Without a Sound

(Mikey’s P.O.V.)

I closed the door softly behind me, knowing Charlotte was already asleep. I was actually tired too, but I wasn’t going to sleep for long. I needed to go see Gerard.

I stared down the hallway like I always did. Part of me was always pulled towards that room – the third one on the right. But most of me wanted to avoid that room at all costs. Going in there would be like yanking stitched out of an unhealed wound and rubbing sand in it.

I entered my own room, dragging my feet. Taking care of Charlotte was exhausting. As if I didn’t have enough to do already. I sighed and started stripping down to my boxers. The sad part was that I really didn’t have enough to do. In fact, I’d pretty much been wallowing away in my house for years now.

I climbed into the side of my bed I always slept on. After reaching over to my nightstand and setting my alarm for noon, I tried to go to sleep. But no matter how tired I was, I could never fall asleep right away. My stupid mind always got to me first.

The usual emptiness overcame me, spreading from my chest all the way to the tips of my fingers and toes. I was only too aware of the silence in the room, how cold and empty the bed was, and how there was nobody there but me. Next came the guilt, which – in my opinion – was much worse than the emptiness. To top it all off came the recognition that it was all my fault. After my own personal torture that I endured every time I went to bed, I fell asleep.

A blood-curdling scream comes from the room next to mine. I shoot out of bed and head towards the door. A woman in the bed next to me asks, “Mikey, what was that?”

I rush to the room where the scream came from. A little girl whom I do not recognize is lying, pale and motionless, on the floor. Standing over her wis a man with red liquid running down his chin.

I am so scared I can’t move. At first I think he is going to kill me too, but after biting me hard and chuckling evilly, he jumps out the broken window, leaving me there. I fall to the floor, writhing in agony, my neck burning.

Then all I can think of is a never-ending, ravishing, enchanting thirst for blood. Any kind of blood.

Thank God my alarm woke me up. I was hot and sweaty from the reoccurring nightmare that I had every time I closed my eyes.

I got up and looked at my tear-stained face in the mirror. I hated myself. I despised how pathetic I was and detested everything I had ever done. In my eyes, I was worthless. I was below dirt. Yet I lived on.

I wiped my eyes, put on a brave face, and got dressed. I would face whatever happened next, face yet another day. I would live on in loneliness, only because I didn’t deserve to die.

I thought of Charlotte and smiled a little bit. She actually gave me a reason to get out of bed. I thought of how delicate she was, just like a newborn baby. She was as innocent and easily disturbed as a child. But she wasn’t a baby or a child. She was a woman.

I thought about her as I drove to Gerard’s house. She was so skinny that it broke my heart. Well, more then it was already broken. I couldn’t understand how someone could have been cruel enough to lock her in the mausoleum after changing her into a vampire. Even so, I was glad I found her. I think I needed her as much as she needed me.

When I got out of my car, a little boy’s voice cried, “Uncle Mikey! Look Mom and Dad! Uncle Mikey’s here!”

Adam, my six-year-old nephew, came running out of the front door. He was beaming, and he was running so fast that he almost tripped.

“Adam!” I exclaimed when he jumped into my arms. “Long time no see, kid. How’s it going?” When I set him down, I did my best to put a fake smile on my face. I loved Adam, but it caused me pain to see him.

“Nothing,” was his reply, and I followed him into the house.

Gerard and Celia were waiting just inside the front door. “Hi, Mikey,” Celia said, smiling warmly. Then she turned to Adam. “Okay, we let you stay up to see Uncle Mikey. Time to go to bed.”

Adam frowned, but he didn’t argue. After waving to me, he trudged up the stairs. They were raising the kid well.

You really should come and visit more often,” Celia told me. She and Gerard led me to the family room, where we all sat down on the couches.

“I was busy this week,” I muttered.

“Mikey…” Gerard started. “You haven’t been over in six months.”

I met his eyes. Gerard knew I was depressed. They both did. They felt bad for me. “I really am sorry about that. I lose track of time,” I admitted truthfully.

Gerard grimaced, but he nodded. “It’s okay, I guess. I just wish you’d make an effort not to lose track of time. You could even just call me. You’re my brother, and I haven’t talked to you in six months.”

“What’s six months when you’re immortal?” I retorted. The truth was that I couldn’t stand to be here or even hear Gerard tell me about it, even though I would never tell him that. Gerard was just too happy. He had everything, and my definition of everything was a family: a wife who loved you and a kid or two. I, on the other hand, had nothing.

“It’s six months no matter how long you live,” Celia replied, making me feel guilty. They were right, of course.

Gerard suddenly looked curious, and stared hard at my face. When he turned on another light, he and Celia both gasped. “Mikey, what happened to you?” he asked.

I sighed impatiently. “A lot happened to me. What are you referring to?”

“Did you recently get into a fight with a vampire?” Celia asked in a surprised tone.

Oh, right. That was probably what it looked like, what with all the scars on my face, neck, and arms from where Charlotte had bitten me. I grimaced and replied indignantly, “Of course not. I didn’t bite her back.”

Looking confused, Gerard asked, “What are you talking about?”

I took a deep breath, knowing I had some explaining to do. “I found a girl–” I started.

Gerard and Celia exchanged a hopeful look.

“No, it’s not like that,” I assured them “I didn’t find a girlfriend. I found a girl… in the cemetery.”

Celia glanced at Gerard, looking concerned. “Oh, that’s just great, Gerard,” she said. “Your brother took a dead girl home.”