So, this is an idea I've had for awhile. Thanks for reading. Warnings for creepy, possessive Peter and later violence. Rating may go up.

X

Charley resisted the urge to sigh a he leaned back in his seat in the small, hot car. He couldn't believe he was actually doing this.

He had had such high hopes for the weekend, too. Mark's parents were out of town, and he was throwing a party in celebration. His beautiful girlfriend, Amy, had already planned for them to be there Saturday night, and then they could spend all day Sunday together. They were beginning to get really serious, and she had been strongly hinting that she wanted sex.

To make things even better, his mom had gotten herself a new boyfriend at work, and she was usually gone on the weekends. Of course, she worried about leaving him alone so much, but he very firmly assured her that he could look after himself.

Unfortunately for him, all those plans were ruined in the form of his once close friend, Ed. He had not spoken much to Ed and their friend Adam ever since he started dating Amy and began hanging out with her friends. Ed had not taken the sudden "abandonment", as he put it. He was always bothering Charley at school and his home, talking about the "good old days" and how Charley had become a douchebag.

"Come on, Charley, just talk to me!" Ed demanded as Charley put his books in his locker. It was Friday afternoon, and school had just ended. Mark and Ben had already left to prepare for the party, and Amy had to leave early for a dentist appointment, so at least no one was here to make fun of him and his predicament.

He sighed and slammed his locker shut. "What do you want, Ed?"

"What I want is for you to stop being such an ass and pay attention to your friends!" Ed cried. "You haven't even talked to Adam recently, have you?"

Charley looked away so Ed couldn't see the guilt in his eyes. Everyone knew that Adam's parents had died in a car crash last month. He had been absent from school until recently to have time to mourn. Charley didn't even know who he was living with now.

"No, I haven't," he admitted. "So what do you want me to do? You said yourself we haven't talked in over a month. Do you really think he wants to talk to me?"

Ed gave him a dirty look. "Lucky for you, he's been to busy to notice you've abandoned us." Charley resisted an eye roll at that. "But he-I-we miss you, man. And even though I still think you need a good slap up the head, I want to invite us to come with us this weekend."

"Where are you guys going?" he asked. He figured it would just be rude to mention that he already had plans.

Ed's face lit up. Charley recognized the expression. It was the one they all had when they were discussing or watching something particularly geeky. "You won't believe this," Ed gushed. "We got tickets to see Peter Vincent!"

"Peter Vincent?" he repeated dumbly. "You mean the vampire guy?"

"Yes, the vampire guy," Ed said with exasperation. "I got Adam the tickets to cheer him up. It'll be fun, just the three of us again."

"I don't know Ed," Charley said slowly. "I've already made plans for the weekend."

"Oh, you mean that stupid party Mark's throwing?" Ed guessed. "So getting drunk and fucking your girlfriend is more important than Adam? Come on, man, he needs you. There are going be a hundred more parties that you can get fucked at."

He was going to protest, planning on explaining how he had to impress his new friends and not disappoint Amy. But something in him just couldn't let him deny his friend. Deep down, he knew that his presence would help Adam. The kid always was a bit dependent on his friends.

"Fine," he sighed. "I'll come."

And that was how he ended up in the backseat of Ed's mom's blue Toyota. Adam and Ed were busy in the front, fanboying over Peter freakin' Vincent. Charley had to do research on the guy the night before. He was some stupid stage illusionist, who's show had a vampire theme. He was really starting to become glad he had stopped hanging out with Ed and Adam. He was never a big fan of all that vampire crap. The only good part of this was that Amy had a few complications with her gums, so she would also be missing the party. She was also on some heavy pain medication, so he doubted she would even notice he was out of town.

"We're almost there, guys!" Adam announced cheerfully. He turned to face Charley. "Excited for the show, Charley?"

He had been staring out the window, so he jumped when Adam addressed him. "Uh, yeah. Who wouldn't be?" Someone like him, Charley thought, who wasn't old enough for gambling or drinking. Of all the things they could be doing on the Strip..."So, what time does the show start?"

"It begins at ten," Ed informed him "but we should probably get there an hourly early to avoid the rush. His shows are usually sold out."

Charley glanced at his watch. They had just passed a sign saying that Vegas was only twenty minutes away, so they would be there around six o'clock. So that would give them a few hours to find a hotel, get some food, and maybe do some sightseeing. He smiled and relaxed a bit. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

When they finally reached strip, they all let out a loud whoop. Sure, they couldn't do anything fun besides the show, buy hey, it was still pretty awesome. The sight of all the large buildings and lights was thrilling. They drove around until they found a Super 8 they could check into. As soon as they got into the room, Charley and Ed collapsed onto the beds, tired from the drive. Adam, however, was excitedly pacing the floor.

