The My Chemical Chronicles - King of the Damned

Gerard sat perched on the edge of a park bench, agitated with himself for running from his fans.

He owed them so much; he knew he should've stayed, signed some autographs, something of the like..

But his anxiety had drawn him away. He knew there was no time for such things tonight.

Leaning back slightly, his eyes rested sub-consciously on a lone tree; Gerard let out a sigh. How was he going to find again that mysterious stranger?

Yet, he somehow wasn't worried. She had said she would see him again soon - and, bizarrely considering Gerard had just met her, he seemed to trust her word.

So, he didn't worry. He simply sat. Not knowing where to go, not knowing what to do - Gerard remained on the park bench as the hours passed by.

He was sure how long it had been before he was interrupted.

Gerard couldn't describe the sound - a giggle somehow made it seem too childish, a chuckle too jovial.

"We meet again," said a female voice softly, coming from behind him.

Gerard stayed still; he wasn't frozen in place, he could have easily turned, yet he felt more at ease to simply lean back against the wooden back of the bench.

The girl slowly walked into his line of view - his eyes followed her as she sat to his right on the bench, not too close, not too far away. He shuffled slightly, not knowing what to do now she was here.

Yet again, he felt no immediate reaction - no sudden burst of rage, or sadness, or any other feeling, for that matter; more an inquisitive curiosity to find out more about his maker.

A few minutes later, the girl spoke.

"When have you last fed?" she peered around into Gerard's face, apparently checking the paleness of his skin.

"Quite recently," replied Gerard, slightly taken aback - he had expected a more dramatic statement, for some reason.

The girl inclined her head before speaking again, giving a small sigh beforehand.

"First and foremost; I owe you an apology," the girl said, looking directly into Gerard's eyes - he wished she wouldn't, her emerald eyes were distracting, to say the least.

"..I shouldn't have made you a vampire," she continued, putting it rather bluntly.

Gerard considered his reply. There seemed to be no other way to put it.

"Why?" he said simply, as she dropped her gaze.

"It's a long story.." she replied quietly, looking down at the grass, up at the sky; anywhere but at Gerard.

He could sense her guilt, her uneasiness to tell him how it had happened. He was about to speak again before she interrupted.

"I shouldn't've left you on your own, either," she said firmly on another train of thought, wanting to leave the reason he had made him what he was as a conversation for another time.

Gerard sensed this, and decided to go along with the new topic; after all, what was the rush? He did, indeed, have all of eternity to find out about his creator and the world of vampires..

He gave a careless shrug.
"I've been ok," he spoke, before realising that was a bare-faced lie.

The girl seemed to see through his lie; her expression had a tinge of sadness now as she continued again.

"It wasn't fair of me, at all," she said, louder than before, seemingly angry with herself.

"Did you have any help?" Gerard enquired, "I mean, when you were first created?"

Her eyes glittered for a moment with a new emotion; fury? Pain? Gerard couldn't tell.

"No," she said, "the one who made me.."

Gerard waited; it seemed as though she would continue, before she quietly cleared her thoat and turned back to Gerard.

"Your friend," she stated.

"My friend?" said a slightly confused Gerard, before he remembered; of course, she had seen his incident with Frank.

"He's..fine," Gerard lied.

He looked up, quite alarmed to see the girl's eyes glittering again - but this time, the emotion was clearly sadness.

"I'm sorry," she spoke barely above a whisper. "Your band..your fans..your friends and family.."

"What about them?" Gerard asked sharply.

"There's nothing I can do.." she carried on, her voice fading.

Gerard knew what she meant. He had lost Frank. It was only a matter of time before he lost everyone else he held dear to him.

He looked down at the ground, a tremendous feeling of pain and loss filling his insides as he thought of those he so feared to lose.

With an effort, he looked at the girl now staring downwards, fighting down fury as he restrained himself from hitting her.

She had ruined his life, his career, possibly all of the other 4 members of My Chemical Romance's careers..

"I know you're angry with me," she spoke suddenly.

Understatement indeed, Gerard thought inwardly.

"It's only natural, I'd be worried if you weren't, actually," her voice quickening as she hurried to get out the words.

"How would you know?" Gerard growled aggresively.

"How do you think?" she replied softly with a slight frostiness to her tone.

Gerard looked at her again; their eyes met before they both averted their gaze.

She had lost everyone, too, Gerard thought. Was this the life for a vampire? To live in solitude? To not hold anyone dear to you ever again?

Like when she had when she had first came earlier in the night, she was again looking at Gerard with concern, perhaps a little more fearful of his anger this time.

But his anger was evaporating gradually as he realised she had gone through the same experiences.
But it still left the question unanswered as to why she had chosen to create him.

He was about to again embark upon this topic when she spoke again, looking at him as she did so.

"You know how to feed properly?" she asked, "and how to properly dispose of the bodies?"

How carefree she had spoken about murdering, Gerard thought to himself. It was as if she held an innocence that had not been plagued by turning into a vampire. Gerard had thought this was an impossibility; then again, he had thought many things were impossibilities not too long ago.

He realised he had not responded to her question, so gave a short nod, unwilling to talk on the subject.

"You have done well to figure out the system of surviving on your own," the girl smiled, with what she considered a compliment; Gerard took it more as a disturbing confirmation of his rapidly disappearing humanity.

"You have a place to sleep?"
"You make sure others do not see you feeding?"
"You are careful not to arouse suspicion?"

The questions went on, Gerard nodding along with her words, before she was eventually satisfied.

After a while, the girl stood up, tucking a strand of silvery hair behind her ear as she did so.

Gerard followed her actions with his eyes, standing up slowly as she turned to go.

"We'll meet again - soon," she said, staring into his eyes again as Gerard blinked a few times.

He nodded, unwilling to let her go again with his questions unanswered, but confident she would return again, soon, on her word.

She turned to leave, taking a few steps before pausing and half turning round.

"Oh," she said with a small smile, "I didn't tell you my name yet, did I?"

Gerard looked up again.

"Laila," she called, before turning once again and walking away, tucking her hands into her black jacket pockets against the cold.