Bright Lights That Cast A Shadow

I glanced down at the clock on my phone. It lit up with the time, filling the dark space with a tiny glow. I squinted, my eyes not fully adjusted to the harsh light. 2:38. I sighed. It was later than I thought. Not that I needed the sleep, but I much rather would have prefered to be home lounging about my apartment. Instead I was out on the street, looking for more drunken people to feed from.
So far I had only fed off of two people. Because of the fact that I refused to kill anyone, I usually had to feed off of three or four people to hold me off until the next week.
I felt a raindrop splatter against my cheek, the beginning of a storm. I sighed deeply. Rain would make people less willing to walk home. I pulling the hood to my hoodie up, covering most of my face and making me barely recognizable. I ducked into a nearby alley that I knew would provide me with at least some protection from the storm as I waited for my next victim.
I don't know how long I stood there, getting rained on and waiting. I couldn't be bothered to check my phone, but I was guessing that it had been close to an hour. I was soaking wet and my clothes were sticking to my skin making me uncomfortable. Had I been human I probably would have been freezing and getting sick.
I was about to give up and go home. I figured I could survive another week with only blood from two people. It might be a little tiring and painfully but I could probably handle that. I was musing around with this idea when I heard footsteps coming towards the mouth of the alley. From the uneven pace of them the person was probably drunk. I lifted my nose to the air and sniffed. My nose confirmed it. One drunk human was about to stumble into the alley with me.
I stood up from the brick wall that I had been sitting against, and used my black clothes to blend into the shadows. I would wait till the person walked by me and then attack from behind as usual. My muscles tense as I got ready to pounce on my unsuspecting prey. I felt my canines slide into place, hungry with the anticipation of blood.
My victim strolled into the alley way drunkely. He had his head hung down in a tired drunken way, hiding his face from view. He tripped over loose gravel and his head shot up. I gasped quietly.
Small statue
Hazel eyes
Scorpion tattoo
Frank caught himself before he fell and continued to stumble along. I meanwhile stayed frozen, still tensed and ready. I knew I couldn't feed off of him. For fuck sakes I knew him. Not well, but enough that I would feel extremely guilty if he ever came into the shop again. I untensed my body and slumped against the wall.
What was I suppose to do? Should I just get up and leave now? I never helped any other drunken person home before, so why start now. The only difference was that I actually knew him. You're not even friends. My brain reminded me. So, he'd probably help you. But I can't get drunk. But the point is still there!
"Shut up," I growled to myself. Sometimes I felt as if my brain was two different people, one arguing for my more human side, and one arguing for the monster. Finally I came to a conclusion. I would follow Frank home, make sure he got there safetly, and leave. That would be all. And it was only because I knew him and he seemed like a nice person.
I stood up again and looked around. He wasn't in the alley anymore, but I knew he couldn't have gotten very far. I sniffed the musty damp air. It had stopped raining a little while back, but I opted to keep my hood up just in case he saw me. He was close as I predicted. I could still smell him. I jogged to the end of the alley and glanced up and down the street. Sure enough, I could see him, walking down the sidewalk. I followed him, far enough behind that it wouldn't seem suspicous.
I followed him for some time. I strolled along, at a liesurely pace. His short drunk legs didn't carry him very far very fast. A single car drove past us, filled with partying college kids. I turned to watch them as they drove past. I almost missed my college days. The partying, the getting drunk, the one night stands. There were many things I missed from my human life. If I had the choice I would go back to it in a heart beat.
It was funny too. I remember growing up as a kid. Me and Mikey would always run around pretending to be vampires. I had always been obsessed with vampires and thought they were awesome. Many times I would catch myself day dreaming about being one. I had never expected it to be like this though. I gave a grim chuckle. Careful what you wish for, cause lifes a bitch waiting to give it to you.
I realized I had stopped walking and continued on down the sidewalk, but when I looked up, Frank was gone. I frowned. He was just there a second ago, and like I said, it wasn't like he was moving fast.
A muffled groan inturrepted my slightly frantic searching, followed by laughter. I took off running, slightly faster than the average human towards the sound. It was coming from an abandoned building. I turned a corner and halted to a stop. Frank was surrounded by three medium sized guys. He was curled up in a ball with his hand gripping his stomach. His lip was cut and bleeding, along with a gash across his head. I panicked. Now what was I suppose to do? I could probably take all three of the guys, no they weren't what worried me. What worried me was the amount of blood coming from Frank. Not only would it be hard to control myself, but he was losing too much of it.
