CHAPTER 15
THE LOST BOYS

WARNING: MATURE SCENES AHEAD

IT took a lot of convincing to get Hadley to go outside in the daylight.

She couldn't resist Percy's annoying charm. He was so irritating sometimes – with his pretty, blue eyes and alluring grin. God, sometimes she really wanted to wipe that smirk off his face, or just kiss him instead. Especially, at this moment, as he tugged on her arm from where he was standing outside the hotel. Hadley tried hauling herself back inside, already feeling the subtle migraine coming on from just feeling the sun's heat.

"C'mon!" Percy exclaimed, chuckling as he dragged her out. "You act as if you're going to burn! You told me you don't turn to ash."

His muscles made him successful in getting her out, and Hadley sent him a frustrated glare once her eyes hit the sun's rays. She released a huff, shoulders sinking down in a dramatic way, before she turned to face him again.

"Of course, I'm not going to burn." She tsked, pointing a finger in his direction. "And I'm not going to sparkle either."

Percy giggled, and Hadley had to suppress her own smile when she heard it. As his face lit up with happiness, she couldn't help the butterflies in her stomach. He grabbed her hand, entwining their fingers together, and nothing had ever felt so right. Hadley looked down at their conjoined hands as they walked, licking her lips and keeping her grin to herself. But Percy still saw it. Sometimes, his eyes were as sharp as hers.

He pulled out a pair of sunglasses from his back pocket and carefully slid them onto her nose. She looked at him, arching a brow, but it was hardly visible over the large shades. "I thought those might help with – you know," he shrugged, "your sensitivity issues."

"Are you making fun of me?" She scoffed. "Because I can turn us right back around, Percy Isaacs."

He glanced at her, sending the vampire an impish grin. That was all she needed for her annoyance to break.

"You're so annoying," she laughed with a shake of her head. He swung their hands back and forth as they traveled down South Spring street. "You dragged me out here just to see how I really react to the sunlight, and just like I told you, nothing happens. I just get a migraine. Are you satisfied? Or were you hoping I'd actually turn to ash?"

"I would find a way to bring you back if you turned to ash. I'm sure if you exist, there are some kind of witches that could bring you back." His fingers tightened around her own as they rounded a corner. "Maybe I also just wanted to take a walk with my – well ..." He paused, biting his lip when her grey irises flickered to his. "My girlfriend."

Percy held his breath, waiting for the fallout. He didn't know what he was expecting from the statement, or why he was suddenly being so bold in the presence of a vampire. But everything felt at ease when she smiled at him, bearing her pearly whites.

"Your girlfriend," she repeated, "I like it."

He released a breath of relief, which caused her to chuckle. Lifting a hand to his chest, Percy felt his heart practically jump out. It pounded so hard against his ribcage that he was getting goosebumps. "Now that," he replied, "had to be one the scariest things I've ever done."

The sunlight beat down on them, causing the migraine to thump against her temples, but when she looked at Percy, she realized it was bearable. Nothing else mattered when he existed. Hadley cocked her head to the side, catching him for a split second as he almost tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. He sent her an embarrassed expression before she said, "Scarier than seeing me kill that guy on Halloween?"

Percy met her eyes, lips curling as he shook his head. "Having a vampire girlfriend is just full of surprises, but you'll never scare me."

"Ha!" She choked out, trying her best to stifle the laugh. "You keep thinking that –"

She suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, feet planted on the sidewalk, as if she was stuck there with quicksand. Percy squeezed her hand, a silent act to urge her to keep walking, but not even his touch could pull her from her trance. Her stare was rigid and strict. Percy pursed his lips, not understanding her blank expression, until he finally lifted his eyes to the scene before them.

It was his face. A picture of him slapped on a ripped, yellow flyer, nailed to an old telephone pole.

MISSING: PERCY MICHAEL ISAACS. LAST SEEN BY PARENTS WHEN HE LEFT FOR A TRIP TO LOS ANGELES IN AUGUST. AGE: 21. HEIGHT: 5'11". WEIGHT: 172 LBS. IF YOU SPOT HIM, PLEASE CONTACT THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT.

"Percy," Hadley whispered, tugging on the sleeve of his jean jacket. Her eyes glanced over to him, but his remained on the poster, and she had to pull him back from walking over to it. "Percy, let's go."

He jabbed a finger in the direction of the flyer, watching the corners flap in the wind. His brow creased. "That's ..." He paused, soaking in the image of his senior year school portrait. "That's my face. I'm a missing person."

