Dawning Midnight

"Can I meet you, alone

Another night and I'll see you

Another night and I'll be you…"

Rays POV

I stopped at the closed metal gate that lay in front of me. I took a deep breath, ringing the doorbell on the side of the brick pillar holding the gates in place. I whispered lowly, so no one could hear the secret password, and the gate swung open with a screech of protest.

Darkness covered the atmosphere in a protective blanket, and not even the moon shown through it. The dead trees in the front yard of this abandoned mansion pierced the sky with their sword-like branches, sending an unfriendly message to anyone who dared even to lay eyes on the hideous house. Most of the windows were boarded up, and no light shown from inside. The boards on the house were broken and falling apart, and to help the ominous feeling even more, the house was painted black completely. It looked as if it was a part of the shadows. Any average human being wouldn't dare step foot into this place.

I walked on the carefully crafted stone pathway, which led to old, creaky wooden stairs. They screamed as I stepped on them and made my way to the large, black door. I grabbed a hold of the gargoyle door knocker, feeling how it had rusted over the long years. I knocked several times, and a tall man opened the door. He had brown eyes, grey hair and a long, grey beard. He was skinny, he looked like he hadn't eaten in months. He was wearing a black cloak, and he looked like the kind of guy you would see on some movie as a wizard, kind of like Gandalf. He had a raven perched on his shoulders, and it looked down at me with one red eye, watching me closely.

"Welcome, Raymond." The man smiled. "I have missed you, boy. Come in."

I stepped into the mansion, looking around at all the antiques that were placed as décor to appeal to the eye, but now only added to the unwelcoming feeling inside. Spider webs clung to practically everything.

I was brought down a winding hallway, into the dining room. Roughly fifteen people sat together in this reunion at a small table. The table was black, like nearly everything else in the house. The chairs were large, and looked a little unfit for the small sized table. They were made from black stained wood, which carved the head of angry wolves at the top, the legs holding carvings of gargoyles. I took a seat by one of my friends, Matt. We smiled at one another, before putting our attention into the first speaker of the meeting.

"Now that everyone is here, we should begin our monthly meeting. We have all gathered today, to speak of matters of the werewolves and vampires, the events being mostly the usual discussions, all except one in which I must bring forth at this moment, something Matt had brought to my attention this month." The tall man spoke, projecting his voice across the room. It echoed across the walls, bouncing around in the vacant space of the dining room. "Matt, could you please stand and recite everything you had spoken to me?"

Matt dipped his head. "Yes, Aidan, sir." He stood up, pushing his chair back. "I was at Ray's house, along with Jason and Miles. We were outside, when we saw a wolf. We knew what we had to do, we had to kill the wolf, he appeared to be attacking a human. However, As we drew near, this human, who I do not know his name, it was too dark to identify is face, was not just human. He had fangs of a vampire, and shared the same hatred for werewolves as vampires did, judging on how he attacked the wolf. He appeared to be, from what I have heard from legends, half-human and half-vampire. We tried to destroy him, but they were too strong. They got away from the four of us."

Matt sat down, seeming a little embarrassed. I too was a little embarrassed, for we had let a danger as great as this escape, and now everyone knew.

There were muffled murmurs around the room. People exchanged surprised glances at one another. Aidan stood up again, holding out his hands to quiet everyone. "Calm down everyone." He said, but it was in vain. The raven let out a deafening screech, and everyone stopped talking instantly. After a moment, when everyone seemed to be listening once more, Aidan began to speak. "We need to find this half-human half-vampire. We need to kill this boy, because he has the corrupted mind of a vampire, I am sure. He is dangerous, especially since he had gone unnoticed by us for so long. Who knows how many humans he has killed? We must find him, and kill him. Under our oath of hunters, we must kill the evil in this world. We must be the good we wish to see in this world. "

Nods of agreement went around the room, and not a single person spoke against the notion.

Aidan nodded, smiling at everyone's agreement. "Then, I wish you all luck in your hunt. May the angels guide you all."

Gerard's POV

No, this didn't fit right.

I sighed, throwing another shirt aside. I had been going through my entire wardrobe, looking for something decent to wear when Frank and I went out on our first date tonight.

About a week had passed since Frank and my first kiss. We had been boyfriends for about a week now.

The day after we had kissed, he had come over and we hung out and talked and watched a movie. We cuddled, and he asked if I wanted to be his boyfriend. I of course agreed. Since then we had been planning on going out on a date, and we picked a Wednesday night, since it seemed to be the best. We would be going to a casual restaurant, since neither of us liked formal dinners. It was two hours driving distance, so we could be alone and no one would be there to catch us being together. I didn't know who would complain, but Frank was very anxious. I couldn't blame him, I guess.

I groaned, throwing myself onto the bed. Why couldn't I pick something decent?

