My Guardian Vampire

Rob's set ended, and the band smiled and said their ending crap before beginning to collect their stuff. Rob, guitar in hand, walked over to me once the band was mostly done packing up their equipment.

"Hey," he said, smiling his classic full-moon and sun smile, which quickly turned into a frown as he looked at me. The sudden turn made my heart stutter for a moment—and not like the good kind I was used to. He began to set his guitar down, but paused for a moment and handed it to me. "Want to hold this? You didn’t look so well, so I thought... Maybe if you held it, it'd make you feel better," he said, smiling once again.
I nodded with only a bit of meekness in return, and he helped put the strap over my head.

"Uh...yay?" I said, smiling weakly. He pouted, and I couldn't help but laugh at the adorable, child-like face. I stood up taller. "Oh, the divine spirit of the guitar has cured me!" I exclaimed, attempting to hide the chuckle in my voice. "Thank you dear Gibson!" He laughed at me and ruffled my hair—not one of my favorite actions of his.

"Damn you for being so tall..." I muttered, and he laughed again, causing me to unable to defend myself: I was forced to smile, my heart tickling my lips until my grin was most likely as wide as my face. I took the strap off my head with Rob's help, and once Rob shifted to the side slightly, my object of vision quickly changed.

The guy from Grace's band that had been staring at me was a few feet away, sitting on an amp and, well... continuing to stare at me again, not afraid of being rude in the slightest. This time his face had a very weird expression: part amusement, and part pissed off. I never thought both could be portrayed on a face at the same time. This time he was not staring at me in the creepy, intense way, but as if he was staring through me, lost in deep thought.

Rob turned around slightly to see who I was staring at. I had honestly forgotten Rob was there for a moment, so I blushed slightly of embarrassment. Rob then leaned down to me.

"That guy is really creepy, eh?" he whispered to me, and I nodded. There was something I could not place, something wrong that I cold not grasp. There was also something familiar, but I couldn’t figure that out either. Rob spoke again, but I didn’t hear him, lost in thought.

"What, sorry?" I asked, and he smiled.

"He's been staring at you this whole time..." I nodded again once, not sure yet if this was a good or a bad thing. