My Guardian Vampire

I opened my eyes to see the stunned ones around me, some of them as wide as a couple of CDs.

It seemed to take an eternity, but it finally hit someone.

“Oh God,” Katy cried, and then began to sob into Bob’s chest. Out of all my friends, I knew it would hit Katy the hardest; she was my only blood relative that knew I was the live and the one that knew me the most and the longest. She was the only one that I had that crazy bond, the one where anything could be said or done with the comfort that it could not tear the relationship apart. Of course, she was not the only person I trusted in that way, but simply not at the level we shared: one that took a lifetime to achieve, which we had spent together- my entire life. Neither time nor space could tear us apart-

-But cancer might.

“What?!” Brittany exclaimed. I hung my head, shamed that I was putting them through this.

“Where is it?” Casey asked, her voice wavering slightly.

“In my head,” I answered calmly, trying to let them know I was all right, even if I truly wasn’t.

“What?!” Brittany exclaimed again. I guessed screaming “What” was her reflex reaction to bad news.

“What’s going to happen to the baby?” Ray asked, all ready making the connection that chemo = poison, and poison + baby does not equal happy fun time.

“We don’t know yet. We might have to abort.”

“What?!”

“Brittany baby, calm down,” Frankie said. He held her tightly but she did nothing, her face blank with shock. I looked to the side, staring at a picture on the wall. It was so strange not to be able to see the outside world for so long, and I felt trapped. This hospital was so strange, and I felt as if staying here for too long might make me lose my mind.

“I think I want to tell my family.”

“What?!” Gerard and Mike chorused, mimicking Brittany’s saying. I chuckled lightly, though the heaviness in my chest begged to make me cry more than laugh.

“I think they should know.”

“Ali,” Gerard said, “they don’t even know if you’re alive.”

“And you’re a fugitive,” Mike said. “They’ll try to bring you back home.”

“Maybe it’s for the best,” I said. “What could they do?”

“A lot, since you’re a minor. Why don’t we at least wait until we see how bad it is,” Mike suggested. I looked at him and his crystal eyes for a moment. My hormones made me want to throw a tantrum and scream “I want my mommy!” as twisted as it was for me to wish such a thing. I took a deep breath and sighed instead.

“Okay, we’ll wait. For now.”

“Good,” Mike said, looking relieved. There was then a knock on the door, and it was opened before a man came in.

He looked older than myself, though not that much older, and had dark brown hair and eyes. He looked around the room for a moment, and then at myself. I smiled at him, and he gave me a smirk in return, confusing me slightly. He approached the bed, and for some reason I could feel the room tense, though felt no insticnt to be defensive against the man myself. His playful smirk and eyes made me want to laugh and smirk in return at whatever hidden joke he had, but decided to keep my face straight.

"Mrs. Cryptcarde," he said in a British accent. "I take it you do not remember me. We had met briefly before, once..." He paused and stared at me as if trying to will rememberance with me. I stared at him, my brow furrowed slightly, confused as to where I had seen him before. He looked slightly familiar...

My mind flashed back to a moment to Billie's funeral. We had kept it very low-key, not wanting anyone to know the man in charge of most of New York had passed. Most of those at the funeral had been at the wedding as well, sworn to secrecy of the death so panic did not occur. Damien had not been present, and there were only one or two trusted others attending the funeral that had not been at the wedding. In the cliché of all clichés, it had been raining, the crowd somber and respectful for the lost hero and leader. I remember scanning the crown through blurred eyes, the mix of fog and tears making everything dizzingly obscure. But, there had been the man, at the back, standing alone. I would have not remembered him from all the other faces had there not been a small kind of circle of space around him, as if their was a small forcefield around him. I also remembered greeting the faces afterwards, shaking the hands of all the people I didn't know and thanking them for coming. It was then he had come up to me, the people on other side of him staying back as well.

"So you remember," the man said, interrupting my thoughts. He looked quite amused for whatever reason. He smiled, showing his teeth... Vampire canines showing, the grin almost threatening. It made me chuckle at the attempt of fear, and then his smile relaxed, even more amused. He moved toward me slightly, that smirk present.

"What'da you want?" Gerard asked curtly, looking from him to me, seeming threatened. I looked to him warningly, sending the message to be polite. He ignored me, making me frown. The man looked at Gerard as if realizing anyone else was here for the first time.

"I apologize, Mr. Muerte," he said cooly. At this I even tensed; the fact that he was not Billie was not supposed to be mentioned, even behind closed doors. He held up his hands, sensing the tension.

"Relax. The secret is safe with me. You all are very lucky that Billie Joe was almost never seen. I actually need to talk with Ger-Mr. Cryptcarde for a moment."

Gerard stood up and nodded. He gave me a kiss on the cheek before walking out towards the door. His stance was rigid and unfeeling, but I could tell he was clearly nervous. The man gave me a sly smile and took my hand, confusing me once again. He put some kind of paper inside it, and grazed the top of my hand with his lips lightly before putting it back down. I heard Mike then growl lowly, and he laughed and walked outside. Gerard was watching, his face now revealing all his worry. I smiled at him warmly, and he gave me a weak smile in return before the man ushered him further outside and shut the door to the room behind him both.

"Who the hell was that?" Brittany asked. I blinked for a moment, and looked at the piece of paper in my hand. It was a piece of white, rigid and grooved buisness-size piece of cardboard. I flipped it over, and read the shiny smooth subdented lettering.

"Vincent Stardust."

I laughed at the name, feeling the letters lightly. They were off-silver, tinted a slight purple, almost unreadable on the card. There was what looked like an adress in sub-script underneath the name, but I could not make the lettering out at all. I smirked to myself, and got lost in thought for a moment.

"Ali?" Katy asked, bringing me out of my head for a moment.

"Wha-" I began. The next few seconds then happened in slow motion.

There was a yelp, a bang, the door shook as it was hit with something, and then it stopped. It seemed as soon as the door paused in vibrating, Bob was all ready practically ripping the door from the doorway. There was no one there, confusing me for a moment. But then I realized, the fact that no one was there was a lot scarier-

"There's blood on the door," Bob said, in shock. The nurses on the other side of the door looked at Bob as if he was the crazy one, apparently not noticing all of which was heard. The next words then came out of my mouth before I had even made the realization:

"Gerard is gone!"