My Guardian Vampire

Billie let go of my arm, and sat me down on one of the old broken plush leather chairs in the shed. I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry.

"Now we can talk for real," Billie said, and I could barely see his outline sit across from me, probably on some old broken bucket.

"Where's Tré? Is Mike okay?" I asked, causing Billie to sigh.

"Tré is actually sitting next to you, knocked out. He'll be fine. Mike is also fine, though he may not think so. He's really only tied up, but I made him think he was in a dream." I gave Billie an extremely disgusted look, wishing desperately it could burn him.

"Mike and Tre were your best friends-"

"Yes, they were. And then, they betrayed me, and they had to be dealt with. They would be dead now if I didn't know it would have made you extremely upset."

"Yeah, that puts it lightly… Ok. So, obviously I want to know what happens next."

"What happens next? You become my wife, and-"

"No, sorry, not going to happen."

"You know," he said, suddenly behind me, whispering in my ear, "there's a rumor-"

"You listen to rumors?" I asked, my heart pounding as his breath fanned warmth onto my ear. He did not answer me, but simply continued.

"More of an old wives’ tale, really. They say that one day, if an extremely powerful vampire-"

"Such as yourself."

"-such as myself, yes—married an equally powerful human, they could, hypothetically, rule."

"Rule? Over what?"

Billie laughed, saying nothing towards my question.

"You know, you could be powerful. Forever."

"Well if I'm already so damn powerful, and so are you, why would we ever need each other?"

"You don't understand, not yet," he said, moving back to in front of me again. "You'd get all of my powers. Two hundred years of building power, given to you in a matter of moments. Whatever's mine would be yours-"

"And whatever's mine would be yours too, right?"

Billie nodded in the darkness, my eyes now able to see him more clearly.

"Part of the reason no ruling vampires exist is that we can read each other's mind when preparing for an attack against another equally or more powerful one. It's nearly impossible to concentrate for defending both your body and mind, and even I can't do it for long. You become predictable. That's one of the reasons the new vampires were always so easy to kill; they never knew that we could see them, all they had was blind hunger, easily making mistakes with a power they can't handle.

"But with your power, we can learn to safeguard our thoughts whenever we want."

"But it's just one thing!" I exclaimed, starting to see where this was going. Billie was in true take-over-the-world mode. "One freak thing. It doesn't make me close to as powerful as you. You said it yourself, I am the prey. My only advantages are the mind thing, which I don't even know what that is about, and walking in the sun, which literally anyone else but you vampires can do. There’s no point to this."

"That's not true," Billie said, shaking his head. "Just from the journal alone I could see the things both you and your lovesick puppy haven't realized. It's a shame from him he's so young and unaware of what's going on."

"'Shame for him?'" I repeated, getting angry. No one could call Gerard a lovesick puppy besides me and his friends. "I think it's a shame for you that you're such a psychotic asshole. You think I'm going to marry you just because you offer me power, or threaten to kill? I rather kill myself then let you go on your world domination streak."

"Ali, Ali, Ali."

Oh god. I had been "Ali"ed three times in a row by a psychotic vampire before.
It was never good.

"You honestly think I'd let you spill a drop of your precious blood before I got to it? Besides," he said, getting close to me, "you know I actually do love you, right? All those times with you... Well, I'm not so good of an actor either.

"You've always been in my head, even before I technically knew you, saw who you were. You and your friends... I don't know if it's something in the water or what, but you all-" he leaned over and put his and lightly held my cheek. I moved away from it, and he continued regardless. "You all accept us, the monsters. And you especially, you were almost killed, and yet you came back to him, to people like us... And then you accepted me for being two hundred years old? For dealing drugs? For my love of alcohol? I figure if you can... It has to be love, even if you can't see it yet. I love you, Ali. And I know you love me."

"It's not love, not with you."

"You don't know that."

"Billie," I said, looking at him like he was insane. "Of course I know. I would die for Gerard. For you? Not so much, especially with what you've done." He looked hurt, but I couldn't let this go on. "Gerard would never kidnap me. If I said I loved someone else, Gerard would accept it. Gerard would be there for me-"

"But you said it yourself. You said it a thousand times, it was always in your mind. You weren't right for him. There was someone else for him, and therefore someone else for you."

"No," I said, shaking my head, tears coming to my eyes. I couldn't forget what I had to done to Gerard, never forgive myself for the pain I caused to everyone. I would never deserve any of them. "I was insane. I am insane. But maybe my heart is so screwed up with my head, all I can love is Gerard. It doesn't matter. I'm sorry Billie, even if I'm not meant Gerard, I can never stop loving him."

