Mosaic/Issue 8

This is the eighth issue of Mosaic by Dixonlovessquirrels, titled "The Plot Thickens".

This issue was released on July 25th, 2014.

Legend
Present

Flashback

Dream

The Plot Thickens
 1 Week Before The Outbreak '''The shiny new car sped down the road. Sixty miles an hour, exactly the speed limit. It felt like it was going faster, the wind blowing in the window, making loud noises as it flew down the motorway.'''

'''Danny had both hands on the wheel, feeling the cold air blow into his face. It was a warm day, and this was the only way to be able to cool down. The car was new, not exactly the perfect car, but at least it ran. It was clean as a whistle, the silver dazzled oncoming cars. '''

'''Danny scratched the side of his face, his now clean shaven skin feeling much better that way. He looked healthier, but didn't feel it. He looked up at his rear-view mirror, seeing the dark, gold chip hanging by a string. He was sixty days "sober". As far as the rehab clinic knew, he didn't take any drugs.'''

'''But now he was free. He only had to go every day for sixty days. Now he only had to come back once a week, meaning it would be a lot easier to sneak in meth and weed. '''

'''It was a waste, and he felt guilty for not telling the truth and not even trying in the first place. But he didn't feel like he had a choice. It was as if the drugs were a part of him, something he needed to keep breathing.'''

'''He pulled into a driveway, just at the edge of a small neighbourhood. This was a very nice neighbourhood, one that didn't seem like it would be involved in drugs or anything dangerous, which is exactly what his parents wanted.'''

'''Danny opened the door and stepped out of the car, now feeling the heat again. He was already sweating. He closed the door and walked to the front door of the house. He took the keys out of his pocket, letting himself inside.'''

'''For the first thirty days of rehab, he stayed at this camp. At the camp they could keep a 24/7 watch on him, which meant that it was close to impossible to sneak in drugs. But for the other thirty days, he stayed at home, going to a church every week where they held meetings for drug addicts. It was also home to AA meetings and much more.'''

'''As he closed the door behind him, he noticed the nice fresh smell in the house. It was always nice to smell it, and whenever he would leave the house, this is what he would miss. It was a homely smell, making him feel safe and secluded. '''

'''He didn't want to call out for anyone, afraid in case someone was home. He just wanted to sneak up to his room and get high. '''

But, his mom's head peeked out from the kitchen door.

"Hi, honey," she said, a big smile on her face, "Where were you?"

It was early in the day, usually Danny would wake up in the middle of the day, yet today he was up early and out of the house before everyone else woke up.

'''"Hi..." Danny muttered, trying to think of an answer, "I was- uh... I just needed to.... Get my tire fixed. It was low and I needed to pump it up."'''

'''She stayed silent for a few seconds. She hoped that she could trust him, but didn't want to call him out in case she'd make him upset. Her name was Marie, late forties, dark brown hair and small. She had a very motherly look, and took her job as a mother very seriously. '''

'''Ever since Danny had gone to rehab, she treated him differently. Before that, she treated him as if he were a child that came in off the street, she never showed him any love after his sister was born. Danny's father, Bob, treated him the same way before and after rehab. He wasn't one to forgive, and definitely not one to forget. This hurt Danny, yet he couldn't complain.'''

'''"Okay..." she smiled, "Your father will be home early today. He'll help you plan out how to get to New Orleans."'''

'''"New Orleans?" Danny asked, "Why am I going to New Orleans?"'''

His mother looked at him as if he was in trouble, "The recital. Jane's recital, I told you about this weeks ago. Your sister's counting on you to bring her."

'''"Why do I have to bring her, can't one of you go?" Danny asked, "I mean, you're her parents, it's something you guys would want to see."'''

"Your father has work and I have to go to your aunt's house," Marie explained, "You remember your aunt, right? The one who was diagnosed with a severe case of cancer and can barely walk, right?"

"Okay... mom, okay," Danny sighed, "You don't have to guilt me into it. I'll bring her. When are we gonna be back?"

