Black Veil Brides Vampire

“Woo! I win!” CC cheered drunkenly. One might think he had been playing a game of some sort prior which resulted in him winning, but as far as anyone could tell, the drummer just randomly up and shouted for whatever reason his drunken mind had deemed reasonable. Perhaps, in his head, he had won an invisible game of poker that only he knew about and could play.

“Won?” Jinxx turned to his friend in confusion, ignoring when his vision fell out of focus for a moment at the movement.

“Who knows, he had ten shots of whiskey and downed three packs of beer in a hour.” Ashley slurred a bit. He had been lounging back in his seat with a bottle of his own favorite brand of whiskey in hand.

“I’m going out for a smoke,” Andy voiced and got up to leave his very wasted friends to their shenanigans.

“Jon will be back soon, maybe you should lay down, dude.” Andy heard Jake suggest as he stepped – and tripped off the bus.

“I’m okay!” He straightened up after confirming he was still on his feet.

“Maybe you need to lay down.” Jake added.

“I’m fine...” Andy grumbled and closed the bus door behind him, a cigarette already between his lips.

All five men were quite drunk, but Jake was the responsible one that night and remained mostly conscious of his surroundings. However, he would never have been able to guess what was about to befall him and his friends.

Andy stood outside the black tour bus his band was calling home for now, enjoying the nicotine and brisk night air. He was glad his band’s manager, Jon, had stopped the bus; Andy wasn’t good in moving vehicles. Jon’s reason for halting their trip to their next venue was fuzzy to Andy, who blamed the alcohol in his system for blurring out the memory.

For all he knew, his manager could’ve been a secret serial killer and saw the perfect victim walking alone on the street and decided he needed to do away with them.

Regardless, Andy was still pleased that they had stopped.

Where’s my phone...? He thought passively for the third time before remembering – also for the third time – he left in his bunk.

“Right, bunk...” Andy shook his head in disbelief, wondering if it had, in fact, only been three times he questioned this.

Meanwhile, a man with a gray hood pulled over his face was watching the singer from the street corner the tour bus was parked on the side of. The man’s hands were buried in his pockets and his features were shaded in darkness, but there was no mistaking it – he was watching.

There was something bizarre about the man besides the fact that he was stalking a stranger. His body twitched spastically every now and then and an occasional glimmer of two red orbs just past the hood could be seen...had anyone been looking. Andy, in all his drunken obliviousness, hadn’t the faintest idea that the man was there at all.

The man hadn’t moved since he saw the bus parked there on the side of the street over fifteen minutes ago. He didn’t recognize the vehicle or its inhabitants, but something about it made him grow increasingly angry. Then, he saw Andy step out.

Something about seeing another person drove his misplaced anger over the edge. He also felt very...hungry.

So hungry...

He had felt it before only half an hour ago when he ran into a street corner whore.

She hadn’t done much to fulfill his hunger, nor had the runaway teenager he found alone in the park another hour prior.

The urge to kill increased when he thought back to them.

His rage peaked and two red orbs glowed alight in his skull, piercing the darkness shrouding his face.

He made his move...

Andy was about to raise his cigarette back to his lips when he heard a bang! come from the top of the bus behind him. The sudden sound shocked him enough to make him drop his cigarette and swing around on his heels to get a look at what just landed on the metal rooftop.

He was met with two burning red eyes staring back down at him.

Holy shit...

He didn’t think much after that, all he knew was a chilling spike of fear rushed through him.

There was something wrong and no matter how drunk he may have been, he was sobering at a record pace.

There was something wrong with this man-sized object landing on the top of a bus and still be alive. Alive enough to glare down at him with disturbingly crimson eyes.

Andy reached for the door and had bolted through it in a matter of seconds. One can guess that is what you call a “fight or flight” instinct – when one feels so threatened that the only options are to run for safety or fight for your life.

Andy was not fighting whatever was as tall as him with glowing eyes threatening death. Not without a weapon of some kind at least.

And Andy wasn’t one to back away from a challenge, either.

As the singer moved to shut the door – and that thing outside – a blade belonging to that of a large butcher’s knife stuck fast between the edge of the door and the slot it slides into. Andy froze at the sight of the steel, confused and shocked. He glanced up to see the pale face beneath the gray hood and red eyes glowing back at him. The face was twisted in a disturbed joy, as if he was getting some sick kick out of this. As if they were playing some fucked up game.

