My Guardian Vampire

"I'll take her out," Billie said, appearing in the doorway. Mike and Tré nodded somewhat solemnly, both giving me some time of cryptic look I couldn't quite get the meaning of before they left in a flash.

Billie Joe walked out of the doorway, and his progressing figure made my heart begin to pound in fear. The pounding eroded at the numbness in my stomach and chest, and an uneasy anxiety quickly settled in its place, weighing my insides down with a sack full of bricks. My stomach and heart were not the only ones affected, however.

I couldn't help to be also caught speechless by not the fear, but the beauty of this advancing creature. Though my mind knew different, my heart mistook this night killer for an angel, his presence clean and beautiful even in this dirty broken wreck of a room. I could never really decide what was it that caused my heat's main confusion: his flawless, practically glowing skin, the 5 o'clock shadow from the lack of shave seemingly part of the perfection—or maybe instead it was the jet-black hair, obviously dyed at one point but fitting him better than whatever shade of lock God had picked Himself. I quickly settled for his eyes as the cause of my emotion's confusion as he stood in front of me; they gave the feeling of being created to look so simple yet so complex, a visual contradiction as they displayed every emotion created, showing themselves as shades of green that somehow came together into one shade of iris. The best I could compare it to in my head was having the liquid creamy base of an Italian oil while adding in every shade of green cloth or foliage into the mix at different, random, and all slightly transparent amounts, so that though some showed up more than others, they all completely filled up the iris while somehow still showing the liquid olive underneath.

Billie Joe held his hand out to me, snapping me out of my trance. I stood there unmoving, half expecting it to either explode, disappear, or have a bunny magically come out of the bottom. Billie Joe laughed at my expression.

"Trust me?" he asked, looking at my face. I stared at his hand a moment more before cautiously taking it and looking up into his stare, into those eyes.

"Not on my life,” I said, and he smiled.

"Good," he said, and we walked out the door together, into the gray murky darkness.

He stopped a few feet from the house, looking around and still holding my hand.

"Ok, it's all clear, let’s go," he said. Neither of us moved, both of us looking at each other, waiting. He then seemed to realize something as he stared at my blank expression. "Oh, I forgot you didn't know; get on my back."

"Your back?" I asked curiously.

"Just do it," he said, rolling his eyes. I shrugged, and carefully climbed onto him, him holding my legs around his waist.

"Alright, when I tell you to, start yelling left or right," he said, and we were off.

He flashed away, running at an extreme speed as I held onto his neck and waist with a death grip. I heard him laugh, but the wind muffled almost everything.

I opened my eyes eventually, not realizing that I had closed them in the first place. Everything was a blur, random lights streaking through the darkness like sideways strikes of lightning. I felt nearly all of my insides trying to leave my body—my stomach had already been left behind at the house.

"Now!" he yelled as more and more lights streaked by, the entire darkness turning into lighter shades of grey.

"Right!" I yelled into his ear, and we took a sharp and sudden right, so unexpected that I almost fell off of him.

"Left!" I yelled again after getting my bearings. It wasn't as bad now that I knew what to expect, and eventually became kind of fun. It let me think of nothing, though it did remind me at first of...

Gerard's brother.

I almost threw up at the thought, but other than that I really did have the best time in seemingly forever. Billie and I were laughing the whole way, Billie Joe every once in a while pretending to almost drop me as we would turn. The left and right process continued for a long time until he eventually slowed down.

"Ok, this is good," he said, and I almost reluctantly slipped off of him. I was on such a high; I didn't want it to end so soon.

Once I dropped off his back, I tried to stand, but quickly fell to the ground as my legs were too weak and shaky, worn from attempting to hold me up in that position for so long. I felt the Adrenaline slowly seep out of my veins as I laid there, him and me laughing as we calmed down. He then stood up fully, and smiled.

"Stay here," he said and flashed out of sight. I instantly felt alone, closing my eyes and breathing in and out pacedly.

I opened my eyes eventually and sat up slowly. I was on solid ground, laying on blacktop. It was in back of some school, old rusty playthings like swings and monkey bars slept lazily under the lights surrounding the area. There were a few lights around, though not enough for comfort.

I sat there, thinking about nothing for a while, trying to ignore the persistent thoughts that I should be running away.

I mean, what exactly did I have to lose anymore if he was bad? It didn't really matter.

Billie Joe suddenly came back, filling my vision as he squatted in front of me, his eyes slightly twinkling from the small lights around us as he held out a paper bag to me. He made me jump, my heart missing a beat in surprise. I attempted not to show and quickly took the, starving. I opened the bag and took out a warm, wrapped package.

Recognizing it immediately, I paused and expected the design on the waxy paper to make sure.

