My Guardian Vampire

He tugged me close to him after that moment of eternity and held me there. The hold was so hard I thought I might pop, or the baby would at least. His head was once again in the crook of my neck for a moment, but then he looked up towards the crowd behind us.

“We need to get her to a hospital. Now.”

The few minutes after that was a kind of foggy blur. Everything seemed so slow and sped up at the same time, like a car crash. At Gerard’s words everyone began to act, the tone of his words so deadly there was no protesting it. Gerard had never sounded so serious; he almost sounded like Billie in the way the order was delivered. No one could escape falling into place like this had been planned and rehearsed before, and no one wanted to go against it. Like when Billie ordered, no one fell out of line, and no one even thought to. Maybe this is what Mike meant by some would want me to be the head of this world in New York, as I was Billie Joe’s choice. Everyone followed what he chose without a second thought.

Mike had called a cab for me to come; it would be coming faster than any cab had before, as if the cab driver had heard the order from Gerard himself. I, even in my enormity, was being cradled by Gerard like a small child. He and I said nothing to each other, no questions, no soft murmurs of “I love you,” and “everything will be all right.” For the first time I was sharing the connection with him, the one I shared with Katy, where no words ever had to be said. I knew something had happened to him, that he had not disappeared by accident, and not by choice. Not his choice, at least. And during that period, he had figured out something, or knew something. And he had seen me pass out, which meant that the alleyway I saw and song I heard was from him, or something to do with him. Something was beyond not right, but even with this connection I did not have the knowledge to figure out just what it was.

I had been staring at his eyes and his at mine as this happened, but I looked down, and then back up, letting him know I was going to speak. His eyes refocused on me, and I knew he was listening intently.

“What’s happening to me Gerard?” I asked. He gulped a moment, trying to get his mouth into working order again.

“I don’t know,” he said, and I knew it was a half truth.

“What do you think is happening to me, Gerard?” He tensed a moment as he thought, probably wondering if he should tell the truth. I looked harder at him, and he nodded and blinked once before answering.

“You’re dying.”

It seemed like the blurs of people rushing around us paused for a moment. I nodded, accepting this as probably true. He touched my cheek softly and kissed me.

“How are you?” I asked. He smiled as if what I said was funny, and then after a moment frowned.

“I’m not okay-”

“Is a great song of ours, if I do say so myself,” Bob said, and smacked Gerard on the back of the head. “And Gerard is fine, except for the fact of being stupid.”

I smiled weakly at Bob.

“No, Bob, he knows I want him to tell the truth,” I said, and looked back at Gerard and smiled a bit more. “The man knows me.”

Gerard leaned over and kissed me again, and matched my weak smile.

“What you want and what you need to hear are too very different things.”

“Thanks for looking out for me, Bobert,” I said, not wanting an argument to start. He smiled.

“Anytime, Alex,” I glared at him playfully as he smirked, and Katy went up to him and smacked him in the back of them head.

“Ow!” He whined. “What was that for?!”

“Sorry, instant reflex for calling my pregnant cousin Alex, Bobert.” He laughed and grabbed her hips, starting to tickle her. They began to act all lovey-dovey, so to keep my stomach down I turned my vision away from them, chuckling to myself. I looked back up to Gerard, and he was watching me, a stronger smile on his face this time. I smiled at him, and for a moment, things were all right. But Mike then announced the cab was here, and so Gerard picked me up and brought me back into the real world. He kissed me once again, and we went inside the cab. Since there were only four available seats in the car, we planned for Mike, Gerard, Katy and I to be the ones to go. Since I was sitting on Gerard, we were also able to squeeze Tré in, as he desperately wanted to come along. I sat on Gerard’s knees, facing him. I laid my head on his shoulder, and though it was an uncomfortable position I eventually fell asleep as the traffic slowed to stop-and go.

I dreamed off and on for awhile, waking up at the sound of a car’s horn. Soon enough I felt myself succumb to a deeper sleep where no senses touched me. There was a nice, peaceful blackness for what seemed like a long time. Then there was something stressed into my mind, and someone began to come into focus.

“Hey,” the figure said simply, cautiously, as if I didn’t want it there.

“Billie?!” I exclaimed. I ran up to him, but stopped, unsure as a thought struck me. “Billie, you’re dead.” I then knew I was dreaming, and felt grief slip into me. “And I’m dreaming,” I sighed.

