My Guardian Vampire

Barely thinking my reflexes quickly reacted to my anger. I closed the distance nearly instantly and grabbed the rat. I struck tail and yanked my findings quickly back as Barney tried to run. In the next instant I had the creature hanging by the tail, clawing at the air in ill escape.

Ali 1, Barney 2.

“Now look you stupid rat. All I want to do is sleep. Whether you’re dead or not, I’m going to sleep. So it’s up to you. You can either behave and share the couch with me, or you can die and not have the option. Your choice.” Barney hanging in the air stared at me as I glared back at him. I then laid down on the couch and set him on my abdomen, inches away on my face.

He stared at me for a moment before apparently making his mind. He curled up like a cat or dog would and rested there. I smiled to myself in victory, petted Barney’s head with my finger, and soon after fell asleep.

I woke up with the light from the open door on my face, blinding me momentarily. Barney was still fast asleep on me. I picked him up as softly as I could, got up, and laid him back down on the couch. He stirred slightly, but after I patted his head for a bit he fell back asleep.

I then stumbled into the main room where James and Jenn were sitting on the couch, James’s arm around Jenn’s shoulders. I coughed embarrassedly, startling the both of them.

“Hey Ali, what are you doing up? You only went to sleep a few hours ago. The guys are still out.”

“Couldn’t sleep too well,” I said, smiling wearily. I then stumbled off to the bathroom where I unfortunately got sick for a while. Gripping the counter as I heaved, I thought of how all the horrible ways I was going to make Gerard pay for putting this stupid baby in me and making me sick. Eventually I stopped heaving and clung by the sink as I attempted to wash the taste out of my mouth. I looked at my reflection and saw a sickly pale face staring wearily back at me. I began to feel dizzy, so I slowly sunk to the floor and put my head between my knees, feeling miserable.

‘Oh god,’ I thought, ‘how I shall murder Gerard , he doesn’t even want to know. He will die a very slow and painful death.’ My anger quickly liquefied at that point to a wet and soggy wave of depression as a thought came to me: ‘I will kill him, that is, if he ever comes home.’ If he never came home… I don’t know what I would do. I couldn’t go through this without him. As much as I hated him at the moment, I loved him twofold more. My vision curled as tears stained my vision, the feelings of deadly dread welling up through me. All I could think of were the lyrics, his lyrics…

Never coming home, never coming home…

I was then hit by a gigantic pain in my head, and began to feel extremely dizzy. It felt as if someone was cracking a knife into my skull, the metal freezing hot, searing into my brain-

“Help!” I moaned out desperately before all I saw was black.

In that blackness there was peace and silence, until I began to hear things vaguely echoing in my mind…

Can’t find my way home…
But it’s through you and I know
What I’d do
Just to get back in her arms…

I then saw something, an alleyway that looked familiar…

“Gerard!” I yelled, sitting up. I was in the couch room with people all around me, watching me. Mike addressed me first.

“Ali, you ok?” he asked.

“Yes! Did you find Gerard?”

“Not yet. What happened? Jenn and James found you passed out in the bathroom.”

“Yeah, I passed out. But I heard Gerard singing.”

“Were you listening to your iPod when you passed out?” Mike offered. I shook my head.

“No, it was new.” I searched my head for the words, but began to hum the melody instead. I then remembered the alleyway. “There was an alleyway I saw, too.”

“Ali, you sure you all right in the head?” James asked.

“Yes, I’m sure,” I spat angrily. “The alleyway looked vaguely familiar-”

“Ali, you look flushed. Do you have a temperature?” James went to feel my forehead, but Barney, coming out of nowhere, lunged out and bit James’s hand. He held on a moment before he fell to the ground, hissing as he ran away under the couch.

“What the fuck was that?” James yelled.

“That, Jamesy, was you being pwned by Barney.”

“Why the hell did it bite me?”

The front door then slammed open, and we all turned to see who it was. When I saw, I screamed:

“Ahhh!”

I stood up, and before I could take even one step forward Gerard was already hugging me. I buried my head in the crook of his neck and held him tight, my joy and relief overwhelming.

“Gee-tard, what happened to you, you idiot?!” Bob asked. Gerard didn’t say anything for a while, just stayed holding onto me tightly. I began to cry into his jacket, and he began to pet my hair comfortingly, pressing his cheek against mine as he did so. I then held his face in return after a moment and kissed him. I noticed his cheeks were wet, alarming me. I wasn’t sure it was just because he missed me, or that something had happened to him, or almost happened to him, that made the reunion more emotional. Gerard wasn’t a real crier, so his display of sadness made my heart pound in a way of sadness that I had not thought possible.

“Gerard, you’re crying,” I said after we broke apart. “What happened?”

“I don’t even know,” he said, burying his own face into my neck. “I didn’t know if I’d ever make it home in time…” he then held my confused face, and stared at me in the eyes. I saw the tears in his eyes, and it made my heart break.

“Ali,” he said, “this is very important. Did you pass out in the bathroom a few hours ago?”

I felt the stares as everyone looked at us, at him. It took me a moment to swallow my confusion and hurt before answering.

“Yes,” I eventually answered. “How…How did you know that?”

At that moment, I saw everything. I saw his chest cave and his shoulders push in as he breathed out harshly. I saw the moment he breathed back in, and the way the tears pushed forth harder from within him at the signal from whatever mental anguish he was going through. And the worst of all, I saw the sadness, invisible as it was, come and cloud over his eyes. It look harsh and hurtful, and most of all…

It looked permanent.