My Guardian Vampire

“My bad…” Tré said, still sitting on the floor. Though it had appeared Mikey could hold a grudge against the man, I could never stay mad at Tré.

“Aw Tré, even if Mikey is mad at you, I’m not. I know you had no ill intent.” I went over and ruffled his hair. Mike helped him up.

“I’m still sorry,” Tré said, looking at the floor. Apparently Mikey’s outburst had really hurt him. “I always mess shit up.”

“Tré, it’s all chunky monkey. Mikey is probably just stressed out. Don’t feel bad, it’s not your fault.”

“But it is. I can’t seem to get anything right lately.” I looked at Tré sadly. I didn’t know what got him so down

“Tré, I couldn’t be truly mad at you even if you accidentally cut my head off. Because it’s an accident.”

“Yeah,” Jenn said. “Billie did some freakin’ weird stuff, but we know it wasn’t his fault. He never deserved to die, just like Bert didn’t.”

“Right,” I said, looking away with a pang of guilt.

There was then a loud, rapid banging at the door.

“Let me in! Let me in!”

Bob was in there in a flash, opening the door. Someone flashed through the room before Bob could even begin to close the door.

As the bathroom door was shut, a horrible retching sound cracked through my ear drums, making me feel sick in return. The five of us- Bob, Jenn, Mike, Tré, and I- quickly walked to the bathroom.

“Hey, you okay in there? Need any help?” Mike asked.

“Second!” the voice managed to rasp out before the retching began again. I shuddered at the sound and bit back a bit of bile from my own super-sensitive stomach. I must have turned pale, as Mike offered his arm out for me to steady myself. I held onto it, fearing I’d teeter over. The toilette was flushed soon after the sickly noises stopped, and then the sound of water from the sink ran for a while before the door knob began to turn. We all took a step back to give the door space to turn.

“Gerard?” I asked before the door finally swung open.

Seeing the person before me, I nearly had a seizure.

He was paler than the guys, his face near lifeless. He walked forward from the doorway which he had been using for support slowly before his knees buckled and he collapsed. Bob caught him before he hit the floor.

“Who is this?” Bob said, looking at Mike. Mike shrugged. I saw Bob look to Jenn and I, but all we could do was look at each other speechlessly for a moment. I looked back at the figure, watching it, studying it, waiting for it to change; for some deformity to pop out to change it’s identity from known person to stranger. But there was no change, and I knew there wouldn’t be; I knew who he was.

"Haven't seen you here in a while," someone said, bringing me out of my peaceful place. I opened my eyes and James, a kid I used to talk to, was now sitting next to me. I remembered him being so nice, but his aura had seemed to change from light and happy to aggressive.

"Yeah, I've been busy and the bus takes too long to get home," I said.

"Really? Oh," he said, looking away. I never knew him that well, but I got the feeling he wanted to ask me something.

"Is there something on your mind Jamesy?" I asked. He hated it when I called him Jamesy.

"Don't call me Jamesy," he said a little harsher than I expected. Why the hell was he being so hostile?

I decided to be up front.

"What's your problem James? Why the hell is everyone staring at me so weirdly?" I said, directing my question to all of the bus, most of the pairs of eyes staring in my general direction, or trying not to.

"Well...We hear things..."

"Like what?" I asked, shocked. Who the hell would even bother talking about me? I mean, I know it was a small town and all, but jeeze.

"Well...Just that you've changed, mostly."

"Changed? Because I'm not some depressed abused loser anymore?" This was starting to piss me off.

"You're not the same," James said, looking down. "Look, I didn't mean to act like such a jerk, but I hear stories..."

"James, I don't care what you hear. I'm happy, and I'm...in love."

A few people looked at each other, some with "yeah, right" looks on their faces, some softer.

"In love? If you say so, Ali. We used to be pretty good friends, and I don't want you to get hurt."

I smiled, feeling bad for acting defensively with him. James was the same James, caring for everyone.

"Aww James if it wouldn't be really awkward I'd give you a hug right now!"
We laughed and James moved back to his original seat.

