My Guardian Vampire

Frank laughed at my sigh, and left it at that. Two other guys walked in, and I only barely remembered their names as Mikey and Ray. They were laughing about something as they walked in, Ray with a drink in his hand. It looked vaguely like fruit punch.

"Hi guys...” I said quietly. They stopped in their tracks, looked at me, and then turned around and walked back out, their faces turning pale.

I laughed awkwardly.

"Wow, apparently I have a big fan club here..." I murmured, and another awkward tension was filled between Frank and I. Frank seemed to be holding in his breath.

"It's okay Frank, you can go," I said, a chuckle behind my voice. He thanked me with a nod, jumped off the couch, and quickly left through the door, shutting it behind him.

I sat there for a moment, resting my head against the windowsill behind the chair. I had been in this room a thousand times, though now it seemed so foreign with all these unfamiliar people in it. With one or two exceptions, the rooms of the house we not fancy. All of the furniture held a kind of beach motif, though even with the new furniture the entire house was grounded with the atmosphere of age. I liked this, thankful that this wasn't something likely to change. Because of it's age, the house (like many others on the street) was protected by the town's historical society--a group of "old whiny bastards," as many people in the town described them, but necessary to make sure the houses weren't bought out and knocked down. This room had been part of the porch before my grandfather had walled it up, giving my grandmother a sunroom she could sit in when it was cold (hence the inside windows). It had been a kind gesture in their old age--the type I appreciated, the type my little piece of romantic heart would admit to loving: a gentleman's act to show he cared.

I then realized how frigid it was in the supposed "sun" room. I remembered that Frank had mentioned how cold it was-- before I was viciously kidnapped-- so I figured that the heater was off. Probably why I had been sent here in the first place. I quietly opened one of the doors out of the living room, and thankfully the door to the cellar was on my immediate right. The old house had a very squeaky stairway, but I knew this place like the back of my hand, so I was able to avoid squeaking on the steps, not wanting them to think I had been spying on them or anything.

I reached the ground, a plain dirt floor which had never been bothered to be floored or carpeted, and walked towards the heat, gas, and power switches. Stepping forward into the darkness, I turned on the light and heat switch. Light filtered into the room, though it was almost burnt out, so I could only barely see. I was able to notice some very large long boxes either laying on the floor or leaning against the wall.

My brow furrowed in confusion. I hadn't remembered them being there before. I started to walk towards them, when I heard footsteps above me; apparently the guys were done talking.

'Oopsie...' I thought. I hadn't thought of how long they might be talking for.

I heard some one call my name, so I started to head for the stairs, stepping on the first one, making it squeak loudly.

It suddenly got extremely quiet upstairs.

"What the..?" I wondered, turning the opposite way of the stairs and looking at towards the ceiling where they had been walking and talking a moment before.

Then Gerard was standing in front of me, grabbing my shoulders.

"How did you..?" I asked, trying to point to the stairs, but he was holding my arms tightly. I tried to move, but he just held me tighter, causing me to wince. "Ow.." I said quietly, looking at him. "Gerard... What are you-?"

He abruptly got in my face.

"Ali, what are you doing down here?" he asked. I was starting to become very afraid; my arms were starting to really hurt. "What did you see? What did you hear?" I looked at him confused.

"Gerard, you’re hurting me...” I said quietly, not understanding why he was asking me this. I suddenly hit the point where fear turned into anger. "Let go of me Gerard," I hissed. He seemed to search my face for a moment, then nodded slightly as if confirming something. He let go and sighed.

"Look Ali, I'm really sorry, it’s just...” he lead off, then came the loud crash of the door above us opening and hitting the wall. "What now?" He asked. My eyes turned wide.

"Oh Jesus, what if it’s my mom or something?" I said. I didn’t know if my mom would come here, but she was liable to do anything; it was our house after all.

"Come with me," Gerard said, taking my hand and running up the stairs with me. I tried to pull back, saying jibberish in fear of how the last thing I needed was to be seen with my mom, but Gerard paid no attention. Gerard and I quickly entered the living room. Gerard, seeing who it was, merely laughed, though I could tell there was a definite edge to it.

"Oh, it’s just you."

Standing there was a tall, slightly muscular man, looking directly at me. Gerard sat down, throwing his leg over a chair lazily. The other guys, seeing Gerard back off, relaxed their tense-looking positions and sat down on the various furniture in the room.

"Brother, please sit and join us, won't you?" he laughed, but it was clearly in a sarcastic, mocking tone. I still stood there confused.

