My Guardian Vampire

“Me?” Mike asked, looking frazzled. To my surprise, I could see him simultaneously blush and go pale, the drain on his face highlighting the tint of his cheeks. He then looked to me, coughing. “Uh, I…” He seemed at a loss for words for a moment, before his fluster turned to aggravation as he looked at Damien. “You’re messing with me. There has to be someone else, Damien. We’re not the only old ones left.” Damien shrugged, looking nonchalant.

“We’re the only ones we trust—and you three must not trust me much to come here. Frank-” after the glare from Tré, he corrected himself, “-Tré is not as old as you. There might be some we trust to a certain degree—but none we know for sure will be able to resist the temptation to kill like you would be able to. Even if your bloodlust proved so great, it’s likely your secondary instincts not to harm the one you follow would kick in. Plus…” Damien then leaned into Mike, whispering something. Mike’s face grew dim, and he nodded.

“You’re right,” Mike said, both fluster and aggravation gone from his voice.

“Mike?” I asked softly, alarmed. I placed my hand once more on his shoulder, and he looked up at me.

“Ali, please don’t make me tell you,” Mike said, looking desperate. I was a bit taken aback, but nodded.

“Of course.”

“I think it’s time to go,” Mike said. He stood up, and Tré followed suit. Mike extended a hand to Damien. “Thank you, Damien. Please let us know if you find something.” Damien nodded, shaking Mike’s hand.

“I will. And Alexandra…” he said, dropping Mike’s hand. “I wouldn’t wait too long; you might miss your chance. It doesn’t suit the powerful to hesitate.”

My heart skipped for a moment, and my brow creased. “What?”

‘Was that a coincidence, or..?’ I wondered, Damien’s words creating an echo’s of Vincent’s in my head. ‘Why would they both give me that advice?’

“Something the matter, Ali?” Damien asked. Still shaken, I shook my head.

“N-no. Thank you. Goodbye, Damien.” We followed Big Scary Ma—er, Kenneth, passing a surprisingly neutral-looking Jack. Before I was out of sight, Jack’s voice rang out.

“I’m sorry to hear about your cancer,” he said, his voice sounding hesitant. I looked back at him, impressed by the sentiment.

“Thank Jack,” I said. He merely nodded, and we continued our path up the stairs and out the door. Kenneth opened the door for us, urging us to exit with a wave of his hand.

“Thank you, Kenneth,” I said, and he remained emotionless. Tré went up to him, jumping up to give him a smooch on his cheek, flashing away before Kenneth could grab him.

“Bye boo!” Tré yelled. Kenneth sighed, and Mike and I quickly walked out the door, lest we face his wrath. He immediately shut the door behind us. Tré spun around, looking more serious.

“Hey Mike, didn’t he kind of seem out of it?” Mike looked up with wide eyes, as if he just noticed Tré there.

“Huh?”

“Didn’t Kenneth seem out of it? I’m wondering if Damien zombified him like Billie did to us.”

“Nah,” Mike said, waving his hand as his eyes cast away, his focus seeming to be somewhere else. “Damien would have had to have lost it to do that.”

“I’m wondering if he has,” Tré urged as we made our way to the car. “I mean, Damien’s always been hard to read, but something about that exchange… Seemed off.”

“I didn’t notice,” Mike said. “Probably due to his kid dying, yeah?”

“His kid is dead?” I asked in disbelief.

“Damien had a kid?” I heard asked, and saw Bob leaning his head out the window, over Katy. “Was this common knowledge?”

“Now it is,” Tré said. He then proceeded to unbutton his pants.

“Tré!” Bob yelled, shielding Katy’s eyes. Tré’s brow furrowed in response, and he pulled out a card.

“What? It’s the only place it wouldn’t look suspicious.”

“A giant square in your crotch wouldn’t look suspicious?!” Bob asked. Katy fended his hand off as Tré refastened his pants closed. I took the card from Tré gingerly, grabbing it by the corners as I looked it over.

“Well, you didn’t notice it. did you?” Tré defended.

“I wasn’t looking at your crotch!”

“Exactly!” Tré beamed, the conclusion affirming his flawless logic. As Bob facepalmed, I read the card aloud:

“’Dear Damien, we’re so sorry for your loss,’ blah blah blah… ‘It’s never easy losing a child’? I’d never heard he had a kid before. And Tré, you stole a sympathy card? What if he notices it missing?”

Tré merely shrugged. “Maybe he’ll just think Kenneth ate it, that scary bastard. He looks like he was about to eat me too, and not even in the fun way.”

“I’d never heard of the child either,” Mike said, shaking his head as he took the card from me. “It’s a little odd we’ve never known that, but I suppose when you’re someone like Damien, it’s best to keep those close to you as secret as possible.” The sentiment struck me. I looked down to my stomach, frowning as I placed a hand gently over the bulge, wondering about how much I would have to keep the baby secret. Would its life be safe? Once again… There seemed to be so much that I was getting myself into, an entire world I didn’t know about yet.

Mike seemed to notice my distress, and put his hand on my back comfortingly. “Hey, don’t worry, Al. We’re you’re family, and we’ll be here to help you, always.”

“Yeah,” Katy said, leaning out the window as she smiled. “Always.” My eyes looked to Bob, and he only frowned in return—an expression thoroughly less hopeful than his girlfriend’s. I nodded and smiled, trying not to betray what I knew.

