Status: Slowly Active.

I Hope They Taste of Me Forever

Chapter Nineteen

“Okay, sit right there,” Joe buzzed with excitement, forcing me down onto the couch.

All the furniture in the main room had been rearranged, and a wide space had been cleared out around the drum kit. Andy sat behind it, tapping his drumsticks together at a fast pace, impatiently. The guys were finally going to play a song for me. I knew that Andy played drums, but as soon as I found out that the others all played instruments, I wanted to hear them.

Ever since that night, a few nights ago, Pete and I had been on the best terms that we’d ever been on. I don’t know exactly what it was that had brought us together, but there was something there now. The way he had held me made me feel protected from the world and protected from my nightmares. Since that night, we’d become… friends. Sort of. Not really. We still bitched about each other, and we sill threw insults at each other like there was no tomorrow, but it wasn’t so malicious anymore. It was almost like friendly bickering. Almost. But I never said I was ever going to be Pete Wentz’s friend. We’re not friends. We’re just… not on bad terms anymore.

Joe was practically jumping off the walls in his excitement. It had been a long time since they had performed for anyone. I was really excited to hear them, too. As soon as Patrick walked to the front of their ‘stage’ with a microphone and a guitar slung around his neck, I was in a trance. Patrick – adorable, nerdy, geeky, smart, loveable Patrick – looked like a rockstar. It was a sight to see. Joe had another guitar, its decorations of blood splatters conveying his personality surprisingly well, and Pete stood with his black and red fringe in his eyes, tuning a shiny bass. The instrument fit him so perfectly. Deep, dark, and impressionable.

“What song are we going to play?” Andy asked.

“I say the new one,” Patrick volunteered.

“Uh…” Pete started nervously. “Are you sure? I mean, it’s not… it’s…”

“I’m sure,” Patrick nodded. “I think she’ll love it.”

With a heavy sigh, Pete gave in.

“Okay. Let’s get this over with.”

The guitars started up, amps pumping and sending the vibrations through the floor to my feet. It was already extremely catchy, and before Patrick even started singing, my head was nodding along to the beat.

“I confess; I messed up
Dropping ‘I’m sorry’ like you’re still around
And I know you dressed up
‘Hey kid, you’ll never live this down’

‘Cause you’re just the girl all the boys want to dance with
And I’m just the boy who’s had too many chances
I’m sleeping on your folk’s porch again, dreaming
She said, she said, she said ‘Why don’t you just drop dead?’

I don’t blame you for being you
But you can’t blame me for hating it
So say, what are you waiting for?
Kiss her, kiss her
I set my clocks early ‘cause I know I’m always late…”


I couldn’t quite believe it. Sure, I guess I expected them to be pretty good, but not this good. I don’t know a great deal about music, because Matt didn’t let me listen to it. Ever since our parents died, he’d given up his drumming and all love for anything other than slaughter. But my lack of musical experience aside, I could tell that this was good stuff. And the lyrics...

“Write me off, give up on me
‘Cause darling, what did you expect?
I’m just off a lost cause
A long shot, don’t even take this bet

You can make all the moves; you can aim all the spotlights
Get all the sighs and the moans just right
I’m sleeping on your folk’s porch again, dreaming
She said, she said, she said ‘Why don’t you just drop dead?’”


The lyrics were amazing. I was in complete awe of them, yet at the same time I felt a shudder somewhere within me, and a sweat began to break out on my head. Why, and how, did I feel so good listening to this, yet so bad at the same time? I felt almost… guilty.

“I don't blame you for being you
But you can't blame me for hating it
So say, what are you waiting for?
Kiss her, kiss her
I set my clocks early 'cause I know I'm always late

(always on, always on)
You said you'd keep me honest
(always on, always on)
But I won't call you on it
(always on, always on)”


I glanced over at Pete as soon as I realized that Patrick’s unexpectedly amazing voice had had me captivated for the duration of the song. Pete was looking right at me as he sang back-up vocals. His deep eyes were thick with implications, but I couldn’t figure out what those implications were. As they finished the song, his dark brown eyes never left mine.

“I don't blame you for being you
But you can't blame me for hating it
So say, what are you waiting for?
Kiss her, kiss her
I set my clocks early 'cause I know I'm always late

I set my clocks early ‘cause I know I’m always late.”


Once the loud music had faded to silence, the boys were all looking at me with anticipation. My mouth was agape and my eyes still were focused on the vampire who refused to break the intense eye contact himself. Eventually, I realized that I would have to be the one to break it.

“That was fucking amazing, guys,” I told them sincerely.

Pat, Andy and Joe all broke out in huge grins, thanking me for ‘being such a wonderful audience’, but Pete had looked away and was now focused on his bass. He had a small smile on his lips, but his eyes also held some sort of sadness. Sadness and confusion. That’s why he wouldn’t look up. I’d never seen his eyes hold so much emotion before.

