Michael kept finding himself back on the board walk. He'd begin walking without caring where he went, or how long it would take him to get there, but after a while he'd look up and find himself standing near the carousel, or the big dipper, or the arcades. Every time he'd find himself among the crowds of night time partygoers that invaded the board walk.

At last with a resigned sigh he decided he may as well stick around there, since in an hour or so he'd arrive back anyway, wondering how the hell... but he'd be back. He sat down alone on one of the benches, and with dark eyes he watched people come and go, all of them there to have a good time. And him... he was there because he had no place else to go.

Laughter, it dominated the air until he couldn't breathe for all the laughter. It was malignant to him, mocking, and he tried hard to block it out. He watched an empty sweet packet blow across the planks, ferried by the wind, scraping noisily, until someone stepped on it and it lay still even once they moved away. It reminded him of himself.. Trying to get from one place to another... but always guided by forces out of his control. He felt stepped on too.

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"Mom... don't let him back in... if he comes back." Sam looked up at Lucy, and she felt torn, between one son's hurt, and the other's betrayal. And Michael... she couldn't bear to think about it for long. What had happened to her son?

"He's a vampire." grandpa sighed, answering Lucy's thought without knowing it.

The three of them were seated around the kitchen table, eating nothing, drinking nothing, and hardly speaking much for what was supposed to be a family meeting. But it didn't feel like a family without Michael there... and they all knew it.

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The wind howled through the sparse trees, rustling their branches furiously, until Michael began to feel as though this was all some sort of stage show just for him. The nearer to the cave he drew, the more ferociously the weather tormented him. He hadn't meant to come here.. Hadn't wanted to, but in his isolation he felt drawn to the place, and he thought...

He didn't know what he thought. Except that it gave him a vague sense of belonging. Here among the damp and the echoing noises. A true creature of the night. If he couldn't escape it, he'd embrace it... for this night at least.

He crawled through the small tunnel with ease, and once inside he slowly began to turn, taking it all in and letting the memories flood through him. Star, Laddie, David, Dwayne, Paul and Marko. They were all here... in his memory. That one night he had felt a part of them... and he had almost belonged. But those dreams had shattered long ago, and it left no trace of regret now. He did what he had to do... and he wasn't sorry for it. He was only sorry that he hadn't been able to save Star, or Laddie... or even himself in the end.

It was chilly within the cave, but Michael took off his jacket anyway, draping it over a chair, David's chair... he sighed and picked up an old box of matches, and began lighting the old candles one by one. Soon the walls were bathed in a soft light, casting shadows along the ground, shadows that looked dangerous from the corner of Michael's eye. Too many monsters... in his memories.

He sat silently for an hour or more in the chair, until eventually it began to get to him... sitting there in David's chair, with David's things all around him... all of them. If there were ghosts, then they were here in this place... all of their victims, all of their wrongs... hung in the air thickly, making it hard to breathe. Even the silence seemed to have evil intent, closing in on him very slowly as the minutes ticked by, until he wasn't even sure where he was or why he had come.

He stood up abruptly and tried to shake it, but he had an unsettling feeling. Almost like he was being watched... "Who's there?" he whispered.
"Me... " came a voice, followed by a dark laughter.

To be continued...