square deal. You first.”
“I don’t think you’re gonna believe me,” Michael sighed, running a hand through his hair.
“Try me.” Sam’s hand was still on the doorknob, as though he’s sprint out of the house at any minute, though his eyes had finally come to rest on Michael.
Michael hesitated before he spoke, but once he started, the words came easier than he thought they would. “A few nights ago, when I first met that band, David and the rest… you’re right, they did something to me. I drank David’s blood. I thought it was stupid, just some initiation they’d come up with, but I think it’s turning me into a—”
“Vampire,” Sam finished for him. “I kinda figured that one out when you crashed through the window. The Frog Brothers… they’ve been telling me these streets are crawling with vampires since the day we got here. I didn’t believe them, but the evidence sorta piled up. Tonight we were—” he stopped himself again, but it was different this time; almost like he was embarrassed to tell Michael what their plan was. “Tonight we were trying to help.” Sam opened the bag he had slung over his shoulder and, to Michael’s surprise, pulled out a wooden stake. “We weren’t actually planning on doing anything. This stuff—” he put the stake back in the bag, “—was just for protection. We were trying to figure out a way to fix you. Save you. Whatever. It was probably never gonna work anyway.” He scratched at the back of his neck, looking almost ashamed.
Michael didn’t know what to make of that. That his kid brother had him all figured out, that he was planning to put himself in danger for Michael’s sake, that if Michael hadn’t stopped him, he actually might have gotten in David’s way and not come out the other side. He wanted to express all of that; that he was touched, and hurt, and terrified. Instead, he said, “Not much of a secret then, I guess.”
Sam shrugged. “It’s still nice to hear you say it.”
Michael felt like there was a hole in his chest that this conversation was poking at. He didn’t like the feeling, so he quickly shook himself out of it and said, “Deal’s a deal. What’s going on with you? Maybe I can help.”
Sam winced, and he officially stopped looking like he wanted to bolt and started looking like he wanted to disappear instead. “You can’t fix mine, Mike. It’s not going away. Believe me,” he chuckled sadly, “I’ve tried.”
“You’re talking like you’ve got some kind of terminal disease. What’s going on?”
“C’mon, don’t make me say it.” Sam scrunched his eyes shut, like he was trying to hide. “You have to have guessed by now.”
Michael was at a loss. He knew Sam was… peculiar. He was jumpy, not very social, and the other kids never liked him much. But that’s how kids were. They singled each other out, they had growing pains, it took them a while to find themselves. Sam was just a kid who hadn’t figured it all out yet. Sure, maybe he had more growing pains than most, but he’d get there.
“C’mon, Mike,” Sam urged again. “Everyone else sees it, no matter what I do. You have to know what those kids used to call me, what they said about me, what I—” He stopped him short again, pulling at his hair in frustration until finally he sighed, staring anywhere but Michael’s face. “Kids have been calling me queer since the second grade. And… worse things. Things I really don’t want to repeat.”
Michael blinked at him, still not quite connecting the dots. “So what? It’s schoolyard bullying, Sam, it happens. It's not like it’s true.”
Sam said nothing, just gripped the strap of his bag so tight that his knuckles turned white. As he stared down at the floorboards, tears started to escape the corners of his eyes.
“Sam? It’s… it’s not like it’s true,” Michael repeated, almost willing it.
Sam stumbled backwards, but all he could manage was half a step until his back hit the door. There were a few tense moments of silence filled only by tears pouring out of Sam’s eyes, before he just barely shook his head, curling his arms and shoulders in on himself as though to make himself smaller. “I think… I… I think…” Sam’s words were barely audible as his voice was strangled and choked by sobs. “I think… it might be… true.”
Michael didn’t know what to do, but he found himself taking a step towards Sam, stopping in his tracks when Sam flinched and raised his arms in front of his face like a shield.
“Please don’t hurt me,” Sam choked, shivering where he stood.