"Hey, hey," she cooed, bringing her hands to his cheeks and forcing him to face her. He blinked quickly and broke out of his anxious thoughts, pulling Hadley close by the small of her back. Her fingers scorched him as they caressed his blushing flesh. "You're okay. It's going to be okay."

"It is?" He sucked in a loud sob, refusing to tear up in front of her. Percy didn't even understand why he was crying in the first place. Maybe it was because he was finally facing the reality in front of him. "Hadley, I just ... I can't –"

A squad of cop cars zoomed past them, blowing their hair in different directions. The two held onto each other tighter as the cars blared their sirens, hardly glancing in Percy's direction, as if he wasn't a missing person. Hadley head almost spun three-sixty, and she turned to look all the way past the big intersection, where the city met the suburbs. The squadron skidded to a stop in front of the old Marva Jones Middle School, which almost looked like a dot from how far it was from them, but Hadley saw it clear as day.

Parents waited on the sidelines of the school as police stormed the building. Hadley arched a brow, hiding Percy behind her when she narrowed her eyes to get a better look. News reporters swarmed the scene. Percy placed a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong? What do you see?" He asked.

Minutes later, the police returned with a large group of children. Each child was covered in blood, almost head to toe, while their faces held a mask of horror. As Hadley narrowed in on the scene, she realized that these kids were hardly scared at all. In fact, one of them – specifically, the brunette boy in the front – looked excited, like the blood dripping from his chin wasn't there. Hadley inhaled deeply, catching all the various scents around her, but one in particular caught her off guard, causing her to step back.

She clutched Percy's shirt, stumbling into him as he frantically asked, "Did you see something bad?" Hadley pursed her lips and wondered how she could answer his question.

"It's not what I saw," she muttered, meeting his stare. "I smell rotting flesh. I smell an affliction."

•••

Hadley guessed that she should've been surprised when Percy told her that he liked monster movies. Apparently, he had a whole collection of them back home, and Hadley felt slightly bad that he couldn't show her them. She assumed he was a Blade fan or that he really liked the Underworld franchise. Come to find out, Percy's favorite movie was the Lost Boys, and also From Dusk till Dawn. He was a fan of the classics.

He wanted to educate her on vampire movies – as if she needed it. She tried to tell him that there was nothing a monster movie could teach her that she already didn't know. "Of course," he agreed, picking up an HD copy of the Lost Boys from a large DVD bin in Walmart. "But the normal Hollywood vampire movie will pick your brain in ways that even you can't explain."

Hadley wrinkled he nose. She didn't understand what he meant by that, but she went along with it, following him to the nearest cash register to purchase the DVD.

She made things difficult for herself as soon as he popped the movie into the old DVD player. Hadley managed to borrow the device from Liz, since none of these rooms were equipped with modern day technology. He slid onto the bed when the movie began to play, opening up with a loud, eighties tune. Hadley curled herself into him, allowing her body to radiate with his warmth, and rested her cheek onto his broad chest.

That was a big mistake.

With her ear pressed against his chest, she could hear it all: the erratic beating, his stomach pushing and pulling together, the blood rushing in his veins. Hadley swallowed hard, trying to focus on the movie playing on her old TV. She tried to distract herself by remembering the date of when it was made. 1996? 1999? It was somewhere around there.

She took a deep inhale, breathing in his wickedly sweet scent. It called to her, like a friend, or even a drug. She had never done heroin, and yet she wondered if this was what addiction was like: being surrounded by something you wanted so bad, but knowing it was bad for you. Heroin was one of the most addictive opioids out there, but as Hadley curled herself close to Percy Isaacs, she questioned if that was true. His blood had to be one of the most addictive scents she'd ever experienced.

For a moment, Hadley wondered what would happen if she ever tasted his blood. She'd surely kill him. She didn't have a doubt about that. If his scent was so mouthwatering that she even considered this in the first place, she didn't want to think about how disastrous it would be if he ever offered her a taste. There was no way she'd be able to say no. Hadley was trained in self-control by Elizabeth, but this scent ... this was something that not even her morals could argue with. Her mouth would be lunging for his shoulder before he could blink an eyelash.

Roger Daltrey's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" played softly in the background, and Hadley's head popped up out of instinct. Percy lifted his hand off her back and turned to her, brow creasing with confusion. She pursed her lips, swallowing hard while debating her options. The scent was overwhelming her, and she half-considered leaving the room, but when she looked at him, she realized there was nowhere else she'd rather be.

