Silence of a Love Bat

“Got postcards from my former selves saying: How've you been?" – Fall Out Boy, The Carpal Tunnel of Love

Daniel was curled up in a ball, his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms pulled around his legs. He was shivering and shaking. His teeth were chattering and his skin was lined with goose bumps. He looked scared, like he knew this was a bad idea – listening to Kara was always a bad idea. Yet Kara insisted that this would be fun, and her new friend was just an amazing person.

He was amazing…with his words. The dark skinned man was able to gain Kara’s trust within one conversation, and the rest was just a matter of pulling her along. Jacob wouldn’t leave Kara for the life of him, because he was her shadow. Wherever Kara ventured to, Jacob was not far behind. And this stranger had a beer in Jacob’s hand even before they made camp in the park.

Daniel looked over at his sister, who was practically sitting in this man’s lap, and watched her laugh. Jacob told Daniel many times before Kara’s laugh was contagious and Daniel fully agreed, but that didn’t apply tonight. Her laughter was drowned out by the stranger’s dark façade. He had this certain air around him that made Daniel’s gut scream “Get out.” But he didn’t move.

He rubbed his hands together roughly, trying to get them to warm up. It wasn’t working, and neither were his attempts to leave. Daniel already asked Jacob what he thought of this Travie guy, but he didn’t say anything – he was sickly pale.

“Kara,” Daniel whispered, breaking up her laughter. “I really don’t feel well, can we just go?”

“Oh come on Daniel!” she sighed. “Have a beer you’ll feel better.”

“No, Kara I’m serious,” Daniel insisted. He really didn’t feel well, not since this guy approached them.

“Yeah man,” the stranger grinned. “My friends didn’t even get here yet.”

Daniel didn’t want to stay and meet these friends, so he pulled his keys out of his pocket and chucked them at his sister. “I’m going to go…just don’t…stay out too late, ‘kay Kara?”

“Yeah, okay party-pooper,” she giggled, taking a sip of another beer. “How are you going to get inside?”

“The,” and Daniel didn’t feel comfortable saying it, but his sister looked serious, “hidden spare.”

“Oh,” she smiled at him brightly. “I forgot about that! Well, don’t get lost Daniel.”

Daniel sluggishly got up, and started walking away. When he was half way out of the park, he felt eyes watching him. It was dark and nothing seemed worse than having that eerie feeling. He turned around and was met by a pair of hands that grabbed his shoulders.

“Hello, Danny.”

He noticeably shook. Only one person called him Danny, and the voice sounded nothing like hers – she was dead, and Daniel didn’t believe in ghosts.

“Hi,” he breathed.

The hands on his shoulders tightened, and he still couldn’t see who had him, but they defiantly were strong.

“Leaving the party so soon?” It was defiantly a man, who could tell that much. “Travie wanted to introduce us to you, Danny. I think it’s rude that you didn’t stick around.”

“I don’t feel well,” Daniel chocked. “I’m heading home anyways, nothing special.”

“We can make your night special.” Daniel saw the white of the man’s teeth, and how bright they stood out against the darkness. What made him blink though wasn’t that, it was the fangs that had grown out in place of his canines.

“What-what are you?” he almost shrieked.

The man licked his lips. “You can’t tell? I’m a vampire, Danny.”

Daniel blanked out to the sound of a girl’s screams some ways off, echoing from the direction of where he left his sister with the stranger.

* * *

“Pete!” I screamed, sitting upright in bed. “Pete!”

The door almost broke in half as Pete bounded in, his eyes wild and wide. He rushed over, sitting on the bed and pulling me towards him. “Emily, what happened?”

My breath was heavy in the air. “He got them, Pete he got them!”

“Shhh,” he cooed, wrapping his arms around my back and pulling me in a tight embrace. I laid my head on his chest, sobbing slightly, and he stroked my hair. “It was just a dream, nothing to worry about.”

“No!” I yelled into his shirt. “Pete he got them, Travie got them!”

Pete tensed slightly, but continued his soothing. “It’s okay, Emily, it’s okay.”

I heard Patrick come sliding in with Joe and Andy at his tail.

“What happened?” he asked, slightly out of breath. “She okay?”

“Just a nightmare, it’s okay though, I got this,” Pete stated.

“You sure?” Joe questioned.

“Need anything?” Andy asked.

“Yeah, guys it’ll be okay. Let me just calm her down, you can go back to bed.”

Patrick was the last to leave, and I was still crying into Pete’s chest. His grip never loosened, and he kept whispered soothing words.

“Pete I saw it, he got them. Travie did, I know he did!”

“Look at me,” Pete said, pulling me away from him to look at my eyes. “Tomorrow, I’ll go and see what happened, alright? I promise though, he didn’t hurt them.”

I knew he was only saying this to make me feel better, because Travie wasn’t known to pass up a meal, but I nodded my head anyways. “Okay,” I sniffled. “Stay with me?”

Pete pulled me close again, but this time he laid us down on the bed and got us under the covers. I was stilled curled into his chest, relaxing to the rise and fall of his lungs. He was rubbing small circles on my back and kissing the top of my head.

“I love you,” I murmured.

“I love you too, Em,” he replied. “It’ll be okay, I promise.”