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Something was wrong with David.
Michael propped the front door open with his foot, dumping the armload of groceries on the floor. The smell of grease and sugar wafted through the joint kitchen/living room/entrance hall. Mom had begun cooking before Michael had left, giving him a laundry list of stuff they needed. She never cooked this much usually, but she felt obligated to feed her boys.
The Emerson household had become a lot busier these past few days. Once upon a time, the Emerson family consisted of two sons and a mother. Now, it held two sons, a mother, four former vampires, a runaway girl, and two brothers who hung around from time to time. What was once a shabby old cabin was now a shabby old cabin with a hole in the roof and a scorched floor that smelled like rot.
Paul and Dwayne were lounging on the couch. Out of the four, these two seemed to take being human again the best. Probably because they were the last two turned. They were wearing some of Michael’s clothes since their old ones were either damaged or didn’t provide enough comfort and warmth. Michael’s sweatshirt looked small on the drummer, a sight that amused Michael greatly.
“Where have you been, Mikey?” Dwayne slung his arm over the couch cushion to get a better view at the brunette. “We’ve missed you so much.” He made a pouty face, blinking rapidly. Paul shoved him, and Dwayne retaliated.
“Get his ass, Paul!” Marko shouted from his mattress on the floor. He was wrapped in a thick layer of bandages. It was a miracle he wasn’t dead. The stake had entered just to the side of his heart. He was still in heaps of pain. If the stake to the heart didn’t kill him, turning human with a huge hole in his chest would have. Luckily, Paul had brought back a kill for Marko before the fight, the blood increasing the rate of his healing factor. The massive, deep hole was now a small (smaller. It’s still quite sizable) gash.
The two couch crashers continued to fight as Lucy plated breakfast. It wasn’t anything fancy; just bacon and eggs. “Michael, can you grab the fruit?”
Her son nodded, retrieving a container of strawberries and a container of blueberries. He followed behind her, dishing out the fruit to each plate. It had been less than a week, and they had already fallen into a routine. Michael would help with breakfast, Sam and Paul would do the dishes, and Lucy would clean Marko’s wound. It was repetitive, but they needed some monotony right now.
Three kids bounded down from upstairs. “Two more plates, Mom,” Sam said. The Frog Brothers were already seated in the chair they designated as theirs. Michael wasn’t even sure how they got here. They had the ability to show up and disappear into thin air, it seemed.
Lucy smiled to herself. “Why am I not surprised?” She muttered softly to herself, already fixing them a plate. “Foods ready!”
Dwayne beelined for the counter, holding the food over his head like it was a trophy. Turns out, human food tastes bland to vampires. Slowly, the Lost Boys have rediscovered the wonders of human food. Marko had almost cried while eating Little Debbies a few days ago.
Paul took two plates for him and Marko, sitting back down on the couch to eat. The younger teens had already grabbed their meals, and Lucy hers. That left three plates.
Star was probably still asleep. She had the hardest time getting to sleep, so the Emersons just let her rest. Michael grabbed the two remaining plates.
“Here.” He held the plate out to the lone former vampire. David wasn’t doing so well. He barely got out of bed, choosing to sleep (or pretend to). They chalked it up to him having the hardest time adjusting. He had been a vampire for the longest. The concept of him having a heartbeat freaked him out at first.
Plus, he was the closest to Max. He was there to watch Max die. Max was his sire.
David turned to look at him. His head seemed to move faster than his eyes. Those blue eyes were darker than they had been before.
The blonde took the plate. Michael stayed to watch. David hasn’t been eating a lot lately. He’s going to kill himself slowly if he doesn’t. David traced the edge of the plate with his finger till he landed on the fork. When he picked it up, the fork was backwards. Maybe the boys haven’t used silverware in a while? The others seemed fine with it. “Thank you, Michael.” He murmured in that deep rhythmic voice of his.
David didn’t eat as much as Michael wanted, but he couldn’t push him. Sam and Paul began their dish duty. Lucy and Marko were talking about music and the 70s while she rubbed alcohol on the wound. The Frogs were doing… something.
The door to the main bedroom silently slipped open. Lucy insisted that Star sleep on a mattress in her room to get away from the boys. She needed her privacy, after all. Star waded into the living room.
“Good morning.” She greeted the room. Dwayne and Marko waved, going back to what they were doing.
But David jumped.
He flinched back, head whipping around wildly. His breath caught in his chest.
The whole room stopped and stared at David. How did he not see Star? From his position, the bedroom and the girl were right in his line of sight.
Michael leaned into David’s line of sight. Those blue eyes didn’t lock onto him. “I’m sorry. I’m not sure what came over me there.” David played off, sliding his hand through his hair. As he was doing that, Michael reached around the boy’s shoulders and waved a hand near the side of his head, just close enough for him to be able to see it. David didn’t seem to notice.
There was a snap. David jerked back, hitting Michael, which caused him to jerk away again. His face was gaunt with fear. The former leader attempted to compose himself, feeling around to steady himself.
The Emerson cabin went deadly silent. A realization dawned on them all at once.
Those eyes. Those blue… cloudy eyes.
“David, are you blind?”
“I-I’m-” David was rendered speechless, a feat Michael could barely fathom. It made so much sense now.
“How long?” Marko spoke up. “You’ve had blue eyes since the day we met. How long have you been blind?”
David looked less like a teen and more like a trapped animal. “Please. I don’t want to do this right now.”
“Did Max do this?”
It was like David had been shot. “Are you fucking serious? Max wouldn’t blind me! He saved me!” He snarled. David stood and began to back away. His nostrils were flaring.
Lucy intercepted him, tapping the side of his arm. David didn’t flinch as hard, but he winced. “David. Please. What do you mean by "Max saved you”?”
He had nowhere to go. He was trapped in a box with the water quickly rising. It didn’t matter how much he struggled; he would drown anyway.
“The factory. When the earthquake hit, it ruptured a gas line. I wasn’t in the line of the blast, but I was looking directly at it. Everything went pure white then-” David paused, voice catching in his throat. “Nothing. I was trapped, with no vision. I was going to die.”
“That’s when Max showed up?” Dwayne was sitting straight on the arm of the couch, his own eyes narrowed.
David nodded. “I drank. Immediately, my other senses became stronger. I could navigate with just my hearing and smell alone. It wasn’t perfect. I struggled making my first kill, but the moment I did, I could see the world without eyes.”
And now all of those senses are gone. David had been plunged into total darkness with no way to navigate.
“I know I should have said something.” He scratched at a spot on his arm till it bled. “But, if you knew I was weak, would you have stayed?”
“I cannot tell if you are being fucking serious right now.”
They all turned to look at Star. “Do you really think we would have cared? Knowing you, you would have found some other way to keep us close.”
“Yeah, and it’s not like we would all abandon ship if we knew the guy who saved us was blind,” Paul added. “You’re our brother. It’s cheesy as hell, but it's true.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“Then let us help you.” Michael held the singer’s hands in his. “We can get you to a specialist or something. We can get mobility aids. Fuck, we can modify the house if you need us to.”
“We can’t get rid of you that easily, not without a fight.” Dwayne teased, earning a shove from Sam.
It was like nothing had ever changed. David let his shoulders relax, running a finger over the back of Michael’s hand.
Shit, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.