Rules Are Meant to Be Broken Read online

was as hot as Sarah Michel e Gel ar. For a girl, she is kinda

  sexy.”

  “For a girl, huh?”

  Rol ing his eyes, Christian shrugged and went back to

  watching the TV.

  They watched in silence for a few minutes. “Do you think

  there is a slayer out there?” Michael asked.

  He thought Christian looked at him strangely. Maybe it

  was just booze, maybe it was the blood, maybe it was the

  mixture of them both making him think such crazy shit, but

  what if there was someone out there? Someone trained to

  hunt them down and kil them. Maybe there should be

  someone. Maybe what they were was against God’s nature

  and they should be eradicated.

  “God, I hope not!” Christian seemed to sober up at the

  thought. “Now that is something to worry about. Don’t tel

  Kerr. It wil give him something else to be paranoid over.”

  Once again Michael got the impression Christian’s

  thoughts were becoming erratic and again he wondered

  what made him tick.

  “Hey! There you are.” Michael grabbed his arm and

  grinned as Spike appeared on the screen.

  “What the hel are you talking about?”

  Pointing to the screen, laughter twinkled in his eyes as

  he asked. “Isn’t he the one you’ve model ed yourself after?”

  “No,” Christian laughed. “What gives you that idea?”

  Christian asked, as Michael dragged him off the couch and

  stood him in front of a mirror which took up most of one

  wal .

  He grinned. One hand lightly grabbed Christian’s jaw as

  the other pointed at their reflections. “This is the reason

  why. See anyone familiar?”

  Christian stared at his reflection. “What are you—? Oh?

  Oh, oh!” Christian stopped and stared as he seemed to

  realise what Michael was talking about. He shoved Michael

  playful y in the shoulder. “Do you real y think I resemble

  him?” When Michael nodded he added, “Wel if I’m Spike,

  are you Angel?” They began laughing again.

  Michael held onto Christian’s wrists as he sprang toward

  him. Michael grinned as Christian pretended to bite him on

  the neck. A thril of excitement ran though him at so simple

  a touch and he laughed, dismissing it. He didn’t want to

  think about what it might mean.

  “Though, if my memory serves me correctly, you’re more

  like Pike, from the original movie. You know, a bit of a

  loser.” Michael chuckled as Christian pouted.

  Christian made fake fangs out of his fingers, hissing

  dramatical y as al those actors did in every bad vampire

  flick Michael had ever seen. “The original movie has one of

  the best dying scenes ever,” Christian said as he pul ed

  away.

  He dramatical y dropped to the floor and began rol ing

  around, playing out the dying scene at the end of the movie.

  “Oh-Eee-Ahh-Ooo…” his leg began shaking and banging

  against the floor just the same as the guy in the movie, and

  Michael started laughing as he stalked him, pretending to

  be the slayer.

  Christian waited for Michael to get close enough. Loving

  the fact that Michael cracked up laughing, he grabbed him

  around the legs and pul ed Michael to the floor on top of

  him. Christian rol ed so he was on top, and before Michael

  could respond he kissed his lips, fol owed closely by putting

  him into a headlock. It ended up as a big wrestling match

  on the floor. Their mock fight ended abruptly as they

  realised they were no longer alone.

  “Having fun?” Kerr asked drol y from where he stood in

  the doorway with Charm watching them rol ing around the

  floor like a pair of idiots.

  “A blast,” Michael replied as he got to his feet. He wasn’t

  going to let Kerr get to him. They wanted him in this family,

  so now they were just going to have to take him as he was.

  Kerr might be their leader, but he wasn’t his and never

  would be unless and until Kerr proved his worth to him.

  Extending his hand, Michael pul ed Christian to his feet.

  When they were both upright Christian stood leaning close

  to Michael as they both faced Kerr. The touch of Christian’s

  hand lightly grazed his back before he moved away.

  Stunned, Michael couldn’t believe the dramatic change

  in Christian’s demeanour with the arrival of the Kerr and

  Charm; it was as if someone had flicked a switch inside his

  brain. He had gone from being someone cool Michael

  could be friends with to a smal child wanting to seek Kerr’s

  approval. Maybe he was schizophrenic. Once again,

  Michael wondered why they al deferred to Kerr. What

  made him so special?

  “I only got into one fight, Kerr, and this time it wasn’t even

  my fault. Tel him, Michael, tel him how we were jumped.”

  So many things raced through his mind as he watched

  as Christian began bouncing excitedly on the bal s of his

  feet. As if he had stepped back into the insecure kid

  Michael had first met, and it perplexed him. Shaking his

  head in confusion, Michael turned back to watch Kerr. Right

  about now the whole ‘Christian is schizophrenic’ theory was

  looking good again.

  Standing there, Michael could see Kerr’s anger rising,

  and Michael knew it was aimed at him. Honestly, Kerr was

  probably wondering why he had brought him here in the first

  place, because Michael had been wondering the same

  thing.