"You'll be back Sunday," she replied, "You're heading up tonight, the recital's tomorrow night. She has to be there a few hours beforehand to practise and you can head back Sunday morning."

Danny let out a big sigh, "Fine. When Dad gets back he can show me how to get there."

'''"Thank you, honey," his mother said, smiling at him. He smiled back, a forced smile. It wasn't something he wanted to do, he'd rather relax for the weekend before going back to his embarrassing, low-paying job at Burger King.'''

"I can't leave," Dom said, snapping at Holly.

They all stood in the sitting room, a few minutes after the conversation they had about Michael's transformation. All Peter wanted was to learn about vampires. He had read all about them as a kid, he and his friend would read comic books and talk about them all the time. He was a full grown man now, but being in the presence of a vampire was exciting.

Danny wanted to see Michael, but at the same time he didn't. Michael wouldn't kill him, would he? The only question that was on his mind. He and Peter stayed quiet on the opposite sides of the room, while Holly was standing in front of Dom, who was sitting down on the couch, and she was trying to get some answers.

It was a scary quality that she showed, but Danny wasn't noticing this so he didn't have the chance to second guess his feelings for her. He still didn't know if he liked her, he still hadn't gotten the chance to relax and think.

"Why can't you leave?" she snapped at Dom, who was becoming frustrated, "We could put a blanket over you."

"It would work, but to an extent," Dom said, "I'd burn no matter what. I'm not going out there."

"I'm sorry, you son of a bitch," she shouted, "But if there's a vampire out there that's trying to kill you and if he thinks that were on your side, he'll kill us. Why can't you just go out there and use your powers to kill him?"

Dom stood up, "Okay, bitch. First of all, I don't have any powers, I'm not superman. Second, I don't care if you live or die, no matter what, you're gonna die... I just hope that I can make you a vampire first. And lastly, please, for God's sake, do not forget that I am not on your side. Don't think I'm a superhero that will protect you all and risk my life. If one of you piss me off or try to stake me, I will not hesitate to snap your necks. So if you keep asking me questions, I am going to fucking kill you."

Holly was frightened by that, but she did her best not to show it. Dom was angry, but meant every word he said. Peter was standing, his knife at the ready. He may be fascinated by vampires, but Dom was right, he is the bad guy.

"Then how about this?" Holly asked him, "Why don't you stop sitting on your ass and get useful. We need food, water and whatever else to survive."

"Didn't you hear what I said?" Dom asked, "I can't leave the house, and I don't care if you die."

"But you do want us alive for now, right?" she smirked, "I'm not asking you to leave the house, I'm just asking you to make a plan. Help us out so that we can find stuff to survive. That's the least you can do, considering you're very determined to kill all of us."

Dom looked very angry. This girl was trouble and very hard to deal with. He smiled, the left side of his mouth curving up. He sat down, keeping quiet. Holly sighed, very annoyed with Dom and with everything else.

She looked at Danny, who sat down where he was sleeping the night before. He looked sad, but in fact he was just deep in thought and didn't take any notice of how he looked. She walked over and sat down next to him. He didn't seem to notice her, so she took a few seconds to take a good look at his face.

He slowly turned his head towards her, seeing her big eyes staring at him. It creeped him out, but it was surprisingly funny.

"Hi..." he muttered, feeling very awkward and anxious. He didn't know this, but any time he was around he was anxious, almost as if he had to impress every time they spoke.

"Why are you sad?" she asked, her voice low and cute as if she were a little child.

"I'm not sad," he corrected her, confused as to why she asked that.

"You look sad," she said, "Trust me, I know what sad people look like."

Danny smiled, "Trust me... I'm not sad. Not right now, at least. I was just thinking to myself. I was deep in thought."

She nodded, "Maybe you should not go so deep as to forget what your face looks like. You looked really depressed and it was a bit worrying. So what were you thinking about?"

"Michael," Danny said, "Pretty much everything."

She looked down on the ground, a question burning itself inside her, "Are you... You know..."

He looked confused, waiting for her to ask the question. She couldn't do it, it was way too personal and awkward yet if she didn't ask it would eat away inside her and she'd become stressed.