"McDonalds!" I squealed, taking out the burger and taking a bite out of it joyously. Though I didn't really like McDonald's burgers that much, I almost moaned as I ate it, the hunger making everything taste so much better. I ate it quickly and grinned, moving onto the fries. I took a handful and stuffed it into my mouth, feeling like a little kid, and then noticed Billie watching me with a badly concealed amused look on his face.

"Fries?" I offered, pushing the box towards him. It came out more as "mmf?" He smiled, and I swallowed the fries down and grinned. "Fries?" I repeated, but to my dissatisfaction he shook his head, really starting to smile now.

"Food—yours, at least—doesn't do anything for me."

"C'mon, live a little. These things taste better than sex," I said, putting a few more in my mouth as if it would somehow show how they tasted.

"I didn't know sex had a taste," he teased, but took a fry and put it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully for a moment.

"No...They're ok, but I'll stick with the sex, thanks," he said, and I grinned sheepishly and laughed.

"Loser..." I mumbled, looking down and eating a few more fries. He laughed and I knew he was smiling widely.

I then felt the fog begin to set in my mind, and my head shot up.

"Yes I did it!" Billie Joe yelled, throwing up his hands in triumph. He then fell backwards onto the blacktop, and I laughed. I quickly pushed him out of my head, but he didn't say anything.

"Victory fry!" he yelled, reaching over to steal some fries. I cried out, holding my beloved fries to me. He laughed and pushed me down, carefully pinning me down to the blacktop.

"No you're gonna spill my fries!" I complained, trying to hold them upright in my hand as he held my wrist down. He laughed, and I couldn't help but notice a small amount of alcohol on his breath from before.

"Ughhh alcohol..." I said, making a disgusted face. Billie Joe laughed, though he looked slightly annoyed.

"You mind me being this close to you?" he asked, leaning in close and purposely blowing his breath into my face.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do. Your breath is nasty," I said pridefully, though I couldn't help but smile a little, honestly not minding him being there at all. My heart was surprisingly not beating out of control like it usually would have been—just at a slightly faster pace.

"Speaking of which..." Billie Joe said, getting up off of me and instead sitting next to me. He reached over to something, but not before taking a few of my fries.

"Hey! You little liar, you do love them, don't you?" I accused, and he just laughed and didn't say anything for a moment. He turned around, handing me a paper McDonald’s container, complete with plastic lid and bendy straw. "What is it?" I asked, totally parched.

"Coke, drink up," he said, taking out a beer bottle. He lifted it, as if proposing a toast. I looked at him, surprised, but raised the container, as if we were holding champagne at a fancy party instead of sitting on some blacktop in the slums of New York. “A drink, for whatever horror that we’re in. For the good guys, and the bad guys, for the monsters that we’ve been.”

Ha. That’s right, I had said I was a monster. And I was. Billie Joe of course, was a vampire—but did that really make him a monster as well, or was there something else…?

I “clinked glasses” with him, knocking my container with his bottle with a small chuckle. I put the straw in my mouth and began to drink, and then quickly spit it out, making Billie Joe laugh.

"This isn't coke you jerk it's beer!" I yelled, almost gagging from the taste. I really hated the taste of beer.

"Sorry," Billie said in between laughing. I wanted to punch his face in. "I couldn't resist. Here you go, I put the coke in here," he said, and offered me the bottle he had been drinking out of.

"Screw you and your fucking beer!" I yelled, but knew I was overreacting. Being with Billie Joe was difficult, as it was much easier to just stay numb instead of having all these emotions of mine all over the place. I folded my arms and looked away during the silence, guessing maybe I should say or do something first.

I decided to take action, and poured the container of beer on his head.

'Ok, so maybe not the most apologetic action, but now we're more even...'

I laughed at his face, and now it was suddenly easier to apologize.

"Sorry," I said, grinning and sticking my tongue out at him. He shook his head as a dog would after a rain, getting drops of beer all over me.

"Ahh, not my favorite jeans..." I whined. Billie Joe then smiled.

"You ain't seen nothin yet," he said, and poured the bottle of coke on my head.

"Ahh jerk!" I yelled and tackled him, though I wasn't really that mad. The coke felt nice in the hot summer humidity, cooling me off, though it was sticky.

"What?" Billie laughed as I pinned him down like he had me a few minutes ago. "Now we're even," he grinned. I shook my head, getting coke on him.

"Not even close," I said. "You poured coke on me and made me drink beer. So what to do, what to do..."

"Hey! I think I've done you a few favors like taking you in, giving you clothes, getting you food, et cetera, so if you'll be so kind..." he said, and tried to get up. I still wouldn't let him, though I knew he could break free if he really wanted to. He looked at me questioningly. "What, is there any part of the 'I've-helped-you-out logic' you disagree with?"

I shook my head grinning.

"Nope, you have helped me. I guess you could call me unthankful..." I said, and Billie Joe grinned back.

"You really do have a death wish, don't you?" he asked, and I nodded, my smile slightly disappearing.