‘Yeah… Always.’

We loaded up into the car with Tre, Mike and I in the back, and started our long drive back. Although I didn’t necessarily feel any closer to Gerard, I felt a little better knowing we at least had another set of eyes looking. Bob drove noticeably fast on the way back, citing the nearing sunrise as his reason. I wasn’t so sure. Mike spent most of the time looking over his notebook, pouring over the nonsense I used to babble.

“I feel like we’re no closer to Gerard,” I said, leaning over Mike’s arm, peering at his notes. Mike shrugged, running a hand through his hair.

“I don’t know,” he said, flipping his notebook over. He then smiled, and looked at me. “I’m sure we’ll find something soon, Ali.” I found it a little odd that he flipped his notebook over so quickly, but reminded myself not to be so nosy.

"We better get home soooooon or I'm going to eaaaattt someoneeeee," Tré sang in a soprano tone. I shifted away from him and into Mike a little, playing nervous. Tré noticed, turning to look at me with a toothy smile, putting his elongated teeth into full view. "Care to make a donation, darling?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Touch her, and I'll eat you," Mike said, leaning over me protectively. Although I knew he must've been joking, there was something... off about his voice. Tré didn't seem to notice though, which made me assume that I was just mishearing things.

"Kinky! Oh Mike, I always knew all these past hundred years that you secretly wanted me. Just you wait 'til we get home."

"We are home," Bob said, pulling over. In the next second, Tré's door opened and shut, and he was gone. It hadn't even been that long since we left—dude seriously couldn't sit in a car.

"Let me help you out," Mike said, taking my hand as he shifted his lengthy limbs out of the car. I laughed, shaking my head but accepting his hold anyway.

"You really don't need to help me," I said, scooting myself over. "I'm not that pregnant."

"I know you don't need it, but I want to help you," he said, grinning down at me. As I stepped out, I heard a door slam, and saw Bob walking off quickly. Mike and I both simultaneously turned to look at Katy, who gave a grim smile.

"He thinks you're flirting, I think" she offered, shutting her own door. I looked up to Mike, and we both shrugged.

"I'm pretty sure I haven't flirted since I was human," Mike said, leaning down to grab his notebook before closing the door. I coughed in surprise, chuckling as we began to make our way back to the house casually. "What? Have you ever really known me to be the flirting type?"

"No, but... C'mon. I know you're not that much younger than Billie, yeah? You can't have gone that long without getting laid." Mike laughed, and I swore I saw a light tint come to his cheeks.

"Well... Getting laid or not, I've never really been the type to flirt. I was engaged when I was turned into a vampire, and then I never really felt the need to pursue anyone. Relationships are extra complicated with vampires."

"Tell me about it," I mumbled. I meant it as a joke, but realized how deeply the statement poked at my situation. I quickly diverted, trying to distract myself. "How old are you, anyway?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest. I was abandoned as a baby in Italy, then adopted. I actually knew Billie when I was young, and my parents and I moved to Ireland from Italy. But then... Well, it's complicated. We went our separate ways, and didn't see each other again until a long time later. I guess I was bitten by a pretty old vampire, because I stopped aging instantly, but it was such a blur and I never saw them again, so I'm not really sure. All in all, I'd guess I'm a few years younger than Billie, as that was how it seemed back then." Mike opened the front door for me, ushering me inside. The light-gray sky that signaled the nearing dawn meant we really shouldn't dally outside.

"Wait a fucking minute, you knew Billie as a human kid? Why did I never hear about this? And I thought-"

"Ali! You're back safe!" Brittany yelled, cutting me off as she hugged me. I laughed and hugged her back tightly, though taking care to not bump our bellies together. "It's felt like forever!"

"I know, I know. It's good to see you too, Britt." As I said hello to everyone else, spilling out the details of what happened here and there, I realized how nice to be welcomed here so enthusiastically. It felt like home again, where I belonged—but with that crucial piece of Gerard missing, a gap by my side that nagged at this content. Once we had filled everyone in, there was a brief pause before Brittany's voice popped up as she sat down on the couch, Frankie by her side..

"So... What you're saying is, we don't know shit?"

"I... I don't know. We only have that thing I kept repeating to go on."
I then paused, and looked to Mike, who was standing next to Tré in the kitchen, drinking out of a bloodbag. "Hey, Mike, didn't you mention you had something before? About Battery City?"

"I... I'm not sure," Mike said, moving his notebook to the counter and placing his hand on it. "I'll have to look into it more."

"Battery City?" Tré asked, throwing his third empty bag in the trash. Maybe I hadn't realized how much this search was taking out of the guys—when was the last time they had eaten? When was the last time I had eaten? "Like Battery City in- Ow!" If I hadn't been really paying attention I probably wouldn't have noticed, but Mike had flickered for a second, moving so fast it was easy to miss.

"Why'd you hit Tré?" I asked, confused.

"We... Tré and I should research before we say anything. I don't want to get your hopes up." I looked at him lamely; the heartache of having Gerard being kidnapped somewhere would dwarf any small disappointment of a dead end.

"Just tell me; it's nice to have something to do. I could help you research." Mike frowned, his fingers beginning to play with the edge of his notebook. "Well, I'm not so sure-"
"I'm leaving," Bob suddenly announced, coming into the room. Katy quickly followed him, and I caught a look at her face—had she been crying?

Oh, fuck no.