  “Wel ?” Kerr demanded, glaring straight at Michael.

  “Somebody’s in trouble,” Charm taunted in a sing-songy

  voice as she headed out of the lounge toward her

  bedroom, fist bumping Doyle as they passed in the

  doorway.

  Not real y knowing what was expected, Michael

  shrugged. “Chris told you. We were attacked while walking

  through the park. Most of the attackers ran off when they

  realised we were wil ing to defend ourselves.” He pointed

  toward Christian’s swol en lip. “One of them managed to

  get in a lucky punch.”

  “You should have seen it, Kerr, Michael was so quick I

  didn’t even see him move. He just disappeared and

  reappeared somewhere else. It was so fricken cool. ”

  Complete childlike awe fil ed his voice and animated his

  face. His dimples were flashing for al their worth as he

  turned and smiled at Michael.

  Kerr’s voice sounded cool, calm and col ected, yet

  Michael knew he seethed with rage. This gave ‘if looks

  could kil ’ a whole new meaning! “How many dead?”

  “None. That’s what’s so cool!” Christian laughed out

  loud. “It was just bril iant.” He reached out and gave Michael

  a high five. “You did some serious footwork.” Michael

  couldn’t help but grin at Christian’s enthusiasm and praise.

  “Ask Doyle! He was there, he can tel you.”

  Trying to ignore the fact that Kerr watched them both

  closely, Michael focused momentarily on Doyle as he

  nodded in agreement to what Christian asked him. When

  he returne
d his gaze to Kerr, he got the feeling Kerr wasn’t

  sure whether or not he believed what they were saying. It

  was probably hard to believe they had let the drunk guy live,

  but why would they lie to him? They had no reason to make

  something like this up. Kerr stared at Michael.

  “Did you feed?” He directed his question to Michael, but

  before Michael had a chance to answer Christian jumped in

  and spoke.

  “He fed,” Christian chuckled. “We left the guy sleeping

  peaceful y like a baby under a tree. I bet he wil have a sore

  head in the morning. Then, the coolest thing happened. You

  are so not going to believe this part.” Christian just vibrated

  with excitement. “His bite healed itself. I have never seen it

  happen before. It was so fricken amazing. Wasn’t it Doyle?”

  This was so not good. Kerr’s fury seemed to build as he

  stormed across the room and slammed the palm of his

  hand into Michael’s chest. “You left him alive? How bloody

  stupid can you be? What the hel gives you the right to

  endanger everyone’s life this way?” His fist shot out again

  and connected with Michael’s jaw and Christian was livid

  when he saw Michael go sprawling backward across the

  floor. Michael looked shocked and then pissed off at the

  ferociousness in Kerr’s words.

  “It would help if I bloody knew al of the rules! Why didn’t

  you tel me them al before we headed out for the night?”

  Michael shouted back.

  “What the fuck?” Christian felt something snap deep

  inside of him as Kerr hit Michael. He hated seeing Kerr

  attack another family member. Especial y when they didn’t

  deserve it. They were family and family was meant to stick

  together.

  “Kerr, don’t!” Christian said coldly as he stepped in

  between them. “Leave him alone.”

  Michael watched as anger surged over Christian’s face.

  He took the hand he was offered to help him to his feet.

  Charm and Doyle were watching them intently as Christian

  had stood up to Kerr. Michael got the impression by

  everyone’s reactions that this was a first. Once more,

  Christian didn’t readily let go of his hand and Michael didn’t

  care.

  “We don’t have lives, remember? We’re shadow

  dwel ers, members of the undead. We’re already

  endangered. What Michael did,” Christian advanced on

  Kerr pul ing him along in his wake, “was not destroy

  another’s life unnecessarily. No one said we had to kil

  them. We thought this one up al on our own. We didn’t even

  try to find a better way of handling things. I no longer want to

  be the monster we created of ourselves.”

  In the instant his words stopped, Christian stared down

  at their linked hands and suddenly let go. It almost felt as

  though Christian had suddenly realised he was holding a

  live snake. A little part of Michael was hurt by his reaction,

  especial y as earlier he had joked about holding hands.

  Michael saw Kerr’s anger was growing as Doyle and

  Charm began joining in the conversation. Kerr obviously

  didn’t want to hear what they were saying.

  “He’s right man, we don’t know if leaving them alive is

  good thing or a bad thing, but we should at least give it a

  go. I, for one, have never been good with the kil ing. It’s

  always been wrong to take away another person’s life just

  so we can live.”

  Michael wondered if this was the first time they had ever

  disagreed with Kerr, because he didn’t seem to be

  enjoying it at al . Guilt seemed to fil Charm’s face as she

  spoke. “Why don’t we watch this guy? If nothing happens to

  him, then great. If he does turn, we kil him or take him into

  the family. Either way we’l know. Isn’t it worth a try?”