“Yes. You are asleep. And I am dead. This is me, I think. Though-” he looked down and patted his chest, seeing if he was substantial or not. “-to me, I feel real enough.” He looked back up at me once again. “But anyways, I think I’m here because I needed to tell you something, something I saw before I died. Damien sees you as a threat; as I was dying, he believed that since you knew you could kill us, you would be coming after him next. Now, he would n't kill you outright, but your life is in danger. People would know it was him, and an uprising would start-”

“Over me?” I interrupted, surprised. Billie Joe smirked.

“Not over you, but what you represent. And what Damien represents. Silly conceded Ali.”

“Oh yes,” I said, rolling my eyes. “This fat porpoise of a girl is conceded. Arrogant, I can see, but-“

“Yes, arrogant is more fitting. Congratulations on the baby, by the way.”

“Thanks,” I said, looking down. I guess even in my dream I was pregnant. I rubbed my belly softly.

“What are you naming it?” Billie Joe asked. I looked back up at him.

“We haven’t decided.”

“But what do you like?”

“I have no real preference for a girl’s name. I think if I named her Gytha I’d be dealing with her self confidence issues forever…”

“And the boys’?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, I’ve always loved the name Gabriel…” I looked back down at my stomach, and blushed. “…But for a boy, I was actually now thinking…Well, if you we OK with it, I wanted to name him Billie Joe…”

“No way…” Billie Joe breathed. “That’s fucking awesome. I mean, I don’t know what to say. But…Well yeah. Use it. Did you like the sound of it, or something?”

“Or something. Though I do like the sound too. But really because I could only hope to have a kid as awesome a person as you are. Were. Whatever. You never gave yourself even half the credit you deserved, you know? I don’t think anyone ever did. You’re really like a hero to me, Billie, even if that sounds weird. I couldn’t think of a better name”

“So you went with the zero instead of the hero?” I pursed my lips, and he grinned and shook his head. “Sorry, old habit. But I’d be honored. I mean-” he looked down at a loss of words, then looked back up. His face was beaming. “God, if this is anything like it is to be the father of the kid, Gerard must be fucking overwhelmed.”

I smiled widely, and Billie Joe walked over towards me, filling in the gap.

“I’d hug you, but I don’t know if you’d wake up, or I’d disappear or whatever. Oh man, the thought of disappearing is weird. Without you is how I disappear, I guess. But with that I figure I should go back to the point. I don’t know how much I should tell you, or how much I can, but I’ll just tell you this: find Damien. Tell him you mean him no harm. I’m not gonna sugar-code this; Damien will find a way to get to you unless you get to him first. Just find him. Quickly.”

“I’ll be on it,” I said, and smiled. He smiled weakly back.

“That’s it, I think. I love you, Ali Reed.”

“That’s Mrs. Cryptcarde to you,” I scoffed. I then laughed, as did Billie. He then fully smiled.

“You kept it?” he asked. I looked at him for a moment, confused. He clarified: “The name, I mean.”

“Well, yeah. I’m your wife. Or widow or whatever. I’m Ali Cryptcarde. The last name is bomb. Though the Mrs. is weird as hell.”

“You’re my wife,” he smiled. “I never even thought about it. Or got used to it. My wife. Try explaining that to a therapist. ‘Oh yeah, by the way, I talked to my dead husband the other day.’” I giggled.

“The therapist would need a therapist for all the weird things that’s been going on,” I laughed. Billie Joe smiled his toothy smile back.

“Yeah. You’re still going out with Gerard, I imagine?” he asked. I nodded. He smirked, and leaned over and kissed me. Not expecting it, I stumbled back.

“Billie!” I yelled. “What was that for?!”

“Try explaining to a therapist that you just technically cheated on your baby’s daddy with your dead husband, and tell me what he/she says,” he laughed. I laughed and hit him on the arm.

“Well, at least I know you feel real in the dream. What happens next?” I asked. Billie shrugged.

“Wake up, Mrs. Cryptcarde,” he said. I smiled and hugged him, and woke up.

“Lilly, I need you to respond.”

I opened my eyes to see an unfamiliar face over mine. I blinked again, and my senses heightened the fact that I was sitting on a not-so-soft bed. I then noticed there was something covering my mouth, and I freaked. I screamed in surprise and my hands scrambled to take the thing off of me. The man pushed away my hands and held it to my mouth. I attempted to scream some more, before the man yelled at me.