Andy barely had time to wonder how the man had managed that so quickly before Jake had run up behind him in the same instant the strange man outside pushed with inhuman strength on the handle of the knife, forcing the blade to point sideways and slam the door all the way back open, and out of Andy’s hands.

The singer jumped backwards in a thoughtless attempt to get away from the sharp object, but only succeeded in knocking into the guitarist behind him.

“What’s happening?” Ashley sat up fully to the sound of panicked movements.

Jinxx was already swaying on his feet.

CC was...under the table?

The strange “man” started laughing, greatly amused by the actions of these humans.

“Rabbits are so much fun,” He commented off-handedly.

The sense of danger that spread through all of them in the moment it spoke was only comparable to that of the sense to survive.

“Rabbits?” CC banged his head on the table, uneasy by the sound of the creature’s voice. “Ow...”

“CC...” Jinxx shushed hurriedly as Ashley rose.

The creature laughed manically again.

“Run away little rabbits! I’m coming for you!” It knew they were trapped.

Jake acted first, grabbed Andy by the back of the shirt and pulling him away from the doorway.

“3...” The creature began counting down, giving them three seconds to say their goodbyes. It took one step up after each number.

CC, now free of the table, was looking around frantically.

Jake scanned the area as quickly as he could without feeling like he missed anything.

“2...” Another step.

The guitarist’s eyes landed on a steak knife left randomly on the table. The urge to protect his friends and brothers being the only thing clear in his mind.

“1...” The creature turned to look down the small vicinity the five band members were gathered around, the twisted grin never leaving its face.

Jake reached for the knife, but before he could make contact with it, an unwarranted zap of pain shot through his body. It was only for an instant, but the pure agony that pierced him made him see lights and just about keeled over on the floor.

Confused, Jake froze as the display of lights interrupted his vision. The lights grew in intensity and caused great discomfort to his brain. Over the course of three seconds, the pain caused him to fall to ground, gripping his head and unable to move or see properly.

He couldn’t even scream.

Meanwhile, the catastrophe going on around him never stopped for an instant. The creature was slowly walking towards them, butcher’s knife in hand, twisted smile on its lips.

Andy wasn’t entirely sure what was happening, but he knew someone was going to die if he didn’t do something. Jake was collapsed on the floor and the rest of his band were trying to work out what to do themselves.

What was there to do?

What was left?

Fight.

Andy’s hand struck out towards the table and he leapt over Jake in the same motion, which was quite impressive, all things considered.

“Come on...” He taunted the creature, slowly backing away. “Don’t you wanna play with the bunny?”

It stopped, smile fading for a moment and its head tilted to the side in an inquisitive action.

A second later, the predatory grin was back on its face and the aggressive glow in its eyes burned brighter.

“Andy...?” Ashley shot his friend a terrified look.

What the hell is he doing?!

“I love good rabbits,” The creature snarled joyously and started laughing.

It bolted straight for Andy, who ran towards the back of the bus. He hadn’t expected his friends interfering in his plan.

Regardless of what any of them were thinking at the moment, they knew they needed to do something.

Ashley had picked up the nearest cell phone, not even sure whose it was, and dialed 911. He figured he had enough distance between him and the attacker to at least alert police to the hell that was about to rip a hole in their lives.

Jinxx quickly moved to stall time for Ashley to get through. Thinking fast, he did the first thing that came to his mind to incapacitate a male aggressor – he aimed for the junk mail.

Since Jinxx had been crouched beside Jake when the creature fell for Andy’s taunting, he balled his hand into a fist and struck out like a rattlesnake.

His fist had connected with... something even though it hadn’t exactly copied male genitalia, but the attacker jumped back in alarm regardless of not feeling any pain.

Jinxx was surprised too. He didn’t know what he expected to happen, he’d just acted on blind instinct anyhow, but whatever he had thought would happen...it wasn’t that.

Maybe he’d thought the creature would collapse in pain and give them enough time to...what? Hold him down, tie him up, kick his ass, save their lives? Fear makes you think such naïve things...

Almost as quickly as the come-back assault happened, the aggressor became aware of its surroundings again, and found itself very angry at being attacked.

The creature snarled like an animal as Jinxx slowly rose to his feet. He certainly hadn’t expected that to happen.

The red-eyed man tensed his hand around his knife and moved like a blur at Jinxx. In half a second, the guitarist found himself on the floor with two crimson orbs glaring down at him, and a strange dull but uncomfortable throb from somewhere in his chest.