"That's such a lie!" Billie accused, getting angry now. "You said you loved me! You wanted to get married me, spend forever with me-"

"I didn't know it was forever forever!" I yelled, angry myself, gripping the arm of the chair. "Though, maybe I wouldn't have cared then. I care now because I want to love Gerard forever. I want to dream of him, spend what time I have with him..." I began to cry. Billie Joe tried to lift my chin like he used to, but I swatted him away, curling up and hiding my head in my knees on the chair.

"Sorry Ali, it's too late. I know you can love me like you used to. Once you see things from my point of view-"

"I can't, I can't, I never will. Never ever. I don't want to love you. I don't want to be with you. I hate you, I hate you-" I was sobbing, and Billie grabbed my arm and held it tightly.

"Stop this, or I may kill Gerard anyways. And all of your little vampire family there." He dragged me off the couch and I screamed, going into my two year old defenses, hitting his arms and trying to go back to the chair as if it would protect me, bring me back Gerard...

"Grow up. Our wedding is tomorrow."

"Fuck you!"

"That's after."

I looked at him in disgust.

"You think I'd actually do it with you now? You're never getting sex!"

"If I'm not getting it, I'm taking it."

I stared at him in a waning confusion and a waxing horror.

"You're... You're going to rape me?" He said nothing, simply pulled open the door.

"We're leaving now. Say goodbye to your friends."

"What? You're making me go now? No! I can't do this, I won't."

Billie Joe pulled me out with him into the sun, Gerard immediately coming out of the shadows, stepping out in front of us.

"What happened?"

"Gerard! He's... He's making me marry him."

I had no clue what to do, how to react. I thought I had a grip on what was going on, but this was way above my head. People don't get forced to get married like this, there are laws, there are... There had to be something.

"You can't have her," Gerard said, his fangs equipped as he growled. "You honestly think I'm going to give her up without a fight?"

"Yes, I do. Unfortunately it's very, very simple. When I kill you, Ali would go mad, but I'd never let her kill herself, not with all the power she has. That would be a total eternity of torture..."

"So you admit you know I love him," I said, glaring at him. He turned his look to me, though it was only briefly, as if I wasn't part of the conversation at all. It was two adults talking, and me, the little kid, trying to get their own word in.

"I think you are... infatuated. And it would only grow with his death." He turned back to concentrate on Gerard.

"We're leaving, now. It would be best if you leave Ali alone."

"Billie, you can't do this."

"I can, and I will. You'll see-"

"No, I won't. Billie, you've lost it."

"I have not! That's it, let's go."

He started to tug me away from Gerard, and I screamed.

"No! Please, can I stay here for one more night? If I can... Well, I won't say I'll go any more willingly, because that would be a lie, but I just... I need to be with Gerard again."

Billie stopped tugging, to my surprise.

"Fine. But I will be staying also. Come, we only have a few hours of sleep before we leave."

I looked to him, stunned. He really gave in that easily? It was then that I noticed just how ill he looked—running all the way in the sun had probably taken it out of him. Considering what bad shape Tré was in, I was surprised he was still standing. Gerard and I said nothing. I pulled my hand away from Billie's and held Gerard’s. Billie also said nothing, and followed us in that same silence as we walked quickly to the house and went inside.

"Gerard! Ali! What hap-"

Everyone in the room seemed to freeze as they saw Billie behind us.

"Who's this?" Jenn asked, seeing everyone's frozen positions. I had never noticed Jenn there before, forgetting she lived here now.

"Hey Jenny," I said weakly, smiling slightly. "Sorry guys, I tried to make things right..."

"Oh god no Ali—Gerard, he's not making her, is he?" Bob asked.

"Who is he? What's he doing?!" Jenny asked.

I heard the door crash open from the other side of the house, and soon enough Katy, Britt, Casey, and Grace came running through the door.

Gerard barely noticed them, nodding to Bob's question as his face went paler, probably not only from being in the sun.

"We came here as soon as he could-" Katy started

"What's going on?"

"You bastard! I'll kill you!" Mikey yelled, and suddenly he and Billie were on the floor, Mikey trying to kill Billie Joe. Things quickly turned sour, Billie quickly on top of Mikey. Even after all that time in the sun—Billie Joe was still much, much stronger than the rest. I was totally shocked for a moment, never seeing this kind of action in Mikey.

"Mikey! Stop it!" Grace yelled. I had never heard Grace yell, either.

'What the fuck is going on? This doesn't happen!'