Sick and Twisted Affair

--Sal--

Bus rides were always boring, I sat on my computer trying to entertain myself while we drove down the freeway. Matt was still nowhere to be found but, nobody was worried about him. Our manager hadn't even noticed his absence when he met with us this morning.

I finally decided on a movie and just kept to myself in my bunk. Reid and Doug had drug Serrah into a game of go fish which was proven more difficult than they thought on the road.

"Serrah, do you have any 5's?" Reid asked laughing.

"You only know I have a 5 because it fell on the ground!" She yelled and threw her cards at him.

"It's not cheating." Reid said trying to defend himself.

"What are you up to back here?" Serrah asked closing the divider behind her.

"Watching a movie, how's that card game going?" I asked with a smirk creeping on my face.

"Shut up." She said rolling her eyes.

"Join me?" I asked patting the small space next to me.

"Your bunk is a little small." She said smiling innocently.

"I know but, I'll make you fit."

She scooted in next to me and we made it work, every bump we hit in the road certainly didn't help though.

Suddenly a huge urge came over me and I stiffened.

--Serrah--

Sal's arm tensed up and I looked at him confused, this wasn't normal.

"What's wrong?" I asked a little concerned. I was only slightly concerned because most things didn't hurt a vampire..

"Urge. I need to drink." His eyes started to turn dark and he started to move around like he was looking for something.

"Shit, I'm out of back up." Sal's eyes were growing darker and darker. This was a side of him that I hadn't seen in awhile.

I looked at my wrist and almost slapped myself for being stupid. Hello, blood buffet here.

"Here." I said offering up my wrist as though this was a sacrifice.

"Are you sure?" He asked although I could feel his body trying so hard not to plunge.

"Yes, I'm sure." I smiled and he bit into my wrist faster than I could blink. I closed my eyes and just leaned against the pillow. As awkward as this may look, it was comforting. I was getting so use to being bitten that it didn't hurt at all.

He stopped and I looked at him confused. His eyes were still dark and glaring.

"Sal, are you okay?" I asked again and now I was getting a little fucking scared.

I was in a tiny ass place with a vampire. My ass could be dead in three seconds flat.

Before I had any say he attacked my neck and I fell backwards. I tried not to freak out and resist but, being bitten in the neck felt like getting a hickey, just worse.

"Finally, Sal is drinking humans again." Matt's voice was bittersweet. It was the last thing I wanted to hear right now.

"Nice of you to show up, Matt." Sal said with an intense glare.

I stood up and made my way past Matt, glaring with every step I took. Our eyes were locked until I closed the divider again.

"Matt's back?" Doug asked looking up from his guitar.

"Sadly." I said sitting down on the couch in a glum state.

"Matt shut the fuck up, you have no idea what's going on!" Sal's voice was sharp and bitter. Like acid mixed with fire.

"Here they go again." Brendon said putting in his headphones.

I just scooted closer to Reid and we both sat and listened to their argument.

"Is it always like this?" I asked Reid.

"Pretty much, we've always had problems. Matt's never been the same."

"Did something happen?" I asked expecting a stupid answer.

"Yeah, it basically ruined him." Reid looked up at the ceiling as if remembering something.

"What happened? If you don't mind me asking." I looked at Reid intently waiting for an answer.

"It wasn't very long ago, less than two years ago. The band was playing a sold out show and we hadn't been Vampires for very long. Sal had talked us all into limiting the number of humans we murdered and sticking to animals and blood bags. Matt and Sal were very intent on keeping our state on the down low. Matt actually wasn't an asshole then. Well Matt finished the show and met a girl, he was drawn to her and it wasn't long before she was hanging around us all the time. Don't get me wrong she was cool but there was something off about her."

"I can see where this is going." I snickered a little bit.

"Well, Matt fell in love. He showed me the engagement ring he had gotten her. I was the first to see it and he was planning on proposing that night. She knew what Matt was, he had told her and she wanted to be like him. He had agreed to turn her but when he proposed first he learned that she was just using him, she didn't actually want to be with him. She just wanted an eternal life, she didn't want to be with a monster like Matt."

"Oh gosh.."

"It hurt him so badly that he came back to our hotel that night and tore the room apart. He was horrified, to know that someone he cared about so much thought he was a monster. It broke the last bit of heart he had left. From that day on he believed that all girls were the same and he wasn't going to give them the chance to use him." Reid's eyes held remorse.

