What You Deserve

That night, it took a lot to get asleep. I was thinking about their deaths. By what I'd heard, Ray had been the one to start the curse on the vampires. Who would have thought?

I shifted, scooting a little closer to Frank's side, ignoring the cold air around him, hearing him grumble something, shift, and return to silence. It took a few more minutes, but I managed to fall into a fitful sleep.

There, Jamia stood in front of me. She didn't look as pale as her vampire lover, or ill in any form. "Hello, again," she chimed. I only nodded, "so you told Frank about us?" once again, I nodded. I didn't really have a voice to speak, it felt. "You seem so positive that we aren't just your imagination."

"Are you?" I squeaked the question.

She merely shrugged, "I won't disrupt what you think. After all, who would I be to call you sane or crazy?" she smiled. "You've got... importance to us. You're open-minded enough to listen."

I didn't really understand what she was saying, but I thought, since I was dreaming, I may as well just sit and listen. It was better than being chased or attacked in a dream.

"I'd be careful, if I were you," she warned, "she's got her eyes on you."

"Who?" Just as I asked this, it was as if the world was disintegrating. Shadows began to grow over everything again, and Jamia shook her head, backing up as the shadows devoured her. I swore, as the light completely vanished, I could hear something hissing at me.

Like that, I woke up, jerking a little, and looking at Frank, who, in turn, cracked an eye open. "Are you alright?" he mumbled hoarsely, sleep filling his voice.

"Yeah, bad dream," I mumbled, scooting a little closer to him, and he brought an arm around me, and lightly pressed his lips to my forehead. I remembered the thoughts I had when he first did that, which felt so long ago. I thought I'd be terrified if he ever kissed me, but I wasn't. It was comforting.

"Well, you're safe now," he mumbled lowly, before seeming to drift into sleep once again. I, however, didn't manage to sleep any further.

Daybreak came quickly, and a little light filtered through a closed curtain onto the floor. I squirmed my way out from under the vampire's arm, and out the door. It took a few seconds to remember that there was no staircase, and made my way to the kitchen. It was surprising to find only Mikey there, sitting at a decent-sized table, drinking a cup of coffee.

It took me three cupboards to locate the coffee cups, then poured the dark liquid in the cup, and sat down across from the dark haired man.

I decided that now, it would be best to figure out something that was gnawing at me. "Do you hate me?"

Mikey stared at me darkly for a moment, clearing his throat, "No."

"Why does it seem like it, then?" I swished the dark liquid around in the cup, hearing it lapping against the sides of the container.

"Because I don't trust you. You're taking all of this too well. Surely you can't like Frank as much as it looks. You can't accept us all for being fanged creatures. I saw what happened when you saw with Ray and that girl," he growled.

Just as I opened my mouth, Gerard came in, grabbing a cup as he talked, "hey! No fighting this early in the morning. Only in the afternoon, and I better be hyped off this coffee. I don't mean just little jitters, I mean I better be bouncing out of my shoes and running around on the ceiling," he mumbled, pouring the coffee.

Mentally, I thanked this distraction, as Mikey took another drink of his coffee. "Frank's waking up," he informed me dully, as I nodded, and picked up my coffee cup, and walked into his room, locating a small table at my side of the bed, and lightly sat down on the edge.

Just as I did, I felt the bed shift, and the blankets move, before cold arms wrapped around me, equally chilling lips pressed against my cheek for a second, before I heard a, "you should... share your coffee with me..." whispered in my ear. I didn't have a chance to respond, as I soon noticed the coffee cup missing, and turned around to see Frank drinking part of it. "It's hot," he smiled, holding it out for me, "but good. Good coffee, good," he mumbled as I took the coffee.

"Coffee thief," I gave a pouting face, before sticking out my tongue, then taking a drink of my half-missing coffee.

"Would a coffee thief take you shopping?" Frank got up, digging through a small closet at one side of the room.

"Depends, what are you taking me shopping for?" I lifted an eyebrow, swallowing the bitter-tasting drink. Bitter, but very good.

Frank threw a pair of clean jeans out on the bed that seemed a little... small for him, then another, along with two shirts. "The smaller ones are for you to wear."

I nodded, putting down the coffee cup, and grabbed at the shirt and pants, "Shower?" I murmured, reaching for my cup again.

"Down the hallway." he pointed in a direction, and I nodded, putting the cup down again.