It wasn't until one of the guys kicked him in the ribs though did I move. I growled and threw myself at him knocking him down. He let out a startled cry as he hit the ground. His friends stood staring at me for a second longer before moving in to help him. I quickly jumped up, pulling the guy with me. I twisted his arm and pinned it behind his back causing him to cry out and wince at the pain.
"Take one more step and I break your friends arm," I threatened, my voice steely cold. I could see their eyes wavering, deciding. I pulled his arm tighter and he cried out again.
"C'mon...guys. Let's just...go," He panted out through gritted teeth. His friends nodded wide eyed and started back up, keeping on eye on me. I let go of the kids arm and shoved him forward hard. He fell and looked up at me in panic before scrambling to his feet and running off with his friends. I watched them leave before turning to Frank.
Breathing through my mouth I rushed over to him. It was weird how protective I was of him, especially since we had just met. Hell it was weird for me to be protective period considering what I was. I only ever hurt people. Being protective just wasn't in my nature. I thought bitterly, biting my lip and wincing when it cut through drawing blood.
Frank groaned again and tried sitting up, but collapsed again. I rushed forward and caught him, lowering him to the ground.
"What?" He stammered frowning up at me in confusion. "Gerard?"
"Yeah uh it's me." I clenched my fist and tried my best to ignore the blood that was covering him from the cut on his forehead. "Um yeah listen, I'm no doctor but I think you need stitches," I told him through gritted teeth. My fangs refused to slide back into place and I prayed that he was still too drunk to register that small fact.
"Ugh, stitches," He grimaced, before looking up at me somewhat sheepishly. "Um do you think you could help me get somewhere for that?"
"Sure," I replied, helping him up. It was difficult for both of us, him because of his injuries, and me because of his blood. Somehow though we managed and began our long walk towards the hospital.
We didn't talk much on the way there, just me giving him occasional instructions. I could tell that getting mugged had sobered him up. He seemed much more aware of what was going on. Unfortunately that meant he was more aware of the pain as well. It was pretty bad too. His faced had turned a pale ashy color from loss of blood and I began to worry.
"Here," I said stopping us and leaning him against a lamp post. He leaned against it weakly and took labored breaths. I took off my shirt and held it up to him. "Hold this up to your head to help the bleeding," I instructed him. He nodded and took it, pressing it against the wound and immediately staining the shirt.
"Well tonight just sucks," He laughed weakly before frowning and wincing at the pain. "At least I get to see you without your shirt on," He joked half heartedly.
"Frank you're bleeding out. I don't know if this is the right time for jokes," I tried to be stern but I was hiding my blush.
"Actually, it's...the perfect time. Makes the situation...less tense," He gasped out as I helped him up again. "God I'm tired."
"Just don't go to sleep," I told him sending him a concerned look. He nodded mutely and we continued on our way.
~~~
"Gerard Way?" I jerked at the mention of my name. I had been sitting in a hard plastic hospital chair in the waiting room for about an hour waiting for news about Frank. I figured I would just make sure that he was okay, and then I would leave.
"That's me," I said simply, standing up. The doctor looked up at me as I walked over.
"Hello," He said holding out his hand for me to shake. "I'm Doctor Pierce, Frank's doctor." I shook his hand and waited for information about Frank. "He needed stitches on his forehead and we cleaned up his lip. He also has a mild concussion and a cracked rib. Due to loss of blood and the concussion we would like to keep him overnight." I nodded, processing the information in my head. Frank was fine. He would be okay. "Would you like to go see him? I think he asked for you." Dr. Pierce told me, already turning to escort me to his room.
I bit my lip and frowned. "Actually I better not. Thank you for telling me he's okay." With that I turned and strided away quickly. I was getting to close to Frank I realized as I walked home. That couldn't happen. The only reason I was friends with Bob and Ray was because I had become friends with them not long after I turned. When I still thought being a vampire was awesome. Before I realized I was too dangerous to be close to people. If I really cared for Frank I would stay far away from him.
I reached my apartment door and unlocked it quickly and slipping inside. I relocked it and kicked off my shoes. I walked into my bedroom, only being bothered enough to slip out of my wet jeans and t-shirt before climbing into bed.
It didn't occur to me until I was almost asleep. I wasn't even thinking about drinking Frank's blood during the walk to the hospital. I had only been concentrating on how worried I was. With that confusing thought in mind I slipped off to sleep.

Notes

So I just thought I should let you guys know this will be my last post for a little bit. My brother is visiting so I won't be writing chapters. I'm really sorry. no i'm not. i love my brother you guys understand. i hope. but anyway i'll post again in about a week and a half. and btw, this story will probably have updates daily. so let me know what you guys think. :)