Michael held his arms out like he was facing a scared dog, his own hands shaking. “I’m… I’m not gonna hurt you. I promise. I would never hurt you.” He found himself thinking about their father, about how Michael used to hide behind his arms like that when things got bad, and about how he never wanted to be anything like that.
“It's okay,” Michael lowered his voice, talking softly in a way that felt unnatural. “It’s really okay.” He cleared his throat, trying to dispel some of the tension. “Who— uh… Who else knows? Mom?”
Sam lowered his arms from his face, furiously wiping tears away. “No, uh… I’m sure she suspects, but she won’t say anything. I’m sure dad suspected, and I’m scared it’s one of the reasons we had to leave. I’ve never said anything to the Frogs, but they don’t think I’m that weird anyway. I don’t think I’ve ever actually said it.”
“Try it now.”
“What?”
“You still haven’t said it.” Michael shrugged. “Try it now. Nothing bad’ll happen, I promise.”
Sam’s hands were still shaking, but he squared his shoulders and almost almost met Mike’s eyes. When he started to speak, his voice came out hoarse. “Hey, Mike… I think I might be gay.”
“Hey, Sam… I think I might be a vampire.”
There was a release of tension in the air, and Michael found himself laughing despite everything. Sam’s shoulders finally dropped, and he unclenched his hands, the corners of his mouth tilting upwards, just slightly.
Michael stepped forward again, aiming to give Sam a hug, or ruffle his hair, or something, but the moment his foot moved, he suddenly found two wooden stakes pointed at his chest.
“Stay back, vampire scum!” Edgar Frog threatened from his inexplicable position between Michael and Sam. Michael couldn’t fathom where in the world the Frogs had materialized from.
“Guys!” Sam screeched. “I thought you were outside!”
“Snuck in through the back window,” Alan gloated smugly. “We were hiding behind the couch in case you needed backup.”
Sam’s face somehow went paler than it already had been. “Did you two… hear that whole conversation?”
“Yeah,” Edgar said, as though there was no issue. “And now we have proof that your brother is a bloodsucker! So let’s stake him, and be done with it!”
Sam grabbed both Frogs by the back of their tactical gear and yanked them away from Michael. “He’s still my brother, remember? And… is that really the most important thing you took away from all that? The vampire thing?”
Edgar and Alan planted their feet like soldiers, jumping into a rigid salute. “Nothing is more important than vampires,” they barked in unison.
Sam buried his face in his hands in pure exasperation, but Michael could see the relief in his posture. He could hear it in his heart, despite how fast it was still beating.
“Glad to hear it,” Sam sighed, “but please don’t kill my brother. We have a plan, remember? To fix all of this.”
Both Frogs nodded, looking a little sheepish. They both tucked their stakes back into utility belts around their waists, but Michael noticed they both also kept a hand on them.
“Speaking of which,” Sam went on, making one last attempt to wipe the tears off of his face and clear his throat, “we should probably head out now, right?”
“Yeah! We have vampires to kill!” Edgar jumped up and down on the balls of his feet, clearly excited about the prospect.
“Right, so…” Sam gestured towards the door, and both Frog Brothers fought each other to be the first one out.
“Wait,” Michael called as Sam turned to leave.
Sam looked wearily back at him, clearly still shaken.
“I’m coming with you.”
“What?”
“It’s dangerous out there, like I said. Believe me, I know better than you and your friends. I’ll keep you safe.”
Sam nodded hesitantly, turning back towards the door, but Michael stopped him again with a hand on his shoulder.
“Sam, look at me.” He grabbed both of Sam’s shoulders so he’d have to look at him head on. “I’ll keep you safe. From vampires or from… anything else. Okay?”
Sam took a deep breath, shaking a little as he brushed Michael’s hands off his shoulders, but he still nodded nonetheless. “Okay.”
Michael watched him walk out the door, then followed close behind. He watched his brother catch up with the Frogs, then he watched Alan wrap an arm around his waist, and Edgar an arm around his shoulder as they walked together. For the first time in a very long time, Michael was overcome with the distinct sense that everything might just be okay.