"I better come back to see some coffee in that cup," I murmured, making my way out of the room, hearing him shout a, 'no promises!' as I closed the door.

After about a half an hour, I was ready, and made my way back to Frank's room. Sure enough, there was no coffee cup sitting on the table, but Frank was sitting on the bed, staring at me as if analyzing my every move.

Something in my mind finally clicked. As I had been looking in the mirror earlier, I noticed the clothing I was wearing were a bit... feminine for Frank. Of course they were. They were Jamia's. This thought made a shiver slip down my spine, thinking about wearing the deceased woman's clothing. Then again, I looked nothing like Jamia.

Frank hopped up, grabbing onto my hand, "come on!" he smiled, "store!"

"What are you getting me? Where's my coffee?" I pointed out that I had no clue what was going on.

Frank stared at me, "well, I want to get you more clothes, because they're all burnt and you can't wear them anymore unless you want to wear this every day of your life, and your coffee is in my stomach!" he smiled, pulling on my hand as I pouted.

It was good coffee, too!

We made our way out of the house, and down the street. It seemed like there weren't a lot of people outside of their houses. After walking for a short while, we passed a nearly empty playground, where I stopped.

The vampire stared at me curiously, before looking at the playground, "is something wrong?"

"Where are all the children?" I looked around, only spotting three children that appeared to be siblings chasing each other on a small jungle gym, with their mother watching them warily.

"Nobody brings their kids to the playground. It's not really safe," he mumbled, tugging my hand gently, "come on, don't you want to get stuff?" he smiled. I only nodded, watching the children play, before following him further down the sidewalk.

After a short walk, I found myself standing outside a decent sized store, being pulled in. Frank smiled, walking around as I looked at clothing, which amazed me on how patient he was with my deciding. I was extremely picky when it came to clothing. They not only had to be comfortable, but look nice too.

Finally, I found a few pairs of clothes, and checked out. "Is there any place you want to go, Frank?" I questioned, but he shook his head.

"Nah, I can come here any time," he smiled, as we made our way back home.

Once again, I slowed down, looking at the playground, which was now completely empty, and squeezed his hand a little. Frank blinked a few times, before pulling me toward the swing set. I gave him a questioning look, and he merely let go of my hand and sat down on one of the swings. I followed in suit, and rocked back and forth slowly. "Why's it so dangerous?" I questioned, placing the bag with my clothes near the edge of the swing set - which I could barely reach.

"There's a lot of crime in this area," he shrugged, "so everyone who cares about their kids keep them inside or in arm's reach," the man swung forward a little way. It seemed like only a short while passed before he slowed to a stop, getting up, and grabbing onto my hand.

Just then, I realized that it had begun to get dark, and figured he wanted to get home before everyone worried about him, and reached out, grabbing my bag. To my surprise, Frank pulled me close to his side, walking at a fairly fast pace. "Frank?" I squeezed his hand again.

Oddly enough, he remained eerily quiet, a serious look on his chalky face. We had only made our way onto the sidewalk when I heard someone speak.

"Oh, what? You don't want to talk?" a young woman's voice chimed, laced with a darkness that sent chills down my spine.

"Not really," Frank growled, pulling me closer to him as he stopped, turning to the woman.

She was, in few other words, beautiful. Dark hair framed her face, and fell elegantly over her shoulders. Gentle golden-brown eyes scanned over me, as she bit her pale lip. "Oh, what? You have a new victim?" her words dripped like venom, and I felt Frank's grip tighten on my hand.

"No."

"Then... do you mind if I have her?" the woman tilted her head, causing her hair to gently flow over her face.

"She's not for grabs," Frank snaked his free arm around my stomach possessively, "you should know that. Tell your wench that she's not going anywhere."

The woman puckered out her lower lip, "well, if you must be greedy, fine. But you know she's going to get her anyways," she shrugged, her dark, long sleeved shirt which seemed to follow her every curve and movement. "I didn't think you'd claim her."

"Frank?" I murmured, confused. I had no idea what was going on.

"Tell Jakob to back off, too. If I so much as smell him near her, I will rip him to shreds and burn his remains," he hissed, taking a step back, forcing me to follow, or trip in attempt to be different. Thinking of Frank being so violent sent me into a panic.

The woman reached toward me, causing me to flinch in response, especially as her long fingers grazed my neck. As they did, I heard a low growl rise in Frank's throat, and instantly, the cold hand withdrew itself.

"Is she your mate?"

