Gerard

“Gerard, are you sure this will work?” Frank asked for the hundredth time.

“Not completely, but we have to try,” I sighed, glancing around nervously as we made our way towards the forest.

“I don’t like this,” Frank muttered, shivering as he looked around wearily.

I grabbed his hand. “Don’t worry. Nothing bad will happen.”

“How do you know that? What if they don’t agree?”

“They will,” I said grimly. “They have to.”

Frank just sighed and carried on giving the forest around us uneasy glances. The moon was unbelievably bright and cast down luminous rays through the trees. Frank’s skin was practically glowing when the moonbeams caught his face, making him seem even more beautiful. His eyes looked big and were shining, looking darker than normal with rays of light swimming through them.

There was a loud snap behind us and Frank let out a terrified gasp, both of us whirling around to see what it was. There was nothing there but a squirrel, scurrying across the floor quickly.

“Fuck,” Frank breathed out shakily. “I thought…”

“Yeah… I know…,” I mumbled, relaxing slightly.

“Boo,” a voice sniggered from behind me.

The next thing I knew I was on the ground and everything was spinning. I could hear Frank screaming and unfamiliar laughs. When things stopped spinning I looked to find I was lying on my back, staring at the dark sky through the branches.

A face appeared in my line of vision, cutting off my view of the sky.

His face was set into a leering smirk. His skin was dark and tanned and smudged with dirt. Inside of his mouth were massive yellowing fangs, spit and blood dripping from them and onto my face. His eyes were huge and amber coloured, his pupils giant and blown as if he’d taken far too many drugs. His ears were pointed at the top and he had abnormal amounts of hair on his face and head.

“Look who came to pay us a visit,” he smirked, withdrawing slightly after spitting on my face.

My instinct was to spring up and rip his throat out. He was a werewolf, after all. But that wasn’t me. I wouldn’t do that to anyone.

I sat up, only to be shoved back down with a fierce kick to my chest. He kept his foot planted on my stomach, glaring at me.

“What are you doing here?” he snarled.

“I came to make a deal with you,” I got out through gritted teeth, resisting the urge to knock him off of me.

He burst out laughing and was soon joined by the others, all of them howling with laughter. It echoed through the forest and underneath the deafening roar of their laughter I could a quiet, muffled whimper.

Frank.

When their laughter had died down, the man who had me pinned down shook his head, grinning.

“Very funny. Now. Explain why you think you can just trespass on our territory. This better be good bloodsucker, I don’t have all night,” he snapped at me.

“I’m serious! I came here to make a deal with you!” I insisted, squirming underneath his foot.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. “What could you have to offer me that I want?”

“Maybe if you let me up I’ll explain this a little better to you,” I replied bluntly.

He contemplated it for a while before shifting and lifting his foot off of my chest. I was on my feet instantly, my eyes wildly searching for Frank. He was trapped under the arms a woman, her appearance similar to the man who’d pinned me down. There were about ten of them, all of bearing sharpened fangs and nails that were more like claws.

“Let him go and I’ll talk,” I told the guy, never taking my eyes off of Frank.

He grunted. “Why? Is he your little pet? You carry him around with you in case you get hungry?”

“Shut up!” I snarled at him, my fangs instinctively lengthening and sharpening in my mouth. “Just let him go!”

He smirked. “All right, let the kid go Mia. We don’t want to upset his Highness.”

The woman, Mia, chuckled but released Frank from her grasp. He bolted straight into my arms, shivering and breathing heavily. I protectively kept my arms around him, holding him close. I didn’t trust the werewolves, but I had to do this.

The man tilted his head to the side, staring at us curiously. “Funny. He doesn’t seem to be terrified of you.”

Frank lifted his head and glared at him. “Maybe that’s because not all vampires are as bad as you seem to think.”

The man laughed. “Well well! It speaks!”

A low hiss escaped my throat and he growled back in response.

“Look. I just want you to listen to what I’m offering, alright? So I’d appreciate it if you just shut up and listen,” I snarled at him.

He narrowed his eyes. “Go on then.”

I sighed. “I want you to take in a human. I need you to protect him, make sure he stays safe. If you do, I’m willing to discuss… arrangements for when I become King.”

He looked at me like I’d gone insane. “Arrangements?”

“I… I’m willing to discuss your… position.”

He snarled and stalked over to me, staring straight at me. I held his gaze.

“My position? And what exactly does that mean?” he asked in a low voice, his eyes darting around my face. “Are you offering me power?”

I nodded. “But only if you agree to look after the human.”

He stepped back, growling. “Why should I? How do I know you’re not lying?”

“You don’t.”

“Why do you want the human protected?” he asked, circling us slowly. “Who is he?”

“His name’s Ray. He belongs to my brother. I want him away from Mikey so he can be safe. I’m not asking you to take him in for good. Just… just until I turn eighteen and my father retires. I’m not asking much and I’m giving you back what you want the most.”

“Gerard… it is Gerard, isn’t it?” he asked, giving me a sly glare.

I nodded again.

“Gerard, I’m more than willing to consider what you’re offering. But it’s not up to me. I’ll need to discuss it with our leader.”

“Take us to him.”

“Excuse me?”

“Take us to your leader, I want to talk to whoever’s in charge. I’m not leaving until I have an answer.”

His lip curled up in annoyance. “You think you can just barge into our territory and demand to see our leader?”

“Yes, I think I fucking can do that,” I snapped back at him.

He glowered at me in silence before turning away and cursing under his breath. He walked over to one of the other wolves and they exchanged conversation in low, hush tones. After five minutes or so, he turned around headed back towards us.

“We’ll take you. But don’t expect anything else bloodsucker, alright?”

“Thank-you,” I said quietly.

He just growled and turned on his heel and started to march towards the thick of the forest, not stopping to see if we were following. Some of the others morphed back into their wolf form. We were flanked on either side as we followed them through the trees, low rumbling growls coming from them every so often.

Frank just clung to my side and shot weary glances at the wolves around us. His breathing had calmed down a little but his eyes were still wide with fear.

“Gee?” he whispered under his breath.

“Yeah?”

“Do you know where they’re taking us?”

I shook my head. “No. I’ve never been in this part of the forest before.”

“We’ll be OK though? Nothing’s gonna happen?”

“You’ll be fine,” I breathed into his ear, squeezing him tightly in reassurance.

Beside me one of the wolves chuckled, shaking his head and flashing me a wide toothy grin full of malice.