  Anger was evident on Kerr’s face and he glared wildly at

  each of them. Kerr’s gaze turned to Charm as she walked

  over and stood behind Michael and Christian. Each of her

  hands rested on one of their arms.

  “If they are left alive, they wil know what we are. Can’t

  any of you see how bad this could al turn out to be? They

  wil tel the police or someone of a higher authority. How

  long wil it be before they hunt us down?” Kerr stared at

  them al . “People fear what they do not understand. And we

  wil end up dead.”

  “This is the reason we watch him. In this day and age,

  who is going to believe he got attacked by vampires? We

  don’t exist,” Doyle said quietly.

  It seemed to Michael that Doyle felt guilty because he

  was joining the fight against Kerr.

  “We are just a thing of myth and legend, or a very bad

  horror flick — you choose,” Doyle continued. “Al anyone wil

  think is we are a figment of his very overactive

  imagination.”

  Everyone fel silent as Charm spoke. “Our lives became

  real when the creator crossed your paths and slowed your

  heartbeats, forever leaving you walking through the dark.” A

  surreal voice came out of Charm; she spoke as though she

  didn’t remember the others were stil in the room with her.

  “One watches from the shadows and we are just pieces in

  this game. At the appointed time the children wil learn his

  name.” She shook her head. “Is it just me or is this whole

  undead thing just getting weirder by the day?”

  No one was game enough to speak. After a moment

  Charm’s face cleared and she appeared embarrassed by

  why they were al staring at her. “Why is everyone so quiet?”

  Michael got the feeling they were frightened of her. She

  walked over to the couch and sat down, worry fil ing her

  eyes as she waited for them to talk.

  Taking the lead as usual, Kerr crossed his arms in front

  of his chest. “Are you al right?” He enquired.

  “Of course I am. What’s going on?” She studied his face.

  “What do you mean, ‘What’s going on?’” Doyle asked a

  little shakily. “What the hel was with the weird bit of poetry?”

  Laughter fil ed Charm’s eyes. “It wasn’t poetry. Just

  something I remembered reading somewhere from when I

  was in school.”

  Michael thought Charm was real y having a lot of fun

  taking the piss out of them and he was almost positive she

  acted weird on purpose because she knew it freaked the

  others out.

  “You can real y be a bitch sometimes, Charm. You

  scared the crap out of me.” Christian said, his hands

  fluttered around his throat.

  Laughter bubbled out of Charm as she winked at

  Christian. “Sorry, it just came to mind and fel out my

  mouth.”

  § § § §

  Moving as quietly as he could Michael left the remainder

  of the group as they discussed the odd occurrence which

  had taken place over the bite marks fading away. Heat

  rushed through his veins as he pretended to be asleep

  while Christian changed into his boxers, though he watched

  through his lashes — he just couldn’t help him
self. The little

  voice in the back of his head wanted to ask Christian about

  the scars covering his body, but he got the feeling they

  more than bothered him. He closed his eyes again as

  Christian climbed into bed beside him, not wanting

  Christian to think he was some sort of a pervert. It was hard

  to feign sleep as Christian ran his fingertips along his scar.

  It seemed that Christian just couldn’t help himself —

  Michael knew Christian had done the same thing last night

  as wel . It took al his wil power not to brush away his touch,

  because it would only prove he was stil awake. And

  Michael didn’t want to talk about the bite mark on the drunk

  guy, and he definitely didn’t want to talk about the fact he

  enjoyed the sensation of Christian touching him. He just

  needed time to think about what was happening. Even

  though he knew what Charm had quoted was an old poem

  or something, could Charm be right? Was their sire out

  there right now watching them? Were they just a twisted

  joke to their creator?

  With his skin tingling, Michael found it hard to

  concentrate with Christian being this close to him. As he

  heard Christian’s even breathing of deep sleep he turned to

  face his strange bed mate. Michael wondered where

  Christian had come from original y, because he didn’t

  seem to be Australian. Sometimes he would do something

  or say something that seemed so out of character.

  His thoughts came back to the many scars running over

  Christian’s bare chest. It real y wasn’t fair that Christian had

  been through something terrible in his life. The scars

  weren’t raised and puckered, but felt smooth as his

  fingertip traced over them. Michael thought Christian may

  have been burned and branded by something smal . How

  many times must he have suffered to get so many scars?

  Michael knew there were just as many on his back and

  legs. His face, throat, and hands held none at al . Leaning

  in, Michael inhaled deeply, taking in Christian’s scent with

  the slight tinge of blood from his split lip mixed in. It was

  intoxicating. His scent was permeated with the smel of

  honey and ginger. Michael was surprised when his tongue

  darted out and lingered on the cut on Christian’s lip, tasting

  him. Lowering his lips until they moulded themselves to the

  shape of Christian’s, he stayed there for but a moment

  before pul ing back in shock. He stared at the stil sleeping