"Mate?" I squeaked, trying to back into Frank. Of course, I knew this term. No, no, no! I would not be a mate to anyone! No!

"No?" the woman seemed confused. Frank was still growling.

"Touch her again and you'll have to sew your hand back on, along with all of your fingers at each joint, Eve," he warned, trying to make me move down the sidewalk. Of course, he was much stronger than I, so he was winning on me moving.

The gentle eyes seemed to pierce my mind, "I was only curious... only a fool wouldn't notice those marks... I thought you might have made certain--"

"Enough! Get out of here!" he snapped, making me shiver. Frank had begun scaring me, as he pushed me along. I turned my head back to see the woman watch us walking away, and turning back towards the playground.

"Frank?" I cringed, still hearing a faint growl in his throat. Were these the people that caused the terrors that made it so children couldn't go outside?

We had reached a bench a short distance away from his house when he stopped, and sat down, pulling me to sit next to him. I was still afraid of what had happened.

I tried to see his eyes, but it was too dark to notice if they were light or not. To my surprise, he pulled me into a tight hug, and shivered a little. "If that ever happens again, I want you to stay behind me," he mumbled into my neck. "She's one of them..." he added, "if she would have seen you alone, you'd be dead."

It seemed like, when he said dead, it echoed through my mind, sending chills throughout my entire body. "What was she talking about?" I managed. He was holding me slightly too tight, making my chest feel compressed.

"Nothing," he mumbled lowly. I felt his cold lips press against my neck where the woman touched, however, they felt warm with the cold night, before he pulled away. "She's not going to ever get you," he growled, pulling me to the house. Once there, I dug through the bag, pulling out some pajamas I had found. They were black and slightly fuzzy, looking fairly warm, with white outlining music notes to make the black notes visible. The shirt had a small picture of a guitar on it. It was the only thing I could find that looked decent.

I changed into the pajamas, and walked out of the room, and into the living room, to turn on the T.V., however, heard talking in the kitchen between numerous people. Once voice I instantly recognized as Frank's.

"Eve knows we're here! She saw her!" he growled lowly.

Another voice came in, that I began to realize was Gerard's, "well... we shouldn't worry. Not yet. Eve isn't an underling, and surely she's fed up with being treated like one. Maybe she won't tell."

"Why don't we just get rid of the girl? They're mainly tracing us by her, right?" I recognized this as Ray.

"No, that's not right," to my surprise, this was none other than the man I was arguing with earlier. "We can't do that to her. She hasn't done anything to betray us."

"I won't let you anyway," I heard Frank growl.

"You know she's in the living room, right?" Bob's voice came in, and I saw him poke his head out at me, and wave. "Hi!"

I looked at him, and bit my lip, before waving back at him, "uh... hi."

Frank made his way in, and looked at me, "Jade... could you... go to bed or something? This is important vampire stuff..."

I sighed, and nodded. There was no point in arguing. Slowly, I rose and I turned away, "if I'm such a trouble to you, why'd you waste your time on me?" I shrugged a little. It was something I'd been curious about for a long time. Why would anyone bother with me? I was drunk when I was saved. Really, who wanted someone that was so messed up that they couldn't identify a killer when they were staring them in the eye? Surely others were being killed by vampires when they stopped one from killing me. What made me special? I really just wanted to go home, curl up in my own bed, and take a nap while watching television.

"Jade..." I heard Frank whine, "don't be like that."

"Like what?" I looked over my shoulder, "I'm just telling the truth. If I were a vampire, I wouldn't waste my time on saving some random girl," I shrugged, "unless I owed them a favor," with that, I made my way to Frank's room. I had been honest. Hopefully, he didn't feel bad about it, because I really wouldn't save someone. I'd have walked away.

It seemed strange that I was the only one in the room getting ready for bed. Usually I only went to bed when Frank did. The worst part was it wasn't as cool as when Frank was there. I always had found it a downfall, but now that it had become more of comfort than anything, it felt nothing but awkward. I shifted a little, curling up under the blankets, and hid my face under the covers, slowly shutting my eyes.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," I heard Bob state as he walked passed the door, and Frank make his way into his room, letting out a sigh.

He made his way to the bed, and I felt the mattress shift, and the blankets lift up as a cool wave ran through me. "Nothing's going to happen to you," I heard him whisper, as he rested his hand on my shoulder. After a few minutes, I felt myself drift into darkness.