My Heart Can't Be Broken If It's Not Beating

I don't know how anyone expected me to just sit around and do nothing. Every part of my body was twitching, wanting answers. After finally opening up to the guys I realised I still had a lot of unanswered questions. Unfortunately, there was only one person who could answer them for me and I just happened to hate that person more than life itself.

Once I had managed to sneak outside, I realised that I had absolutely no idea where to find Beckett. We hadn't exactly swapped personal details last time I saw him.
It was warm out, probably somewhere between 4 and 5 in the afternoon, the sun still bright enough to illuminate my pale skin. The wind blew gently as I looked around the littered streets, noticing the absence of human life. I guess no one went out at all anymore. Taking a deep breath, I headed off down the street with no real destination; they'd find me sooner or later.

I didn't have wander for long of course as I found myself face to face with none other than Brendon Urie in one of the darkened alleys. The buildings were high on either side, blocking out most of the suns rays and obviously making it dark enough for vampires to lurk.

"Well hello" he spoke smoothly, emerging swiftly from the shadows in his usual suit and hat.

"I'm guessing he's expecting me?" I sighed, already knowing the answer.

"He knows you well" Brendon answered, smirking as he circled me like an animal.

"Lead the way" I invited, gesturing with my hand for him to go first. Instead I found my arm linked with his as we headed of down the alley. I rolled my eyes at his clinginess and let my feet follow him.

We stayed off the streets, taking advantage of the shadows and dark paths which made me incredibly tempted to just yank him into the sun and watch him burn. He chuckled as he read my thoughts and just increased his iron grip on my arm.

"Don't think so princess" he breathed in my ear, his walk never faltering.

Finally it was dark enough that Brendon didn't have to be so careful about where he stepped and I began to notice my surroundings. The buildings, although some having different names, were the same buildings I recognised from my childhood. The trees were familiar and I began to remember all the street names. Especially when Brendon made a sharp turn to the right and one particular street name caught my eye.

"You have got to be shitting me" I managed to choke in disbelief as Brendon opened the gates that lead to the house I grew up in.

"My old house is the fucking Dandy Mansion?" I whined.

Brendon laughed quietly as I took in the site.

The house had always been amazing. It was 4 stories, Victorian style with large windows that overlooked the city and a long driveway which we were currently walking up. The bricks of the house were dark and the once blossoming garden was now dead and overgrown.

"Ooo scary" I rolled my eyes sarcastically at the ominous look of the house, especially now that the sun had run for cover. Quite fitting seeing as the city's most dangerous vampires lived here.

My legs began to shake slightly as we walked up the steps towards the large wooden front door. I hadn't been here in years and the familiarity was almost too much. I was struggling to try and keep all the memories from emerging in my mind. The door was different though. It was enormous, much larger than the humble front door that used to be in its place and made from very thick wood. It looked incredibly heavy.

Without even knocking the sound of about 3 locks being quickly disarmed pierced the air and the door creaked open revealing a very bored looking girl. She was young, probably 13 or 14 and to anyone else it would seem impossible that she had opened the massive door with such ease, but I knew better. Her hair was long and blonde and she wore a simple white dress. She seemed totally uninterested as she closed the door behind us and stood by the wall.

If I thought the garden and the door were the only things that had been altered I was very mistaken. When I lived here my parents had decorated the house in was very modern with plush carpets, simple furniture and mirrors hanging off almost every wall. But now as I looked around I saw that the roof was much higher then I remembered and a chandelier hung delicately from the rafters. The simple furniture had been replaced with couches and lamps to make it feel more regal. The plush carpet had been ripped away and was now replaced with shining floorboards. There were thick blood red curtains covering almost every window matching the red walls and there was not a mirror in sight. After all the changes though, the large marble staircase was still in the middle of the room leading up to the second floor and looking slightly out of place.

"Mom and Dad would be pissed" I muttered in awe.