"Are you gay?" she asked, speaking very quickly.

Danny looked shocked, "What? No! Did we not establish this a while ago?"

"No, we established that you and Michael ain't fuck buddies," she corrected him, "You could still be gay."

"I'm not..." Danny said, "I'm not gay. Why do you ask?"

She hesitated, and Danny smiled, "I was just... wondering."

Danny let out a snigger, "I bet you were."

They both sat there, smiling. It took off some of the stress and the tension that filled the room. But it wasn't going to be long before all of that would come back with a vengeance.

'''"Why can't I just use the internet?" Danny asked, he and his dad standing over the kitchen table, a map laying on it.'''

'''"What if you lose connection?" Bob asked sarcastically, "You need to know how to get there and back as safely as possible. Now just listen to me and you'll be fine."'''

'''"It's always like that, ain't it?" Danny whispered under his breath. His father noticed this, but instead of doing the usual old arguing, he decided to just sigh and get back to business. He looked at the map, while Marie stared at them, hoping that they wouldn't fight.'''

'''"Where is she, by the way?" Danny asked.'''

"She's upstairs rehearsing," Marie replied, "I think."

Danny smiled, "You know, you'd think since she's the favourite child that you'd know where she is. I was just testing you, seeing if you look after your kid anymore."

"If we didn't have to look after you we could pay more attention to her," Bob snapped, "So just shut up and concentrate."

'''Danny sighed and looked at the map. He didn't know why he was so angry, but he had noticed that in the past two months, his parents hadn't been paying attention to their daughter. At the dinner table, they'd ask her questions, try to prove how perfect she is just to rub it in Danny's face. But they wouldn't listen, they just wanted to get a message across to Danny.'''

'''Jane was upset by this, her entire life she had been the centre of attention. But she always tried to get them to notice Danny, try to help him get on their good side. But now, Danny was finally redeeming himself, and they were ignoring her more than they'd ignore him.'''

"So what can you do?" Peter asked, sitting on a kitchen chair that he brought in to the living room to sit across from Dom. Dom was still sitting on the couch, doing absolutely nothing.

Dom didn't answer him, he just stared at Peter, who surprisingly, showed no fear.

"I mean..." Peter continued, "What part of the lore is true?"

"Garlic don't work..." Dom piped up, "But stakes do. Wood burns us. Sun burns us. Holy water... haven't experienced that yet. I can't fly, I ain't a bat. We can flit."

"Flit?" Peter asked.

"It's a term for running fast," Dom explained, "We could go up to... maybe two-hundred miles an hour. We can do other shit too but I ain't explaining everything."

"Why do you trust us with this information?" Peter asked, "You just told us some of your weaknesses. In my opinion, that wasn't smart."

Dom sat up, smiling, "You can't kill me. You can't even touch me."

"What else can you do?" Peter asked.

"You're very annoying, old man," Dom snapped, "Can't you just shut your mouth and fuck off?"

Peter kept a straight face, "Excuse me for being curious. This may be the last chance I get to find out everything about you guys. And what if I may need it. I mean, there's that other guy out there that doesn't seem to like you. What if I need protection against him? And what about when I'm a vampire... because you seem so sure that that's gonna happen. Won't I need to know everything then? Might as well lay it all on me right now."

Dom leant back, relaxing, "You're smart... I'll give you that. You ever experience weird dreams?"

"Every now and then, why?" Peter asked, not knowing where this was going.

"No... no, no, no," Dom interrupted, "I mean while you were here. While you were in this place. I've been here for years... You've been here days. I experience dreams all the time. They all have messages, meanings. What did you dream of last night?"

"There was a child..." Peter muttered, "I child from my childhood."

"It was scary, right?" Dom asked.

Peter looked frightened, uncertain. He just nodded, sitting down quietly, not wanting to tell him what had happened.