He wasn’t fully aware of what had just happened, but he knew he heard something that sounded like heavy plastic hitting the floor as Ashley dropped the cell phone.

Only a few rushed words had been exchanged between the bassist and the 911 operator before Jinxx had been stabbed.

CC’s jaw ticked as a last-minute idea popped into his mind. He and Ashley were the only things standing between this...this... monster and what it had originally intended to kill: Andy.

With two of their friends – their brothers – down, something had to be done. They had to protect Andy and Jinxx and Jake, and they had to survive themselves.

Andy was just as stunned as Jinxx had been. It had all happened so fast, he didn’t have time to even begin to think about what to do next. Jinxx was bleeding on the floor with a knife sticking out of his body. And CC and Ashley were about to do something stupid.

CC immediately tackled the creature off his friend’s shocked form and attempted to hold down the being. It was a quick, short struggle as the aggressor’s rage bubbled over the edge and five dagger-sharp claws grew out of its fingernails on either hand.

Four were shoved through CC’s sternum in a paralyzing moment.

The drummer seized activity for another moment, frozen by the shock of the sudden pain bolting through his stomach and chest like electricity.

Ashley, who had jumped in front of Jinxx and Jake on the floor to block the way and assist CC, had stopped in the same instant.

He barely had time to wonder what happened.

The creature roared furiously and threw CC’s body into the air. He landed behind it with the sickening thud that accompanied the sight of a human being hitting the ground with such force it almost broke bones.

Unfortunately, CC was still very much conscious and wary of what had happened. Fortunately, he was too numb from adrenaline to feel the pain now.

It was just lucky for him that they were in a confined area and, thus, couldn’t have been thrown too far or high. A foot higher and he might’ve been facing several broken ribs as well.

The creature was back on its feet before another second could pass. Now, Ashley was standing between it and its prey.

But Ashley wasn’t charging into this unarmed.

He grabbed an empty beer bottle off the table and broke it on the edge.

It was better than nothing.

Jake managed to see through the lights veiling his vision to watch the red-eyed maniac laugh incredulously.

“You think you can stop me!? ” It bellowed with a sinister grin. Something else disturbing came to light then...this thing had fangs.

At least three inches long, two canines protruded from its mouth.

It seemed the more excited it became, the more it lost control of its current form.

Ashley didn’t bother to address it, he wasn’t sure what he would say to it anyway, but he also felt it didn’t need conversation. It didn’t need him to be murderous or insane.

But Ashley felt like he needed to protect his brothers – no matter the cost.

The creature took a pause upon seeing the determination in the bassist’s eyes. Despite the human’s shaking hands, it was like there was a brick wall, a feral wolf, a rabid tiger standing guard before his friends. And this tiger wasn’t about to be swayed by a juicy steak.

Ashley’s lips quirked in a “come at me, bro” smirk, but he remained silent.

“Ashley, st-!” Andy, finally snapping back to himself, took a few steps toward the bass player, but Ashley wasn’t listening and was already charging.

As a football player in highschool, he could really tackle someone, but he was in a full force ram that successfully drove the aggressor backwards.

Ashley slammed the red-eyed attacker against the dashboard all the way at the front of the bus. The jagged pieces of the broken bottle stabbed into the monster’s stomach.

Surprised by the speed and strength of the human, the creature was slow on the rebound but was just as quick to recover as before. As if it felt nothing.

It hissed angrily at Ashley who just snarled back, refusing to let go and relieve the pressure he was putting on it to keep it held to the dashboard.

Unfortunately, otherworldly strength wasn’t comparable to any other form. It was just too great.

Inhuman.

The creature growled and raised its clawed hands. It gripped and stabbed said claws into Ashley’s shoulders and started pushing back.

There was too much adrenaline coursing through his body for Ashley to feel the pain, but he felt a weird throb as his flesh tore.

To his dismay, the aggressor’s brute force was winning out and the bassist found himself on the floor soon after.

It pulled its lips back from its teeth in a rabid grin and ripped its claws from Ashley’s shoulders, savoring as blood was splattered around them with the fast movement.

Ashley felt that.

He grit his teeth against the surge of pain, but the attacker wasn’t through yet.

“Stop!” Andy roared from further back.

The creature did as commanded and looked up in inquiry.

“You’re after me.” The frontman told it almost as a demand. He’d seen enough of his friends getting injured, maybe fatally. He was still hanging onto his trump card. Actually, it as his only card. But he hoped, no, he knew it had to kill it. He had to...