"Mom and Dad aren't here" came a familiar voice from the top of the stairs. William Beckett just seemed to look like he was in place as her walked delicately down the stairs, hand trailing gracefully along the bannister as he smiled at me.

"Welcome home"

Stopping in front of Brendon and myself, Beckett looked towards the young girl who was still in the room.

"Sammy, go to the kitchen" he ordered her, pointing to the door on my right. I see that was still in the same place. She silently obeyed and skipped through the door.

"Let me guess, Girl Scout trying to sell cookies who happened to show up at the wrong house?" I nodded towards the closing door where Sammy had just been.

"Something like that" he smiled mysteriously.

"I like what you've done with the place" I lied, shoving my hands in my pockets and tapping my foot on the wooden floors for effect.

"It needed a change"

"An expensive change I see"

"Money is no issue" he said, looking quite smug.

"Sure" I mumbled boredly before noticing that Brendon was no longer at my side.

"Where'd your boyfriend go?" I asked, actually curious to where he disappeared to.

"Probably to find the others" he answered, ignoring my comment.

"How many of them live here?"

"24 including myself. All my creations of course" I cringed at the word 'creations'.

"Except your little boyfriend" he teased, turning back into an older brother.

"He's not my boyfriend!" I exclaimed getting annoyed. Beckett chuckled, changing the subject.

"Why are you here?"

"Just thought I'd pop in, say hey" I said casually. He raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms over his chest. Although I knew I came here because there were so many questions I wanted answers to, I couldn't bring myself to ask them. I felt like that should stay in the past and that if he told me the truth nothing would be different. I would still hunt, he would still kill. Maybe it was just better if I didn't know. But there was something else.

"Actually I need something from you" it was almost painful for me to have to ask help from my older, dead, murdering, vampiric brother who abandoned me, but it was important.

*******

"And what do I get out of this?" he asked incredulously after to I explained to him what I needed.

"I'll get the guys to lay off you for a while, especially Pete" I sighed, disgusted by my own request. He analysed me for a moment, before he opened his mouth to speak, although it wasn't what I expected.

"You look older"

"Its called being human, Bill" I reminded him, annoyed at his off topic remark.

"Brendon!" he called over his shoulder, eyes never leaving me. Brendon appeared at his side from the hallway to his right and whispered something in his ear. Immediately Brendon was at my side with that same smirk on his face.

"Shall we?" he offered his arm and looked me straight in the eye. His eyes were piercing and I found it hard to speak so I just nodded and automatically took his arm for the second time today.

He led me down the same hallway he'd appeared from but it wasn't long until we'd stopped in front of a metal door. Despite its changes, I'd lived in that house for 8 years and would never forget where that door leads.It's warmer in
The Basement.

********

"You do realise there's complications," Brendon warned me as we emerged from the Basement, an hour later, "and side effects".

"Yes, yes I know," I assumed him, holding the small box in my hand, "just as long as it does what I need it to do"

Brendon chuckled as we walked back into the now empty foyer. "Oh it will"

"So I can go now?" I asked, heading for the door.

"If you wish" he smirked.

I felt relieved as the fresh air hit my face. It took my eyes a second to adjust to the darkness but soon I was walking briskly down the driveway and away from that hellhole.

Just as I let the feeling of relief wash over my body, another familiar voice calling my name stopped me dead in my tracks. No, it wasn't that fact that I was annoyed because I just wanted to leave this place and get home, or the fact that it was a voice coming from the house so it was obviously that of a vampires, but what really shook me to my core was that when I turned around I came face to face with girl I once called mysister best friend, Lena. Oh, and did I mention that she died 3 years ago?

"How?" was all I managed to get out of my mouth as I stared into the cold eyes of my friend.

"We can't talk now, can I come by later and I can explain?" she asked quickly, looking around to make sure no one was watching. It was odd hearing her voice again after so long. It sounded exactly the same. Although that might have been because she was still a 16 year old girl. I nodded and told her the address before she gave me a weak smile and ran back inside the house.