“Who wrote the lyrics?” I asked, but I had a feeling I knew the answer.

“Pete,” Patrick grinned over at his friend, who gave a small smile back.

I couldn’t piece together how weird this made me feel.

“’Kay, Elle, we’re gonna play one more song for you. This song is called ‘Chicago is so Two Years ago’!”

I laughed slightly as they launched into another fantastic song, trying to ignore the weird ripping feeling in my chest.

***

Pete hadn’t told the others about my little episode the other night. I don’t know when he ever started to do what I wanted, but he read my mind and didn’t tell them about the nightmare. He tried to talk to me about it. He asked me if I always had such horrific dreams. I didn’t answer him, but he probably found his answer anyway. Anyway, the point of this is that he was the only one reluctant to let me go hunting with them. Since they didn’t know, the others had no reason to stop me and thought that Pete was just being weird. He was acting very overprotective as we walked, however, refusing to leave my side no matter how many times I tried to shove him away or walk next to Joe instead. It was quite frustrating.

I guess I should have expected something like this sooner or later. It had been a long time since my last run-in with a Dandy, and even longer since everyone else’s.

“Hello, Elle.”

I spun around violently, the guys doing the same at the voice that had crept up on me. The woman laughed, cackled, but it sounded pretty. Damn vampire’s alluring qualities. It was the orange haired girl. The one who I’d only ever seen once, besides my nightmares. Our encounter surely must have been about a year ago by now. It wasn’t just her, though. Her sister or what I assumed to be her boyfriend weren’t there, but there were other Dandies. I recognized the faces, but they were names I never knew. Apart from Brendon. Brendon was there too, and the orange-haired woman kept glancing back at him as if to see his reaction to the situation.

“Long time no see, right?” she continued, dancing elegantly along the street and completely ignoring the weapons that Patrick, Joe and Andy had armed themselves with.

“What do you want, Hayley?” Pete growled, before I even got the chance to answer. I was surprised that he knew her name.

“Oh, not much,” she said airily, looking back at Brendon again. His face remained still and blank, like it was made of stone. “We’re really just here to scare you.”

“And what makes you think you’ll succeed?” I spat.

She smirked, and by the gleeful glint in her eyes I knew that it couldn’t mean anything good for me.

“We have a secret weapon.”

“Well then why don’t you show it?” Andy snarled. His whole life was centered on ensuring that we had the best weaponry, and this statement clearly got to him.

“Oh we will,” Hayley assured. “Just not yet. William really does want us to taunt you a bit first.”

“And why is that?” I asked, hoping to speed up conversation. It was one of those times where I could tell that there wasn’t going to be a fight, and I wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.

She smiled at me. Not in a sick or evil way, just as if we were two normal people having pleasant conversation. I would have thought it was quite obvious that that wasn’t the case.

“Oh, you know Bill. He’s all about being sneaky and messing with your minds.”

“So why isn’t he here doing it himself?” Pete grunted.

Hayley shrugged. “You also know that he’s not one to give reasons and excuses unless he feels it absolutely necessary.”

None of the other vampires were talking. It was clear that Hayley could have come by herself. They were just the precautionary back-up. I wonder if they realized that. Brendon clearly wasn’t, though. He was there to see me. To see the memories that he could affiliate with me. So that Hayley could decipher his reactions. He was doing an awfully good job of hiding it, though.

“So won’t he be mad at you?” I quipped. “For disobeying his orders and telling us his intentions?”

She shook her head.

“No. He sees this as one of his favorite forms of taunting.”

I rolled my eyes. This was such a waste of time.

“I’m over this,” I mumbled to Pete, who was still right beside me. He nodded so subtly that I was sure I was the only one to notice it.

“Well run along and tell your master whatever you need to. Tell him that it worked. That we’re completely spooked. We don’t have time for this.”

I turned around, not wanting to face them and their horrible smirks, but a voice stopped me in my tracks.

“Elle…”

I spun around eyes wide as saucers to see someone I never expected to see. The other Dandies had shifted positions, and I could see who they’d been hiding at the back. His face was sad, apologetic, but I didn’t care. I was too stunned.

“T-Travis?”

The emotions in his eyes swelled, but my own emotions were bouncing around inside me so forcefully that I couldn’t pay attention to his. He was standing there, decked out as the usual hood vampire that he was, but surrounded by Dandies. I had to do a double-take. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t meant to happen. This wasn’t meant to catch me off guard. I should have known all along.

“Like our weapon?” Hayley smirked at me as the guys were trying to figure out what was so wrong.

I didn’t know what to do. My next actions probably seemed incredibly childish, but I was so overwhelmed that it was all I could do.

“Fuck you!” I screamed at Hayley, before turning and running back down the street, snide laughter echoing from the group of vampires behind me.