You're in Vampire Country, Now

Fuck… I woke up with the worst headache I had ever had. It was about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, too god damned early. I sighed and stared at the ceiling. What had I become? A cynical, neurotic, horror story? A man trapped in a boy’s body with a death wish? Homicidal? All of the above?

I spent most of my time thinking about who I used to be. The dorky kid who had two of the best friends ever, Mikey and Chloe.Even Chloe's brother had been a friend of mine. I was proud to say that Mikey wasn’t just a friend, but my brother too. And he was the best brother a guy could have.

I was always the kid that would go out into the woods and paint, or draw with Chloe, or play games with Mikey. I used to stop and take time to enjoy the scenery; I used to actually enjoy life.

I stood up shakily and stumbled over to the bathroom. My bathroom was white with dark green and white tiles on the floor, dark green shower curtains, marble sinks, and an enormous mirror. I turned on the faucet on, without opening my eyes, and splashed some scalding hot water in my face. I opened my eyes. My face went from no expression to a dark and deep hatred that seemed to emanate from inside of me. I stared at the horrible and disfigured demon that was in front of me. It was my reflection. It was the same thing every day. I was pale, paler than I had ever been, and I was thin. Too thin. Rake thin. My eyes had dark circles around them and my face drooped from lack of sleep and among other things. I hated it. I hated looking at myself; I hated my greasy black hair, my raccoon eyes, and my ghost-like stature. I hated my eyes, and my nose, and my ears. I hated the way that my lips formed a permanent frown even when I tried to smile. I hated the way that I hated myself.

I yawned and walked out into the cellar. I wasn’t really sure why I had chosen to be down there, I guess I just liked it. It was far away from the rest of the household, and it was nice and dark. I walked over to where Chloe and I kept our Pet bat. “Morning, Sid.” I said, patting him on the head, and dropping a bug into his mouth. He screeched and jumped onto my shoulder. “It looks like you’re the only one who loves me now.” I whispered.

Chloe and I caught Sid a long time ago, when we were about sixteen, before the shit hit the fan. We had decided to travel to one of the old castles around our village, though Mikey stayed home because he was terrified to go to the old castle, and while we were sneaking around Sid flew right onto my shoulder. I smiled at the memory, and at the fact that Sid still does that, and how it scared the shit out of me the first couple of times. We really hadn’t named him until Tater came along, and wanted to call him Sid. ‘Till then we had been calling him Vampy, and we agreed that Sid was a much more interesting name.

Part of me wanted to go back to sleep, which I knew that I couldn’t do without drinking first. But another part of me wanted to go see Chloe. I wanted to talk to her. Sid hopped up on my shoulder and I quietly walked up the stairs and out into the hallway. I cursed her for living on the third floor.

I knew she would be pissed at me for waking her up this early. But I didn’t care. I had to talk to her. I walked up 3 more flights of stairs and down 2 more hallways until I finally made it up to her room. I went right in.

Chloe’s P.O.V.

“Gerard! Gerard!” I screamed, running like hell towards Gerard and Mikey. I crashed into his arms and buried my face into his chest, crying. It was one of the few times I had ever cried. Gerard held onto me, and I heard the man coming nearer and nearer too us. The man had seemed to be an Aristocrat of the Southern Aristocracy, but he wasn’t like any man I had ever encountered. In the woods he had said to me, “Hello, angel, you are mine now.” Then he tried to grab me, but I ran as fast as I could.

There we were, shaking and afraid, at the mercy of this…this, man. He spoke with a deep voice that seemed to shake the earth. Gerard, who almost never got scared, was shaking and whimpering. Mikey, who always was afraid, dashed behind Gerard and I and started bawling. Poor boy…he was only five.

The man touched my forehead and a deep growling sound that Gerard was making vibrated against the side of my head.

“You are my property now. Remember that.” I heard the man’s footsteps as he walked away. If we were his, then why was he leaving us? Slowly, I raised my head and tried to step forward, but Gerard tightened his arms around me. I looked up and Gerard shook his head, tears flowing down his face. He looked angry.

“No…” He whispered, “Wait until it’s safe…I’m not going to lose you…”

“Chloe!” Someone whispered, shaking me gently. “Wake up.” Slowly I opened my eyes to see a figure sitting next to me on my bed. I froze. “It’s Gerard.” The figure said, and I relaxed.

“Gerard? What are you doing up here?” I mumbled, lying back down. I looked at my clock. 3 in the afternoon? Why the fuck… I heard him sigh.

“I had to talk to you. I don’t know why…I just did. W-when…when you said that you wanted me to be okay…what exactly did you mean by that?” He was nervous, I could tell by the way his eyes were huge and frantically looking around the room, and how he picked at his fingernails. I looked up at him. Our eyes met. It was the first time I had realized how much his eyes had changed over the years. They were still beautiful, hazel, and deep, but they weren’t as bright as they used to be. It was almost like part of him had died…

“I meant…I meant that I’m sick of seeing you destroy yourself…I know how you get to sleep…I know what you feel when you see your brother. Don’t think that I can’t see the hatred in your eyes, in your looks, in your face. I see it in the way you walk and talk. You don’t draw anymore…everything you used to love, you no longer acknowledge…” I thought for a moment, “I miss you, Gerard.” His eyes widened slightly. He didn’t know that I cared about him. He didn’t think anyone could ever care about him again. I heard something chirp, and smiled when I realized it was Sid. I picked him up off of Gerard’s shoulder, and kissed him on the nose. He was so adorable. I looked back up at Gerard who was still stunned, and I said to him, “Do you remember when we were Six years old, and we were on that cliff? Remember when you refused to let me go, even after the man had left? Well, I refuse to let you go Gerard…I refuse to lose you.” He stared at me. Next thing I knew his face was inches from mine. Someone knocked at the door. My heart was racing as I jumped up to get it. It was Frank.

“Hey, C-Chloe I can’t sleep…can I stay in here for a-” He looked over and saw Gerard, who was still in the same position he was seconds before. “Actually, I better-”

“No, Frank, I was just leaving.” Gerard said, getting up and walking out of the room. Frank looked at me.

“Was I…interrupting something?” He asked. I shook my head. “Oh…well if you don’t mind, could I stay with you for a while…I really, really can’t sleep…and my face hurts…” He laughed softly, “Is that okay?” He smiled huge. I laughed.

“Yeah, Frankie, its fine.” Frank must have been the only person I had ever known that could smile after being smacked around. Frank really was something.

But I wondered…what would have happened if Frank hadn’t knocked on the door?