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When I don't know what to say, I let characters do it for me.
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Dedicated to Brooke McCarter
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David stood at the very edge of the cliff, staring out over the angry ocean. It felt as if he couldn't get any closer to the edge without falling off, toes grazing the edge of the precarious drop. His arms hung at his sides. His eyes were closed, head tilted back.

His platinum hair blew behind him in the Californian night breeze. He was professional and unreadable, his face was stone.

Behind David, several feet back, Marko, Paul and Dwayne sat on their bikes. Marko was closest to the David, face turned away from the others. He was vulnerable at the moment, and he didn't want anyone to see him like this. He felt confused and upset, staring at the violent sky as if in a trance.

Dwayne rested his arms across the handlebars of his bike, staring blankly out at the roaring ocean waves. Dwayne was always quiet, buried in the shadows and not to be questioned. But tonight, he sat out of the shadows, in the only little moonbeam that the cloudy, stormy night offered him.

His head was bowed and he was staring at his hands, the bloodstains, the decals on his bike, anything to distract his mind from the topic at hand.

Paul was the farthest from the cliff, holed off in his own personal corner of the universe. He looked angry, upset, glaring at the sky and daring anyone to come near him. But in reality, he was not glaring.

Tears were gathered at the corners of his eyes, but so help me God, if anyone ever told someone that, you'd better believe they'd be torn to shreds faster than you can say Santa Carla.

Paul was the crazy one, but today, he observed a minute of silence. His eyes were closed, and he was shut down. As if he had no emotions. He didn't. He couldn't.

Finally, Paul cleared his eyes of any hints of emotions, and slipped off the bike. Each step he took sounded like an earthquake, even though the ocean was roaring above it, making it nearly impossible to hear anything else. The seas themselves seemed to share the emotions the vampires had.

Dwayne and Marko picked up their heads and watched when Paul passed them by. They didn't move from their spots, but their eyes followed the crazy one, waiting, watching to see what he was going to do.

Paul went right up to the edge of the cliff with David and placed a hand on his leader's leather jacket. David watched him with only his eyes, head still straight forward.

Paul spread his arms, letting himself go. A grin spread across his face as he felt the sea breeze hit his pale skin. His hair flew out behind him in the oncoming storm, and he broke his silence with a loud yell, arms out freely, just like he was flying.

Marko and Dwayne somehow found their way to the edges of the cliff, taking a stand on either side of their friends, hair billowing back. Dwayne's coat was open and flapping in the heavy wind. Marko's jacket blew behind him, similar to a cape. They stood with similar expressions, except for Paul.

David was solemn, Dwayne was somber, Marko was lost, but Paul was free.

He let himself go, like he never had before. He was always open with his happiness, finding joy in the twisted things, but tonight, he was more open than ever before, vulnerable, almost.

When his shout died down, he looked over at the other vampires and smiled.

"Party on," he whispered as the thunder crashed lowly in the background.

He stared out into the black sea, raising his eyes to the sky with a small smile at the clouds. His smile was genuine, because he was free.

"Thank you."