Mikey knocked on the door frame, coming in. "You okay, Gerard?"

"I have nothing to wear!" I groaned, pointing to the mountain of clothes on the floor.

I had told Mikey about our relationship the day it happened, knowing he would eventually find out anyway. I of course left out the part that Frank was a werewolf. Mikey yelled at me, telling me I shouldn't be dating a human and I would be better off with a vampire since I couldn't hide my secret forever, but I told him I would rather be more human than a vampire. We had gotten into a huge fight over it and went back and forth at one another for about an hour until Mikey finally gave in, and accepted it.

Mikey blinked at the pile of clothes, and looked back at me. "Gerard, that's like a shitload of clothes right there. Come on, anything will be fine. Frank likes you for you. If he judges you tonight, then you obviously don't want to be with him."

Mikey began to go through the pile of clothes while I lay on the bed, groaning. He tossed me a shirt and jeans. "Wear these." he said. "I think this is the best." He also tossed me a leather jacket.

I looked at his choice. "That looks like shit." I groaned, and buried my face into the bed again.

"Stop being so hard on your outfit, Gerard, it's really not that big of a deal. I don't understand why you care about clothes so much." Mikey muttered. "Don't be such a fashion diva." He giggled.

I rolled my eyes, rolling out of bed, and before I could protest, Mikey left me alone once more. Sighing, I changed into the outfit Mikey chose and applied the usual eyeliner. After doing my hair for several minutes, trying to get even the smallest strand of hair to perfection, the door bell rang.

I headed downstairs, opening the door. I smiled when I saw Frank. He was dressed as casual as I was, but man, did he look hot. He smiled back at me.

"Hey baby." he said, coming in. I shut the door and kissed him quickly.

"Missed you." I said.

"Missed you too." Frank smiled at me.

"Let me just finish getting ready and grab the keys then we can-"

"Actually, Gee, do you think we could walk?" Frank interrupted me. "I think, it would be better."

I nodded, surprised. "Yeah, walking is good. Okay."

We headed out a few minutes later.

"You're such a girl, taking so long in the bathroom." Frank joked, twining our fingers together as we walked into the woods.

"Well sorree." I muttered, pretending to be annoyed, but there was a slight smile on my face I couldn't hold back.

Frank chuckled, sending a quick kiss to my cheek. "If we keep at this pace we'll never get there." He groaned, and released my hand. "Race ya."

Before I could respond, Frank shifted, happily looking at me with his hazel wolf eyes. "You know, I've seen many wolves in my life, but never one with hazel eyes." I whispered. He looked back at me, a smile on his face. I reached out to pet him, but he suddenly growled, backing away and nipping at my hand.

"Sorry?" I said, confused.

Frank huffed, and shifted back. "One thing you need to know about a wolf. Never pet a wolf. It is the most insulting thing you can do."

"Sor-" Before I could apologize, Frank ran and morphed again, racing through the woods.

"Hey, no fair!" I yelled after him, running after him as fast as I could.

We played and wrestled in the woods for about three hours, until we had approached the city in which the restaurant was. Frank padded at my side, panting. He sniffed the air before shifting back into his human form, holding my hand again. We walked side by side, heading onto the side walk. I ignored the glares of homophobic people, who looked at us or gave snorts of disgust as we walked by. One guy even whispered "faggots" under his breath. I lunged at him, but Frank held me back, thankfully.

We arrived at the restaurant, and we asked for a table for two. The woman at the counter smiled warmly at us, very welcoming and led us to a small table. Frank and I took our seats, and or waitress came up and took our order of drinks. We both just ordered water.

"So, I suppose now we start talking about things." Frank looked at me.

"Like what?" I blinked.

"I dunno. I've never been on a date before. Aren't we supposed to share interests or something?"

I shrugged. "I don't know! I haven't been on a date either!"

"Well, there's a common trait. We both haven't been on a date before." Frank laughed.

"Well, tell me about your family then? I've never met them." I asked.

Frank flinched suddenly, apparently bothered by the question.

As if on cue, the waitress came over with our drinks and asked for our order. Frank and I both ordered a rare cooked steak, both being crazy meat eaters. The waitress was amused by how we had ordered the same thing, but didn't say anything when she left.

"So, you're not a vegetarian then?" I joked with Frank, deciding not to push the family question just yet.

Frank rolled his eyes, but I thought I caught relief in them. "Well, when I was human I was, actually. I despised meat. It wasn't the flavor, though. I was always crazy about how they treated the animals, being an animal lover and all…and ironically enough, obsessed with dogs, and anything in the dog family. Who knew I would become one of them…anyway getting off topic." He paused for a moment to pick at something in his teeth. "I wish I could still be a vegetarian. But my wolf instincts are too powerful, I've only just recently gained control over my wolf form, and it is just recent I can control when I shift."

