Vampires Will Never Hurt You

Prologue

I never asked for this.
I didn't want it.
I was happy.
I had the good job, lots of friends and a loving family.
And I had Frank.
Everything was perfect.
It was, at least, until he came along.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 1

"Morning sleepy-head," I say as Frank finally crawls out of bed.
I'm already dressed and have been for several hours.

"Hey," he says, smiling tiredly as he wraps his arms around my waist and pecks me on the lips.
I smile back at him as he pulls away.

"I've got to go in a minute," I tell him and he pouts sulkily making me chuckle at his adorableness.
"We can have a nice afternoon and evening at home when I get back. Me, you, popcorn and a movie; how does that sound?" I ask and he fakes a thoughtful look before saying "Okay then, but you owe me."
He winks playfully at me.
"Tell Mikey that I say hi."

"Will do," I tell him, kissing him again.
"Love you."

"Love you too," he replies, closing the door behind me.

When I reach the cafe I find Mikey already waiting for me, sipping at his coffee.
We talk for a while about the usual things - music, our family, work - before I actually pluck up the courage to say what I really asked him here to say.

"Mikey, I want to ask your opinion about something."
Mikey smiles at me, eager as ever.
"Well, me and Frank... We... I... Um I..."

"Oh my god," Mikey says with a mocking expression of shock on his face.
"Is Frank pregnant?"

I laugh a mix between genuine amusement and nerves.
"No, actually I... I want to ask him to marry me."
Mikey's face lights up and I feel instantly relaxed, the wide grin on my face mirroring his.
"So you approve?"

"Oh god yes!" he replies ecstatically, "but only if I can be best man. And I actually have some news for you too. I met a guy.2
It takes me a minute to process what he's said before "No way! Oh Mikey, that's amazing!"
I know that this is a big deal to Mikey; unlike me, he got bullied a lot when he came out which made him shy and unconfident so meeting guys is hard for him.

"It's a bit soon to say if it will come to anything, we only met a week ago, but we got talking and he asked me for my number and then he called me yesterday. Can you believe it? And we're going to meet for lunch. He's going to meet me here in a minute actually. You can meet him if you want. His name's Andy and he's really sexy and so sweet and. Well, you know."
Mikey finishes and he is out of breath from talking so fast but I can see that he is happy and it is about time he met somebody who can see just how truly amazing he is.

"I'm so happy for you Mikey," I tell him, smiling and he smiles back but then his eyes dart from mine to the door and he bites his lip in what I assume is a mix of anxiety and excitement.
I direct my eyes in the same direction as his to see a tall, skinny guy walking through the door.
"Is that him?" I ask turning back to Mikey and he replies with a single nod.

I turn back to look at the guy now walking towards us.
He cannot be very old; I'd say early 20s at the most.
And seeing him closer he looks even thinner; his cheekbones sticking out of his face.
I see what Mikey means, he is sexy but with his skin and bony body he looks almost dead.
His skin is pale, almost white, contrasting majorly with the rest of him: his long, messy black hair; black skinny jeans; black leather jacket and black makeup.
Clearly this guy likes black.
And those eyes.
There is defiantly something sinister about them.
Something almost un-human.
I don't like him.

"Hey Mike!" he says, grinning.

"Hey!" Mikey replies.
"This is my brother, Gerard," he says pointing towards me.

"'Sup?" he says with a smile, holding out his hand, which I reluctantly shake.
His skin feels cold against mine and once again I am reminded of a corpse.
Mikey shoots me a look that means 'would you mind leaving?'

"I've got to go," I say quickly and he similes gratefully.
I give him a hug and nod curtly to Andy before leaving.

I don't want to leave Mikey with this man, something is not right and I don't like it.
Maybe I should keep a watch over them, just for a little while.
What harm can it do?
And anyway, Frank is not expecting me back for another hour yet.

I stand at the other side of the road from the cafe, watching them from inside a dark alley.
Everything seems fine; they're getting along and Mikey is smiling.
Anything or anyone that makes Mikey smile like that can't be bad, right?
So maybe I was wrong to stay.
I should just leave.

But as I turn to go I see them leave the cafe and walk straight towards the alley.
I can't let them see me; Mikey would be upset if he knew that I felt the need to spy on him while he is on a date.
I turn to go farther into the alley but I hear voices coming from the other end.
Without thinking I jump into a nearby skip, watching through a gap at the top as a group of guys with the same dark clothes and pale skin as Andy approach at the same time as Andy himself leads Mikey into the dark alley.

"Hey, Andy! How's it going?" says one of the guys.
So he knows them then?

"What's up Ashley?" Andy replies with a grin on his face.

"Who's this?" asks another.

"This is Mikey."

"Well isn't he a cutie?"
I don't like the way that this guy is looking at Mikey; it sends chills down my spine.
"Don't you think CC?"

"Oh yeah Jake," another replies.
This one must be CC.
"He looks good enough to eat."

"Delicious," the other, Jake, agrees.
I watch Mikey shuffle nervously but Andy has his arm around his shoulder stopping Mikey from moving anywhere.

"Don't be scared Mikey," the last guy says, walking towards me.
"They call me Jinxx."
The last word is almost a whisper.
These are some creepy guys.
I try to remember each of their names, just in case anything happens.

Jake: "Yeah, it's okay Mikey."

CC: "No need to be scared."

Jake again: "Are we scary?"

Jinxx: "I don't think so."

Andy: "It's alright Mikey."

CC: "Yeah, we just want to have some fun."

Jinxx: "We won't hurt you."

Ashley: "Much."

No.

I want to scream and shout as he grabs Mikey's arm, pulling him towards them, Mikey's eyes bulge and a squeal escapes his lips.
I want to jump out and attack them as they kiss and caress Mikey's delicate skin.
I want to, but I can't.
My muscles won't respond and my body's stopped working.
Fear is pinning me to where I am crouched.

Andy grabs Mikey from behind, one hand over his mouth and the other wrapped around his waist, pulling him to the floor.
He then releases Mikey, giving him a split second to escape but before even got up the other lunge at him.
One leans over and bites Mikey's neck, piercing his skin and causing a scream of terror to escape from his mouth, muffled by Andy's hand so that only the gang and I can hear it.
Mikey's cries bring me back to my senses and I leap out from my place of hiding, jumping onto Ashley whose lips are still pressed to Mikey's neck.

"Get off of my brother you prick!" I yell as I pull him backwards but I am outnumbered and every one of them is taller and stronger than I.
I scream out as razor-sharp, white teeth rip out my neck.
Unlike Mikey's, the scream released from my un-gagged mouth echoes loudly around the alley and out onto the busy street beyond.
The gang freeze, staring out towards the crowded road.
People must have heard.
Someone must be coming to help us.
But the gang must have had the same thought as they speed off in the other direction, leaving me and Mikey to die.

Oh god, we are going to die.
I'm not ready yet.
We're too young.
Struck down before our prime and before I even got the chance to propose to Frank.
What will even happen to Frank once I'm gone?
He has no one else to look after him and I don't want to leave him alone.
Not now.
Not like this.

I curl up to Mikey as he moans out in agony, teas flooding his face.
I hold him in my arms and pray to whatever god there may be - to anyone that is able to hear me.
As I rapidly lose consciousness I think as hard as I can, 'someone save my soul tonight. Please. Save my soul.'