"I can control other people's dreams," Dom said, "I can see a little of what they're dreaming of, then I can get in their head and make them dream of whatever. Last night I messed with Danny, but there was a little girl. The only thing I added to the dream was blood and a bite mark. She was shouting at him, telling him that he killed her. You think... that you can't trust me? Everyone around you has a past. We all have our demons... Even you."

Dom smiled, knowing that he was messing with Peter's head.

"Also," Dom continued, "I can control people's minds. I can make them do or think anything I want them to. That, old man, is my most important... power."

Peter felt anxious, knowing that Dom could do this made him feel uneasy. What if Dom had already messed with their heads? Why did he not just make them all stay quiet and willingly become vampires? But Peter had more questions, more myths that ate at him.

"Did you have to be invited into this house?" Peter asked.

"Nobody lives here," Dom said, "You realise that we aren't on earth right now... right? Whatever this place is, it's away from everything. Everyone who's here, they all have a meaning to be here. We're all heading towards something, and until then, I'm gonna have some fun."

"How long shall it take Michael to have the ability to control himself?" Peter asked.

"Could take days... years," Dom explained, "Depends on how strong his emotions are. His eyes will be red... until he reaches a certain point when he can control the colour."

Dom's eyes slowly faded from white to red, the sclera turning into a deep shade of red. It was frightening, making him look more like a monster. Before, he looked human, now he was just... different.

"Interesting..." Peter sighed, "But... there's one thing that I can't understand. If you've been here for years, and there are only certain people that are here... how can you survive?"

"Animals," Dom replied, "And, luckily we get the occasional person. There are a lot of vampires in the lair, a lot of mouths to feed. Animals just respawn, as do the people. But there are other supernatural beings out there. You're in for a treat when you meet them."

Holly and Danny sat quietly in the corner, talking to each other. They listened every now and again to Dom and Peter, but stayed out of the conversation. But now, Danny had a question.

"How does Michael complete his transformation?" Danny asked, as Peter and Dom looked over at him.

Dom smiled, knowing that Danny was very curious about him, "The usual way. Human blood. He has to drain somebody... fully. He can't complete the transformation with animal blood. After the first human, he can drink what he wants. Except for zombies, and the other things."

"What the fuck happens if he doesn't drink human blood?" Danny asked.

'''They were finally in New Orleans. Another hour away from the hotel but they were almost there. Danny looked at the passenger seat, seeing his sister sitting there quietly.'''

'''She was a very quiet girl, never bothered anyone. Whenever he asked her if she wanted something to eat or drink, she'd say no. But he'd get her something anyway, knowing that she was just too polite to ask for anything.'''

'''But the car was too silent, even with the radio turned on. He just needed to start a conversation, then things wouldn't be boring.'''

'''"So... What's this recital thing?" Danny asked, he already knew the answer, but just decided to ask.'''

'''"It's just another one..." Jane said quietly, her sweet little voice barely being heard over the radio. Danny turned it down just as she continued, "The same as the last ones."'''

'''"Do you even like it?" Danny asked. He started to feel anxious for some reason, and noticed a gas station up ahead.'''

"Not really," she said, "It got boring last year. I was going to quit a few weeks ago, but it's the only thing that can get mom and dad to talk to me."

Danny sighed, wiping a drop of sweat off of his forehead, "You know they love you, right? It's just with all of the stuff I've done... They're just stressed. Don't worry, this is almost over. They'll be back to normal soon, okay?"

'''Danny pulled into the gas station. It was night time, but the streets were full of cars.'''

'''"Why did you do it, Danny?" she asked, looking really upset.'''

'''"Do what?" he asked.'''

She looked at him weirdly, "Why did you take drugs? Why did you make them? You know they're bad for you. You could've died! You were gonna leave me!"

'''She began crying, this was obviously affecting her hard. It wasn't something Danny had thought about. He did use drugs to escape his family, but he never wanted to leave his sister. He loved her more than anything, and to have her think that he didn't care about her hurt him so much.'''

"Hey... look at me," he said, as she raised her head up to him, "I'm never going to leave you. No matter what. What I did was stupid. And it makes me feel very safe to know that you know it was stupid. I promise that this will never happen again. Okay?"