"Ah, I understand you completely. I have those random vampire instincts. I mean, they've been there all my life, but they got worse in my teen years. I now have these random moments where I just want to rip someone's throat out, you know?" I looked around; making sure no one was listening.

"Yeah, I saw, when I had to keep you from tearing that guy apart on the street." Frank laughed.

"But I can help you with your wolf instincts, if you need it." I smiled at him.

Frank smiled back. "And I'll help you with your vampire instincts."

Something clicked in that moment. I was just completely head over heels in love with Frank now, and there was absolutely no way I could turn back. This would be a feeling that would last forever, and I prayed it was shared mutually between us.

Franks POV

When the food came, I was doing everything I could to not shift into my wolf form and tear through the meat. It was such a small amount and it bothered me. I knew I would have to hunt later. I felt my wolf form hover over me, I was starting to shift. I came close several times as I cut through the meat. Gerard would kick me lightly when it happened, and I would have to get up and go into the bathroom and take a breather to not lose myself.

I hated it so much. I really just wanted to hang out with Gerard and eat together, but I could hardly keep my wolf form under control, especially around Gerard. Everything was harder around him. I always had difficulty from shifting into my wolf form when eating, but I had done it many times before, and this time was unusually difficult.

Gerard and I ordered a large milkshake, and we decided to share it.

The waitress gave us two straws, and we began sipping it happily. We giggled at one another, feeling childish. I watched Gerard and watched the ice cream climb up the straw and into his mouth.

"Gosh, I don't remember the last time I had ice cream." Gerard laughed when he finished his sip. "It's been forever! Far too long."

I laughed. "Yeah, same here." I licked my lips. I had stuck on such a strict meat diet for so long, I rarely had any human foods. The difference was, though, I had no interest in them. But I needed to fight off the wolf living inside of me. I couldn't let it control me anymore. As much as I realized I hated the taste of ice cream now, I had to control it, because what if I lost control one day around Gerard? I shivered, imagining his dead corpse lying down in a pool of blood, punctures in his neck done by my own teeth… just like my brother's…

"Frank, you alright?" Gerard's voice caused me to surface from my thoughts, and I realized then I had gotten slightly angry at the memory, and I was starting to shift. I inhaled, trying to go back to my full human form. Were my instincts being difficult because Gerard was a vampire? He no longer smelled bad to me; surely the wolf in me had accepted Gerard?

"I'm fine." I said between my teeth as I fought back the wolf. I was losing control so easily, just at the thought of my own brother.

"Alright, come on lets go." Gerard left the money for the meal and took me by the hand. I was too concentrated on fighting back the wolf so I couldn't fight him, and I was dragged out of the restaurant. He brought me into an unlit alley. "If you need to shift, shift."

I couldn't. If I gave in, the wolf would take over, and I wouldn't even be able to control it. I looked up, realizing it was only a half moon out tonight. I shouldn't even be like this.

I fought like crazy for about ten minutes, just gasping for air as I kept my ground. I was not letting the wolf take over. Gerard watched me, sympathy and worry in his eyes the whole time. He kept saying soothing things to me, "Breathe Frankie." and "I'm right here, it's going to be okay baby." which were, in fact, very effective, and calmed me down.

Finally, the wave was over, and the temptation faded, and I fell to my knees, gasping, completely drained of energy. What had just happened to me?

Gerard was at my side instantly, and held me close. I knew he felt terrible, even more so because he didn't really understand what had just happened. I leaned all my weight into his chest, and he just held me there. We sat there for a few minutes, listening to each other's deep breathing. He rocked me back and forth slowly, and rubbed my back to comfort me. I could feel Gerard calm down, his worry fading away as time went on.

"You ready to go Frankie?" Gerard whispered.

I nodded, and took his hand and he helped me up. We laced our fingers together, and I leaned against his shoulder as we walked. We made our way slowly through town without saying a word. I took comfort in hearing Gerard's heart beat and breathing, feeling his deep breaths.

We walked for a little further, when I paused as I caught sight of a couple making their way down the streets. I sniffed the air, and froze in place. I recognized this scent.

Gerard's POV

Frank stopped, staring wide-eyed at an approaching couple. "Frank, is everything—" Before I could even finish, Frank pushed me into an alleyway we had passed. He pushed me against the wall, and he watched the couple walk past, his eyes full of pain as they walked by.

"Who were they, Frankie?" I whispered.

Frank looked me in the eyes, and I thought I caught tears welling in them.

"I…I haven't seen them in years... since I changed… " Frank inhaled, fighting back crying. I wrapped my arms around him, and I felt his tears stain my shirt.

"shhh baby it's okay." I soothed. "Let it out."

He remained in my embrace crying for a few minutes before speaking again. "Gerard, Those were… are… my biological parents."