The creature looked back down at Ashley for a moment before grinning wickedly and, with an excited snarl, leapt off the bassist and charged for the more promising target. The one that was still on his feet and still capable of playing a good game.

It just hadn’t accounted on how strong the bond was between the five band mates.

Jinxx, who had been struggling to remove the knife from his chest, had finally pulled it free as it was about to run passed him and Jake on the floor. He ignored the pool of blood that began spreading over his clothes at the removal of the only object keeping the viscous fluid from escaping en masse.

Jake had also come to his senses enough to sort of see and feel the glass shards on the floor from the bottle Ashley had broken. He wrapped a trembling hand around a larger shard and him and Jinxx slashed at the quickly moving object.

Although impressive, the uncoordinated move had only intended to cut and slow down the monster, neither men had expected their individual weapons to lodge fast into the attacker’s thighs. It staggered instantly, but managed to stay on its feet. Its legs seared and quaked as the sharp edges dug into its joints.

It made a sound between an angry hiss and a irate growl, and glared down at its attackers.

It was greatly annoyed to see its prey still moving and first took its rage out on Jake. It flexed its hand and slashed its claws across the guitarist’s chest, dragging them across his torso until they exited his flesh at the shoulder, splattering blood across the wall.

Jake was flung against the table stand with the force but didn’t quite feel the pain. It seemed the lights flashing behind his eyes drove away physical agony in trade for the pain they caused themselves.

Jinxx was next to face the creature’s wrath.

It bent down and lifted Jinxx right off the floor, slamming him against the wall and knocking him unconscious.

After that, it turned its now royally pissed off glare to Andy, whose jaw had dropped in incredulity. Had he not just said stop?! Couldn’t they tell he had a plan? Albeit, a pretty desperate one.

“No. More. Distractions.” It snarled furiously.

Not quite.

Ashley reappeared behind it and forced it to the floor.

“Are you fucking crazy!?” Andy finally found the time to address his friend.

“Me?! What about you, Mr. ‘Bunny’!?” Ashley shouted back.

“I have a plan, damn it!”

“No offense, Andy,” Ashley said through grit teeth as he fought to keep the creature pinned to the floor on its stomach. “But you’re not really much of a planner.”

“Plan?” It snarled beneath the bassist and started laughing manically.

“The lamb has a plan? ”

It placed its hands firmly on the floor despite Ashley’s grip and knocked the back of its head against the bassist’s. It had momentarily left him dazed, but it was enough for the attacker to get the upper hand and jab its elbow into Ashley’s chest with enough force to knock him back.

It turned around to face the winded man. “Stay down this time.”

The creature stabbed all five claws into his torso.

“No!” Andy cried out.

The monster’s head whipped around at the sound of his prey’s desperate shout. It had intended to rip out the other man’s heart, but that was going to have to wait.

It had one final lamb to slaughter.

It snarled viciously and took one last blind charge at Andy.

No more distractions.

It slammed Andy to the ground and raised its claws over its head in preparation to dig out his throat and whatever organs it happened upon as it ripped open his chest. But this lamb wasn’t dying without taking the wolf down with him.

Andy pulled the steak knife free from beneath him and stabbed it through the area the monster’s heart was. Fortunately, Andy never remembered which side the heart was on and had attacked with his right hand.

In the same moment, the creature’s claws tore through the flesh and bone of his collar.

It stopped an instant later, its claws feebly shaking in Andy’s body, but still attempting to tear him apart as its fingers tried to curl unsuccessfully around his collarbone.

It spluttered a couple times as black blood bubbled up into its mouth.

Andy felt the pressure on his throat and the air began to escape him as his own crimson blood began to find its way up into places it wasn’t supposed to be.

“C-...” The monstrosity above him stuttered between the blood in his mouth and the shock it felt at being defeated. “Curse... Curse you...!”

“That’s it?” Andy grinned wolfishly, almost choking on his own blood. He knew this was it, not just for final words.

“C-curse...” It began to fall forward with its final breaths coming out in raspy huffs.

Andy turned his head to the side to cough up some blood that would hopefully make it a little easier to breathe. At the same time, the dying creature’s face lowered beside his neck. He heard it growling weakly before sharp pain penetrated his flesh one more time.

His blue eyes dilated as a frosty chill rushed through his blood like ice and the monster on top of him seemed to vanish in a puff of...

Ash...?

White-gray ash spread over Andy’s body and the floor as the ice froze everything within his body and a cold black blanket of darkness fell over his eyes.