Take My Hand

Watching Brendon fight that vampire was scary I must admit, but in some way it was attractive. Knowing that he was doing it for me, is what made me feel special. He had probably saved my life twice now, which is another thing that made me feel special. I never noticed before, how strong Brendon actually was. The blows to the vampires head were pretty hard, almost knocking him out each time he would punch him. Brendon grabbed the bloody vampire by the collar and pinned him against the wall.

"Get out of here, William!" Brendon shouted at the vampire, that I now know is called William.

"You're going to pay for this, Urie." William threatened, as Brendon let go of his collar giving him a chance to go back to wherever he came from. "You'll pay! Just you wait! Expect the unexpected!"

In return, Brendon hissed at William. William's face contorted into many different expressions, not knowing what to say. Instead of saying something he hissed back, then ran off down the street until you could see him no more. Me and Brendon were alone in the alleyway. I had a lot to say to him, but I just didn't know where to start. What could you say once you find out one of your friends is a vampire?

My mouth opened and closed a few times, searching for the right words to say. Nothing seemed to come out, even though I was trying. "What- You're- Why- I'm confused." I managed to stutter out. That's not the words I was exactly aiming for but, hey it's something. I leaned against the wall and placed my hands over my face in frustration.

"Belle, please don't treat me any differently, now that you know my secret. It's not my fault." Brendon pleaded as he came closer to me, placing his hands on my hands and moving them away from my face. I was staring straight into his eyes, but my eyes kept wandering down to his fang-like teeth.

"Secret? What secret? I know you're not a vampire. Vampires don't exist. This is just some stupid nightmare, I know it." Brendon pinched my arm, making me flinch. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"This isn't a dream, Belle. Trust me. I am a vampire. Don't worry, I wont hurt you, I promise."

"How? How are you a vampire?"

There was hurt in Brendon's eyes and I could tell it must have been a tragic memory for him. "Come, walk with me. I'll explain it on the way back." Brendon turned around and started to walk to the end of the alleyway. I followed close behind him, limping slightly because of my twisted ankle. "It all happened when I was 13. Me and all of my family had gotten together for a family reunion. Out of nowhere a gang of vampires broke into my house. I don't want to go into details, but they're the reason for me having no family. Sometimes I ask myself, why me? Why did they choose my family and why didn't they kill me as well? Why did they choose me to be a vampire?" Brendon questioned, sadness in his voice. I can't even imagine how Brendon got through life without any family at all. It must have been traumatic. For someone with such a traumatic past, he was one of the kindest, sweetest human beings I had ever encountered.

"I- I'm sorry to hear that. You were only 13? That must have been awful. What did you do after the attack?"

"I called the cops once they had all gone. I told them that a gang of teenagers broke into my house and murdered my family. A couple adopted me. I'm not quite sure what happened to them. As soon as I turned 16 I ran away from them. They didn't care about me. They weren't mean or nasty in anyway, they were just ignorant. I had to do everything for myself without anyones help. I never told the cops about the vampires or how they had bitten me."

"Why didn't you?"

"Why do you think? How crazy would I have sounded if I told them that there were vampires in my house and I was one of them."

"I suppose so." We reached the end of the alleyway and I expected to walk back down The Strip, the way I had came, but Brendon had other intentions. He opened up a manhole cover below him and began walking down the ladder. "Uh...where are you going?" I asked.

"Home."

"Home is that way." I informed pointing in the direction I had come from. "No way am I going down there."

"How many times a day does someone see a vampire? Not many. Now, if you want to get home safely I suggest you follow me."

"Brendon, I'm scared." I admitted. I've never liked the dark or small spaces. Brendon looked up at me once he had reached the bottom of the ladder.

"What are you scared of? Come on, just take my hand. I'll be here with you." Brendon said as he reached his hand out for me to take it. I looked down at his hand and then into his eyes. Even though I had only known him for under a week it felt as if I had know him forever and I trusted with my life. After all he had saved it twice. I sighed in defeat as I placed my hand in his, clasping it tightly. He helped me down the ladder slowly. I didn't let go of his hand once I had reached the bottom, I just squeezed it as tight as I could.

It was pitch black in the tunnel and I found it strange how Brendon knew exactly where we were going, while I couldn't see anything at all. Brendon kept hold of my hand so he didn't lose me. To distract myself from the fear that was in me, I tried to make conversation with Brendon.

"Who was he?" I asked, bluntly.

"Who? William? The one that attacked you?" Brendon questioned. He had no fear in his voice at all. How? I don't know. I was practically shaking with fear and I felt sorry for Brendon having to hold my, probably sweaty, hand. I nodded my head in reply, but he probably didn't see it since it was so dark. "He's the leader of the vampires. He's the one that bit me."

"Why aren't you...you know, like the rest of them?"

"I didn't want to be. I didn't want to act like they acted. I'm not like that." He replied, which was 100% true. From what I had seen of William, Brendon was the complete opposite. He wouldn't hurt anyone, only if it was entirely necessary.

"Do you know what my dad did?"

"No, what did he do?"

"I haven't got a clue. That's why I'm asking you. I thought you would have known."

"Oh, no. I don't know. I want nothing to do with them and their business."

"How did you know that I was in danger?" I asked.

"Well, it happened like this. I kind of felt bad for shouting at you earlier, so I went out to find you and tell you my secret. I saw that you went the opposite direction from your house, so I just assumed that you went to The Strip. I walked to the end of this tunnel, but realized you probably wouldn't have walked this far. So I was about to walk back, but I heard your scream. Then obviously I came to save you."

"Oh, thank you by the way. For saving my life...again."

"No problem. Before I forget, what are you doing out so late?" Brendon asked. My stomach did a flip, remembering that I wasn't supposed to leave my bedroom. I hoped to God that my mother hadn't been into my room to check on me. It was 9 o'clock at night and I wasn't even allowed out that late even if I wasn't grounded.

"Crap. My mother's going to kill me. My mother never ever lets me out of the house and today she punished me for talking back at her so I had to stay in my bedroom. As if it's not already bad enough that I'm not allowed out of the house, she made it worse. I was so sick and tired of being locked up, so I escaped through my bedroom window."

"For such a first class girl, you're such a rebel."

"Stop with the first class girl crap." I warned him, making him chuckle slightly. It was silent after that and also scary. My mind was focused on how dark the tunnel was, which terrified me. My grip tightened on Brendon's hand, almost crushing his but he didn't seem to care. For a millisecond, I'm sure I felt something graze my leg. I did what any girl would have done and screamed. "Brendon! Brendon, something touched my leg!" I was probably overreacting, but my nerves were getting the best of me. I could feel tears threatening to fall from my eyes, but I tried my best not to cry in front of Brendon.

"Belle, calm down!" Brendon exclaimed, trying to get me to stop screaming. I buried my head into his chest as he wrapped his arms around me and I let a few tears fall, probably soaking his shirt slightly. "Shh, stop crying." Brendon soothed, breaking away from the hug and then wiping the tears away from my face.

"I don't like it here, Brendon! I want to go home! I don't like it! I don-" I was cut off as something pressed against my lips, gently. It was the feel of Brendon's lips on mine.