"Brother?" I asked. "I thought you said Mikey was...” I trailed off, looking more intently at the man now. I noticed now he was not as tall or muscular as I originally thought, but somehow gave the appearance and air of it. I also noticed that he was not a man, but was actually probably no older than Mikey or Gerard. There were some very slight similarities between the guy and his two brothers: the pale skin, dark straight hair, the smooth lips and cold eyes. I noticed he looked much more like Mikey than Gerard. The guy saw me studying him. I smiled meekly, an automatic action of politeness, but he still frowned at me. Gerard smiled from his chair, gesturing to us.

"Ali, meet my brother -" Gerard began, but his brother cut him off.

"What have you done to her, Gerard?" he asked, looking from me to Gerard. Wait... Was he talking about me? No, it couldn't be. I didn't know him.

"Ali?" Gerard asked, showing a toothy grin to his brother, waving a hand in my direction though not looking at me. "Nothing... yet."

'Yet?!' I thought in my head.

"I'm taking her with me Gerard, you can’t have her."

Woah woah woah. What now? He was acting like I wasn't even there, which I did not like at all.

"He's done nothing to me that's any of your fucking business," I said, gritting my teeth. He suddenly turned to me, addressing me for the first time.

"Why didn't you run before? I told you, over and over to leave him! But you never did, so I had to come down here and save your ass myself," he said, totally confusing me. I had no idea what the hell this guy was talking about.

Suddenly, it started to slowly piece together in my mind, but...

'No, that couldn't have been him...' I thought, staring at him. Gerard suddenly looked back and forth between the two of us, staring at each other intently. Gerard was definitely pissed off now. He stood up, and suddenly seemed taller than before.

"What did you do to her?" Gerard asked. I suddenly felt my body wanting to leave, wanting to get away from this league of psychos. "Stay out of this," Gerard said, getting up in his brother's face. "It’s five against one. She is mine." I quickly turned my head to Gerard. I also did not like being owned.

"No," I heard Gerard's brother say, and it was the last thing I heard before there was only darkness and the sensation of my stomach wanting to upchuck. As soon as I had left, I was suddenly on the ground, face full of dirt and grass and the dew that had formed on it all.

"What the hell?!" I yelled, but no one was around me. I stood up painfully, and tried to get my bearings, trying to rub the dirt and rocks off my hands. I was now on the front lawn, with the sun beginning to climb over the river. I suddenly saw Gerard’s brother in the shadows, darting his eyes between me and...behind me? I turned around, and Gerard was there. He looked slightly sick, but was keeping his ground. The bit about me moving from there to here was still lost on me, but being in between the two brothers made me more concerned on how to get anywhere else.

"What's a matter big brother?" Gerard said mockingly. "Can’t stand a little sun? You better get going now; I know you’re along way from home..." I saw Gerard’s brother look at me, still unable to decide something.

"Sun's rising," Gerard said again, smiling now. "I only have to walk a few feet, and you have to run for miles. Don't worry, Ali is in safe hands," Gerard said, putting his hand on my shoulder. Now I was really scared: I didn’t understand what just happened, or why Gerard was looking sicker by the moment. I wanted to shrug away from grasp, but then it was like the impossible happened. Suddenly, Gerard’s brother was totally gone, vanished as if he had been something from my mind. Gerard walked inside the house quickly, taking me inside with him.

"W-what just happened?" I asked, totally dazed, figuring by now I was definitely having one of the longest and most real dreams of my life. Gerard quickly pulled me up the stairs to the second floor, pulling down the shade and pulling the long curtain in front of the single window. "Gerard!" I said, sleep-deprived and pissed off.

He turned around, looking very sick and tired, pale and almost hungry looking, as if he hadn't eaten in days. I stared at him for a moment, my anger quickly dissolving. He looked concerned for me even though he was the one in pain. I still wasn't sure why he was in pain, but it was there nonetheless.

"W-what happened to you Gerard?" I asked, touching his face. He put down my hand gently, the softness of the action seeming somehow to tire him more.

"Don't worry about it Ali, I'll be better tonight. It’s Saturday now, so get some sleep...” he said, leaving the room quickly.

It seemed like only a suggestive order, but for some reason I couldn't disobey it. Suddenly, all that happened was slipping from my mind's mental grasp--and I could only think of bed. My mind on some kind of overload, I climbed into the bed, one that I've never slept in before but laid on many times, laughing and talking with my cousin as a child. The bed wasn't the comfiest, but I was able to fall asleep quickly enough.