"I had no idea." I felt so horrible for looking at him as an asshole, he was just a broken heart.

"You were just a puzzle piece to his game and knowing that you worked your way through his game must remind him of her."

"That makes me feel so much better."

"I'm sure he'll learn that you're not her one day."

"Maybe in a million years if I'm lucky." I laughed but knew it was fake. Matt hated me because I reminded him of someone who ruined him. That made me feel great..

"Actually Sal, you're the one who doesn't fucking get it! You never have, you always take the things I fucking want! It's like a game to you, when will you learn that I WIN, YOU LOSE." Matt was screaming and the whole bus was shaking with the booming of their voices.

"How do you handle this Reid?" I asked in utter shock.

"You learn to deal with it." Reid just leaned back in his seat and listened to the rumble of the road underneath the bus's tires.

"Matt, will you ever realize that they're not all the same!" Sal was extremely pissed and you can hear it in his voice.

"Wanna bet!?" Matt screamed and burst through the divider.

He had my wrist wrapped in his grip in a matter of seconds and I was shocked.

"Serrah, you're coming with me." Matt said in a calm voice.

"What?" I asked swallowing the lump in my throat.

"Matt, come on. She's not Carmen. You know she's not." Reid was trying his best to reason with Matt.

"Matt let her go, she hasn't done anything."

"She ruined my life! What do you mean this pathetic human hasn't ruined my life!?" Matt's voice was becoming louder and louder with every word and it was as if the world stopped moving.

Who the fuck was even driving this bus? Why weren't they stopping or something, I mean damn.

"Matt, she is not Carmen for the fifteenth time!" Sal yelled standing right in front of Matt. They were face to face like fighting dogs. Monster against monster.

I closed my eyes and regretted it, Matt burst through the opening in the roof and set me down on top of the bus. Wind was flying all around me as we continued down the freeway. I could hear Reid and Sal banging on the roof of the bus trying to get Matt to open the hatch.

My voice wanted to scream but it couldn't. Matt slowly walked in front of me and knelt down.

He didn't say anything, he just studied me. Looking at every feature on my face. He traced my jaw with his thumb and ran his hand over my forehead. I didn't move, I didn't say a word. I could barely hear anything with all the wind rushing around me.

"What?" I finally said to him. It felt more like a yell through the wind, I could barely hear myself.

"Did you purposely cross my path? Use me to get on the inside, to get close to Sal?" He asked me through the wind.

"I can't hear you." I yelled at him.

He grabbed my wrist again and we were under a bridge on the freeway next to a creek. "How are we gonna get back!?" I yelled at him.

"Don't worry about it and answer my question." His voice was harsh and my throat was caught in words.

"Did you purposely put yourself in my path. Did you want to use me?" He asked again rather viciously.

"No." It was the only word I could manage out of my mouth.

"You're lying."

"No I'm not!"

"Then why are you here!?" He yelled. I cowered slightly, he was standing over the top of me and it was hard not to completely fall to the ground in defeat.

He realized that he was scaring me and let up a bit. "Sorry." Was all he said as he paced back and forth next to the creek.

"I didn't know you before I walked into that coffee shop. All I knew was that I had fallen in love with your voice. Your lyrics, the way you sang them. Everything about you seemed flawless and perfect. You saved me on days I couldn't save myself. It was a stroke of luck that we ended up in the same place. I had no idea. As much as I had always wanted to meet you, I never dreamed that it would be in my safe haven." My eyes became a little watery. I was remembering every reason why I had fallen in love with this band. I understood him now, it was like I had known him my whole life when in reality I hadn't.

"You're really not Carmen." He whispered under his breath, it was barely audible.

"No I'm not. Is that her?"

"The one who ruined my fucking life, yes."

"I'm sorry." It was all I could say, I had no other words in my voice box.

"No, I'm sorry." He said hugging me. It was unexpected and peaceful.

When he pulled away I smiled. "Are you okay now?" I asked cautiously.

"I'll never be okay." He said taking my hand instead of my bruised wrist and taking off. We were back inside the bus before I even had time to register what was happening.

"Are you okay?" Sal asked protectively as he wrapped his arms around me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." In reality, I wasn't fine. I wasn't okay with realizing that someone had been hurt so badly they'd never be the same.

Matt had disappeared again.