She sat up, hovering over him on his left side. They stared at each other for a long while – almost too long. The characters made some stupid joke in the movie, but she couldn't hear them anymore. Everything was drowned out. All she could focus on was Percy's fast heartbeat and uneven breathing. Her eyes burned in his big, blue irises, causing a fire to form in the pit of his stomach, while his stare darted to her pink mouth, quirked up in an alluring way. He took his own bottom lip between his teeth and sucked in. Hadley felt his large hand on her back again, firmer this time, and pulling her in.

Her mouth was upon his before she could register it. The kiss was fast and hard, as if she was trying to suck his soul of him. Her desire was taking over her entire body – maybe even her mind – and it was claiming him at an increasingly fast pace. It was like their first kiss all over again: she felt the rush as soon as her lips were pressing onto his. Her adrenaline was at an all-time high, and his touch burned in every place that his hand met her skin.

She couldn't stop her left hand as it slid downward, resting on his crotch, and she could already feel the bulge that had formed in his sweatpants. Her mouth was now watering more than ever as she palmed his erection through his pants. Percy jolted, allowing a low grunt to slip into her mouth as her tongue collided with his. Heat merged in her stomach, trickling into the deepest parts of her, and causing her core to pulsate from want and desire. Percy was just as bad. She could smell his arousal from a mile away.

He was pushing his sweatpants down on instinct, other hand fumbling with the zipper on her jeans. She broke apart the kiss, watching his erection spring from his pants in the corner of her eye, and she stared at him with a sort of hunger that he had never seen before. Deadlier, more insatiable. Clasping her hands around his, she guided him with her jean zipper and slipped her pants down to her ankles, tossing them to the floor.

Hadley took a deep breath in, eyes never leaving his as she slid across his lap, resting her butt on his thighs. Percy swallowed hard and removed his shirt, feeling his hands start to sweat. Why was he so nervous? It wasn't like this was his first time, and he doubted this was hers either. However, this might just be the first time they were both doing this out of pure desire, rather than wanting to get it over with. Percy felt his heart grow three sizes too big.

He extended his arm to the nightstand, suddenly grateful that Christian and Bobby had brought a variety box of condoms. Percy's hands shook as he pulled out a square-shaped packet, jumping slightly when Hadley laid a hand on his arm. He glanced at her with wide eyes.

"Becoming one of the Afflicted is just another way of getting your tubes tied," she whispered, and his fingers slowly released the condom before she brought them to her waist. Her whole body was heated now, slicing into his skin, and he was caught off guard by the new temperature. He could feel her arousal seeping onto his leg. "It's okay, Percy."

With their hands laced together again, he removed every layer from her torso, until she was finally left with nothing: chest bare before his very eyes, faint freckles dotting every inch of her skin. He didn't have more than a moment to admire her skin – the way it glowed in the dim, orange light, or how the bright TV screen created a halo around her – because she was already sliding herself down on his length, a hiss slipping past her lips as he filled her whole.

She grasped his shoulders quickly, her nails forming small crescent moons into his fragile skin as she moved back and forth. Percy had never felt so connected to someone. Sure, he had sex with girls before, but it was different. It wasn't like this. They were always tolerable and quick. This was slow and passionate, especially with her aura pulling him close, allowing him to press feverish kisses to her chest. It felt like something had tethered them to each other, as if they were always meant to be like this in a past life.

Perhaps, if they hadn't been so consumed by their own lust, they would've heard Elizabeth's heels down the hallway.

Her movements became rougher – faster. Percy felt her nails digging deeper into his shoulders, but the pain was manageable. It didn't hurt one bit. The room became warmer than ever as he whispered her name against her chest. He pulled her close by her hips, hands gripping every inch of her that he could get.

And just as they both reached their climax – nails pinching delicate skin, kisses becoming sloppier – they heard her voice through the door.

"Hadley Monroe, you get out this instant!"

They didn't have a moment to react, or even break apart. Elizabeth broke down the door, stomping into the suite with her red-bottom heels. Hadley pressed Percy's face against her chest as Elizabeth paused before them, trying to shield him, but nothing could save them from the lie they held in for so long.

They were fucked.

•••

A/N: GOD Y'ALL I'M SORRY I MAKE LIKE 90% OF MY OCS TOPS 😪 I NEED TO HAVE MORE OF A VARIETY

Me protecting legit all my OCs LMAOOO