My Guardian Vampire

The room went silent, and Ray was suddenly in front of me.

“Ali, what are you talking about? How did you get back home?”

My eyes were suddenly drawn to the shed; I could see it through the doorway. It was a shed my grandfather had built, on the far side of the lawn, loaded with fishing equipment and the like…
And with the door slightly open…

“The shed! Billie’s in the shed!” I yelled, pointing out towards the shed. I felt like one of those people in the old movies that were bewitched, accusing others of the same as they babble on incoherently. “Tré’s in the shed. He carried me here, and he’s dying. We have to save him!”

“Ali, Bob just called Gerard. He should be here any second now. We can… we can try to save Tré.”

I looked up at Ray up close for the first time in months, staring directly into his eyes. He seemed unsure…

And suddenly, somehow, I knew they weren’t going to let me save Tré.

“I have to go save him!” I yelled, and ran off the couch and threw the door open before I could be touched. I jumped off the porch, landing hard on the backyard grass, and ran down the lawn.

I had only made it a few feet however before I was tackled painfully to the ground.

“Oh my god, Ali!” Gerard said, hugging me on the ground. His face was stained with tears. “I thought I’d never see you again. C’mon quick, let’s get inside, please?”

“Gerard,” I whispered, and he looked up at me, into my eyes. Time seemed to stop for a moment, us frozen as we watched each other, laying on the grass together, alone. I expected for the voice to start to scream at me once again, but nothing came. I knew I had to take advantage of that, take this moment for myself while I was still sane, still with him. Even with—or maybe especially with—everything that was going on, I knew I had to tell him.

“I love you Gerard,” I said, and then he looked at me with such heartbreakingly loving eyes. He then leaned up and kissed me, making my heart ache in an uncontrollably painful way for him, even though he was right there.

After the brief moment of total bliss, my head seemed so much clearer, so much more in control. Gerard took my hand and pulled me up, tugging me to go towards the house.

I stopped, and Gerard looked at me, his face a little sicker now.

“Ali, we have to go-“

“Billie Joe is in he shed. He has Tré, and Tré’s almost dead from the sun from when he brought me here, if Billie hasn’t killed him already.” I said it so calmly, accepting now the full scale of the insanity around me. Gerard looked at me for a moment longer, taking a small piece of time to absorb this, and then nodded.

“Okay, so what’s your plan?”

I looked at him, surprised for a moment. He smiled weakly, and squeezed my hand.

“I'm not going to lose you again. I want you to tell me what you want to do, and I want to be right there beside you.”

“Well… I was going to talk to him. See what exactly he wanted, and see if there was any reasonable way I could get Tré back.”

“Okay…” Gerard said, thinking for a moment. I wished he would hurry up. His face was starting to grow sweaty and very sick-like, worrying me. “If this is what you think we should do, then let’s do it. Let’s talk to him together, okay?”

I nodded. With that, Gerard put his arm around my waist, and we walked across the lawn, to the shed. I slid open the large and heavy wooden door, and stepped into the darkness with Gerard, closing the door behind us. I shut my eyes and gulped slightly, causing Gerard to hug me closer to him reassuringly. This had been the shed I’d grown up with—the same smell of antique wood, worn by the mist of the river it sat next to, filled to the brim with fishing barrels, gear, and all the extras of past lives that weren’t taking up residence in the home. It almost had that same, peaceful stillness it always had—but something was definitely off.

"Hey Billie," I called out casually, my eyes trying to focus in the darkness. There was no reply, so I continued on. "Where's Tré? If you killed him, so help me-"

"Tré's fine," Billie's voice rang out from the left of me. I choked down the urge to scream, but pushed closer into Gerard.

"There any way we could have him back?" I asked.

"He wasn't yours to begin with."

"And neither was Ali, but you took her anyways."

"On the contrary," Billie said, now in front of us. I didn't even hear him move. "She agreed to be mine.”

"Look here. I didn't agree to be anyone's. And what is it with all bad guys saying 'on the contrary?' Sine when did-"

"I don't think it's time for 'what's-the-deal' jokes," Gerard whispered.

"Gerard, could you let us talk alone for a moment?" Billie asked.

"Not on your life."

"But on hers?" I heard Billie say before I was yanked away from Gerard, quickly dragged to the other side of the room. Billie was twisting my arm behind my back, and with every yank as I struggled it was all I could do to not yelp out in pain.

"Give her back." I could feel the anger coming from the other side of the room.

"Gerard, Sweetie, I'll be okay. Please go before he breaks my arm."

"Ali-" Gerard said, but then paused. "I love you. Okay?"

He then left, the door opening before and closing behind him, leaving me alone with Billie.