“James,” Jenn and I said together.

~~~~~~~

That last time I had talked to him was the night after Bert came. That night was the second night to change my life, our lives, forever.

Soon later we brought him into the closest room, the room Jenn was staying in, and had him on the bed with a cold press on his forehead. James would wake up for a few seconds for a time, and each time Jenn would nurse him some blood. The rest of the household came to him in and out every once in a while, Casey, Jenn, and I the exception. We stayed with him, feeling a duty to stick by as we were the only ones he knew. To most he was a stranger, but to the three of us he was someone we knew, a schoolmate. To one of the three he was an actual friend: Jenn. Her brother and he had been friends, so Jenn saw him often, and they themselves had become friends. That was the extent of that I knew their relationship. Though by the way she was nursing him, she seemed to care for him more than I had originally thought.

James began to groan loudly, the first sound he had made.

“James?” Mike said, shaking his shoulder. James didn’t respond.

“James! Jamesy! It’s Jenn! Wake up!”

“Ugh,” he moaned, opening his eyes. Though the light in the room was quite dim, he shielded his eyes as if from a blinding light. “Jenn? That you? What-Why are you here? I thought you were-”

“No James, I’m fine. What’s shaking?” she laughed. He cringed.

“I think I just had the worst dream of my life. Why are you in my room?”

“James, your dream wasn’t a dream, unfortunately. You’re in New York. You ran into this house, got sick and passed out. And…By the looks of it, you’re a vampire.”

James sighed.

“I knew you being in my room was too good to be real,” he muttered. I gave a loud cough as I tried to stifle back a laugh. Casey started to laugh, and then I couldn’t hold it in. James sat up slowly, painfully.

“Wow, smooth James,” Casey said. James looked down and blushed slightly, muttering some excuse about meaning to say “too weird,” but I didn’t need to hear it to know it was a lie. He then looked up as he finally noticed something.

“Holy shit,” he cursed. “Is that…Casey? And Ali? What’s going on?”

“James, what the hell happened to you?” Jenn said, diverting the subject in her own embarrassment. “Who…turned you?”

“I’m not sure,” James said, trying to save face. “Some prick got me while I was outside my house. I woke up in another dude’s house, but that dude eventually kicked me out. I’ve been finding random places to stay, but this morning I got kicked out in the sun. I heard there was safety here, for at least until the sun was down if I needed it.”

“You’re lucky you hit the right house then,” Mike said. “All of the buildings around here are places unkempt; no one stays for long. This is the only private one.”

“So I thought. But I got kicked out of everywhere I went, even when the sun was coming up. Someone told me about here.”

“Really? That’s quite troubling,” Mike said, then thought for a moment.

“I really didn’t go to that many places before here though; the sun was coming up fast,” James said quickly, as if he sensed he had said something wrong. He then turned to Jenn. “Jenny, no wonder you went missing. Same to you, Ali. I never heard about Casey though. Who turned all of you?”

“Bert Winters!” Jenn said proudly. I had to admit, it was pretty cool.

“Freakin` A! No way! That’s so cool!”

“I know!” Jenn laughed. James then nodded to me.

“What about you, Ali? And what ever happened to that Gerard dude? He still around?”

“Uhm…” I trailed, coloring a little. I tried to form the word to mention Gerard. “Well, I’m still alive. Human, I mean. And so is Casey. And my friend, Brittany here.” Before it had been just Mike, Casey, Jenn and I in the room, but the rest of the group was hanging around the doorway as the news of the awakened guest spread. I stepped into the light so he could see in which direction I was pointing to Britt. She waved, but James still stared at me, more pointedly at my stomach. I laughed.

“Yeah James…Gerard is still around. And I’m preggers. So is Britt here,” I said, making his eyes thankfully direct away to Britt. The way he had been staring at my stomach was intensely thoughtful, making me self-conscious. “Gerard is actually a vampire too.”

“Gerard’s a vampire? So how did you get the kid?” he asked. I coughed in embarrassment.

“Well James, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much-” Jenn started, laughing.

“And they decide to pop a few pills of Viagra-” Tré continued.

“No, I mean,” James interrupted, blushing slightly. “I was told that vampires couldn’t have kids.”

“That’s what we thought,” I laughed.