She nodded, not saying anything.

"Hey," he said, resting his hand on her shoulder, "You okay?"

She nodded again, "Yeah. I'm sorry."

'''He let out a little laugh, pulling her in for a hug, "You have nothing to be sorry about, okay? You want anything from the store?" '''

She shook her head as they broke the hug.

He smiled, knowing that he'd end up getting her something anyway.

'''When he exited the car, he started filling up the car with gas. He began to check his pockets. Suddenly, he began to panic, realising her forgot his drugs. He couldn't last the weekend without them. He didn't want to disappoint his sister, maybe they could go back tonight and leave early in the morning.'''

'''But he needed them no matter what. He pulled out the pump, and jumped in the car. He didn't remember to pay for the gas, but quickly drove onto the road.'''

'''"What's wrong?" she asked, confused about the expression on Danny's face.'''

"Mom and Dad called us back," Danny lied, "We forgot money for gas so we have to leave tomorrow morning instead."

She didn't complain, "That's okay."

'''Danny usually appreciated that, she never complained about anything. But he was beginning to feel faint. It wasn't anything to do with withdrawal, it was more the fact he didn't think he had anything back at the house. '''

'''He was getting worried, stressed, anxious. He couldn't handle it. It took over, absorbing his body, taking control of his body. Before he could fight, before he could get himself back... He was gone.'''

'''Sixty miles an hour, straight through a red light. T-boned at the left side, the passenger side. It hit his sister, knocking her out in an instant. Danny was already gone.'''

'''The view of the crash was horrifying, it flipping seven times before landing on its roof. The car was busted, Danny and his sister inside it with their eyes closed. The people around them didn't know if they were dead or unconscious, but there was no way that they would be okay.'''

Michael stood in the small, solitary confinement type of room. It was dark, cold and scary. His scleras went back to white, but he was unbelievably pale.

He didn't know what to do, so he started banging on the door.

"HELP!" he shouted, "LET ME OUT OF HERE!"

He screamed as loud as he could, almost killing himself in the process. He remembered dying, and put his hand to his back. He felt the blood on his shirt. He lifted up his shirt, feeling his back. There was no wound. Whatever was there, it was gone now.

Suddenly, the door burst open. It flew open so hard that it blew Michael back. He didn't have time to feel anything, emotionally at least.

A girl was thrown in, Michael wasn't able to see whoever was outside. She fell onto the floor, crying her eyes out. The man that threw her in was looking at Michael.

"You gotta drain her blood," the man snapped, "Drain her fully, bite her neck and drink. Trust me, you'd want to do it quickly."

The man slammed the door shut, leaving Michael inside the dark, cold room with the crying girl. He didn't know what they meant, but he remembered drinking the other man's blood. Slowly, he began to realise what was going on.

Dom looked at Danny, who was waiting for an answer.

"If he doesn't drink their blood," Dom said, "If he doesn't drain their body... He's dead."

  Previous Issue: Issue 7|Next Issue: Issue 9

Credits

 * Danny Miller
 * Peter Singer
 * Holly Anderson
 * Dominic Halpert
 * Michael Gunn
 * Bob Miller
 * Marie Miller
 * Jane Miller

Deaths
None

Title Meaning
"The Plot Thickens" means a situation that has gotten way more serious or interesting due to recent complexities or developments. This could be used for Danny's story, in which he lied to his family about stopping drugs, to have it come back to him in the end and causing him to crash. This could also be used for Michael, in which he now realises that he's becoming a vampire.

Trivia

 * I am not sponsored by Burger King.
 * I really wish I was :(
 * Dom explains a lot about vampires in this issue.
 * He says that they can control dreams and control people's minds to make them do what they want. They also have to drink human blood so that they can complete their transition or else they'd die. They can also control the colours of their eyes. Michael's eyes will become red if he completes his transition.
 * Peter mentions something about a boy in his childhood, and that he was dreaming about the boy the night before.
 * We learn that there are other supernatural beings in the world.
 * Flit, or flitting, is a term used for running fast. Something that only vampires can do.