"Ugh, we still got a few hours to go," he whined.

"Let's get some food," Charley suggested. "I'm freaking starving."

"I can only afford McDonald's or something," Ed stated. "Me and Adam spent all our money on these tickets."

"Sounds good," Charley said. "I don't mind eating newspaper."

They all laughed at his small joke and headed out. After eating, they decided to do some exploring around the city. They stayed close to the hotel where the show was going to be, of course. Charley forgot about his earlier resentment of coming here. He always had a lot of fun with his fiends. And coming to see a Vegas attraction by themselves was always a dream of theirs. A small part of him knew that once they were back home, he would start avoiding them again, but he just let himself enjoy their company for now.

They stopped to rest on a large bench near Peter Vincent's hotel.

"What I wouldn't give to be able to hit the slots," Charley moaned.

"Yeah, I'm sure Amy would like you a lot more if you were rich," Ed said, a hint of malice in his tone. "Give her another reason to stick around."

"The fuck's that supposed to mean?" Charley demanded. He sat up straighter and glared at his old friend.

"Oh, come on, man! Everyone knows what Amy is like," Ed stated. "She'll move on from you in a month, I guarantee it."

"Shut the hell up, Ed!" Charley snapped. "You don't know shit about her!" He leaped up from the bench and started walking away from his company.

"Charley, where are you going?" he heard Adam call.

He felt a bit of guilt as he heard Adam's voice. The only reason he came was to cheer him up, after all. "The show starts in an hour. I'll meet you there," he called before he stormed off in some random direction. He understood that Ed was still bitter at him, but that didn't mean that he could talk shit about his girlfriend.

Making sure he was still in the same general area, he aimlessly wandered around. It was hard not to bump into people and take in the sights at the same time. Now that he was on his own, he found himself wishing harder than ever that he was at Mark's party. Even without Amy, it would have been awesome. Mark's older brother always bought him plenty of booze when their parents were gone (or so the rumor went). He could be getting sloshed right now instead of being forced to see some stupid vampire show.

He wasn't too surprised when he ended up crashing into somebody head on.

"Oi! Watch it!" an annoyed - and surprisingly British – voice called out.

"Oh, I'm sorry-" he stammered. He planned to keep walking on, but a strong hand gripped his chin. His face was held still so his assailant could get a better look at him. He found himself staring at a man with messy brown hair and brown eyes that were boring into his. The man looked like he was in at least his thirties, and his skin was extremely pale. His clothing was all black and he had a few rings on his fingers. After a moment, a sly smile came over his face. He moved his grip from Charley's chin to his arm. He turned and dragged the teenager with him to a less occupied place.

"Hey, let go!" Charley protested. As hard as he tried, he couldn't free himself from the stranger's strong grip. It only seemed a matter of moments before he was dragged into an alleyway. The strange man quickly had him pinned up against the wall.

"Hello, there," the man purred. "What's your name?"

"Get off me, you freak!" Charley cried as he tried to squirm away.

"That's an odd name," the man laughed. But he loosened his grip on the teen. Not enough for him to get away, but it did make Charley a bit more comfortable. "Alright, maybe I came off a bit strong. I couldn't help it. When I see someone as beautiful as you, I just have to get them alone."

"Fuckin' creep," Charley snarled. "Let. Me. Go!"

"Ooh, a feisty one," the man said with a very suggestive look. "Tell you what, you tell me your name and I'll let you off the wall."

Charley didn't want to bargain with this creep, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to get out of his grip. "My...my name is Charley," he admitted. "Now get off!"

The man smiled tauntingly and backed off some. Charley immediately tried to run out of the alley, but the man grabbed both his wrists and held them over his head.

"Hey, you said you'd let me go!" Charley yelled.

"I said that I'd let you off the wall, not that I'd let you go," the man said playfully. He was standing way too close for Charley's taste. "So, Charley, you look awfully young to be in Vegas. Are you even legal?"

"What's it to you?" Charley demanded. It would be just his luck to be held hostage by some perverted weirdo in a strange town.

The man leaned forward until their foreheads were touching. Looking the nervous teen square in the eyes, he murmured "Tell me."

"I came here with my friends. We came to see some stupid show. And I'm eighteen," Charley immediately found himself saying. Why the hell did he tell this creep that?

"What show?" the man whispered, as if they were sharing some intimate secret.

"Uh, I think it was called Fright Night," Charley answered.

"Really, now?" the man said, his eyes lighting up with amusement. "Into the whole vampire scene, huh?"

"Not really. They blackmailed me," Charley said.

The man laughed and released him. "Well, I'm sure you'll have a good time, anyway," the man promised. "Run along now, or you'll be late."

Charley didn't have to be told twice. He quickly made his way out of the alley, trying to drown out the strange man's laughter.