My Guardian Vampire

"Not... Not really," Katy admitted, confusion on her face. "I remember the music, I remember Bob... There was something else, but it was all such a blur." I nodded. It was not exactly the answer I wanted, but it was good enough. She looked at me for a moment, studying my face. "So you really don’t like Gerard?" she asked. I sighed, slumping in my seat.

"I... don’t know. It’s not the same with him... And I don’t think I mean that in a good way either," I said, looking at the blackness outside the window. "Something about him scares me, and that music... it scares me even more."

"Now I don’t know about that Ali," Katy said, looking serious. I looked at her questioningly; I didn’t think that would be something she would disagree on. She pulled up to my house suddenly, and I got out of the car, stuffing my hands into my sweatshirt to keep them warm.

"Katy, that music isn't right. It isn’t safe. And I know you like Bob, but... I don’t think you should be hanging around him," I blurted. Katy looked pissed off now.

"Whatever, Ali," she said, starting the engine. I stepped back, and she took off. I sighed loudly, trying to let off steam, before dreamily walked back into the house, lost with thought.

Big mistake.

The second I walked into the door, my mom began to scream at me, picking up right where she had left off from when I had left this evening. My mind, used to this, switched off for a while, putting myself on cruise control. I sat on the couch, blankly staring up at her, thinking of nothing. She raised her hand to hit me, and my brain turned back on in shock. She usually didn’t do much that would leave a mark.

"Did you hear me girl?" she yelled in my face. "I’m warning you!" she raised her hand higher into the air as if cocking a gun, ready to fire.

"Yes mom?" I said quickly. The last thing I needed was a black eye.

"Yes mom," she mimicked me in a crappy voice. "You’re going to go down to the Point. The tenants have some kind of a heating problem, so I want you to walk there and fix it."

My family and Katy's family owned a house down near the river, or the "Point," which we rented out to people since no one wanted to live in it. It was a big old three-story house owned by our grandfather, kind of creepy but cool. I had always loved the big antique house--just hated being there with my family.

I sighed, wondering what kind of people were staying there now; it was mostly old couples or newlyweds.

"Don’t you dare sigh, you insolent shit, this is doing you a favor. I told them you'd be there in an hour, so be on time--don't be late." With a bare, faux-dutiful nod I stood up and hurriedly left, thankful to walk out of that door again no matter how cold it was. I began to move down the road briskly, trying to make good time. A car passed by me, and after a split second, suddenly slowed down and stopped a few feet in front of me. Being the dead of night on a lone road, this seemed unusual.

'Uh oh...' I thought to myself. 'This is either very good or very bad...'

I looked at the car and sighed, thankfully recognizing it after a nervous beat as Casey's mom's car.

I walked up to the window. "Hi Mrs. Rose," I said.

"Hi Ali," she said. She looked panicked. "Did you see where Casey went after the concert?" I shook my head.

"No sorry, after the concert I was the first to leave," I said. She got a sudden call on her cell phone and picked it up.

"Oh thank God," was all I could hear her say. "Okay, bye." She hung up the phone.

"Apparently a friend brought Casey home; she wasn't feeling too well," she said, smiling softly, looking both relieved and tired.

"Oh, okay...” I said, giving a small smile of my own. Perhaps after my earlier ominous meeting in the woods I should have been more wary, but by this point the encounter was out of my mind, my usual sense of safety stifling any sense of anxiety. I scratched the back of my head, feeling my mother's demands of punctuality tap at the back of my consciousness. "Well, I'm going to go now; I have to walk down to the point in an hour." Though it likely wouldn't take that long, even with my general meandering pace, I liked to have some wiggle room. Casey's mom looked at me in surprise.

"Oh honey, I'll drive you, no problem," she said. I went to refuse, but she cut me off. "No, I insist." I nodded, the bitter wind suddenly biting as as a secondary enforcer, saying my thanks as I climbed into the back of the car.

She drove me to the point, only taking a few minutes.

"Where would you like me to stop?" she said once we go to the docks, where a turn-around for the cars was.

"Right here is fine, the house is right there," I said, getting out of the car. "Thank you so much," I said smiling.

"Be careful," she gently lectured. She then said her goodbye and drove off, leaving me on the cement dock next to the water. I figured I had a good 45 minutes to wait before I could come into the house, and still be only a little early. I walked over to the small and informal Harbormaster dock, sitting on the end of it, knowing no one would mind (if they were even up at this hour). I still had my iPod with me, so I took it out and listened to some music for a while. I thought about my dad, who was a part-time harbormaster during the summer, and all the times he'd taken me on this small dock to look for crabs or small fish in the water.

It was getting cold, but I still had awhile to wait. I hugged myself tightly, shivering and closing my eyes, trying to pretend that I felt the sun on my shoulders, imaging the warmth. Even though it was cold, I completely loved being here, taking in the whole atmosphere and being able to clearly think. The whole place gave a beautiful and eerie feeling to it, kind of like...

Gerard.

I quickly banished the thought, so confused and tired. My eyes closed tightly and I groaned, pointing my face downward as if in defeat. No. No more thinking about him. No letting him into my head. This was my place of peace, of home, and I wasn't having any snooty, overconfident, forward--

Suddenly someone lightly touched me from behind, causing me to almost fall into the black night water.

I looked up, and Gerard was standing over me. For a moment I thought I was dreaming, and I tried to wake myself up, closing my eyes and opening them slowly. Was my mind retaliating? Open once again. He was still there.

"Oh, you've got to be shitting me," I said aloud, though it was something I meant to think instead of say.