“That’s an old tradition some do to newer vampires. They justify it by saying it brings more food. Disgusting,” Mike said. Tré couldn’t help but laugh. I ignored it.

James swung his leg off the bed.

“It doesn’t seem that funny to me,” he said. Jenn smiled.

“Me neither,” she agreed. James went to stand, but began to fall. Jenn and I caught him quicky. Though he was tall, he was light and lean: the athletic type. He did not buy into the hip-hop soccer jerks that had begged him to join the team however, but he liked rock and preferred to surf as his vice. He had a Dane-Cook style haircut, but in black. Even though he was sick and pale, now that he had blood in him he was tanner than the rest of the guys: his sun life had apparently gone with him even into the afterlife.

“James, you should stay in bed for a while longer, though try to resist sleep. Losing consciousness at this point would no longer be good,” Mike said wisely.

“I’ll stay with him,” Jenn offered. “To, you know, make sure he doesn’t fall asleep again.”

“Pshh, yeah, okay,” Brittany mocked. “So, Jenn, how you gonna keep him awake?”

We laughed and left, our group making its way back into the main room. The day stretched on and the guys began to get sleepy.

Though I tried not to show it, I was extremely worried about my Gee-tard. My emotions began to take a turn for the worse as anxiousness and loneliness set in. Katy however easily picked up my distress, used to my small little mannerism I did when I got upset. She announced that the guys, instead of waiting up for Gerard, should go to bed. The Girls, being Katy, Casey and I, would go out and look at Gerard since we were the only ones that could go out in the sun. Frankie and I both refused to let Brittany go; no way were we letting my pregnant best friend and his pregnant girlfriend go out into the slums of New York City even in the sunlight, so Brittany stayed behind. Katy and Mike both did not like the idea of me going out either, but I insisted.

So the three of us set out to find Gerard. We cautiously searched the “abandoned” buildings, startling an occasional dazed, sleepy vampire. Once we were even lunged at by a girl in one of the buildings, but we quickly retreated back into the sun. The light was our shied between our mythical attacker and her almost midday snack. During every advancement into a building Casey just about pissed her pants, especially when we nearly got attacked. It was almost fun in the way we were all spending time together again, getting the shit scared out of us as we looked for my lost boyfriend.

We searched the whole day for Gerard, but found no trace or word of him. As sunset neared we made our way back home. I had hoped he would somehow be there as I opened the door and stepped inside, greeting me with open arms, melting my worries and my heart as always, even when they sometimes seemed as solid as ice-

But he was not there. Disappointment dragged me down until I gave in, sagging tiredly onto the couch. We decided to not wake the boys just yet; no reason to have them waste sleep while they would have to wait anyways until the sun went down. I forced Casey and Katy to go to bed also, as they had done enough. I would wake the boys when the sun had completely set, no problem. I just had to stay awake on the warm, soft, alluring cushions of the couch-

I awoke with a start. Had I just closed my eyes for a moment, or fallen asleep? I went to look at my iPod for the time, but instead saw post-it note on my shirt, on my freaking boob. I took the note and read it.

Hey Al, don’t worry about waking us up. Apparently we did the job for you. We went looking for Gerard. Sorry about losing him again. Get some rest, don’t worry.

-Tre & the Guys

P.S. Look! I put it on your boob!

I laughed and shook my head before getting up. I let my feet take over and drag me where they please, my mind too tired to think on its own. I found myself automatically walking towards the hall that led to Billie’s room. I wasn’t so sure if it was right for me to sleep there, though I didn’t know which rooms were taken. I then decided that I would sleep in the only room I had ever considered my own here: the couch room.

I trudged into the room, and almost laid on the couch before I heard a small squeak of warning.

“Barney,” I said in a warning tone of my own, sleepy and pissed. Barney squeaked back in argument. “Barney,” I said again, more annoyed now, “if you don’t get off that motherfucking couch in one second your rat ass is exterminated." Barney did not move. I opened the door wider to get more light to see Barney better. His beady eyes peered out at me, glaring past the dirty fur surrounding his eyes. I glared at it with more hatred, and it scurried towards the middle of the couch, marking its territory.

It was time for payback.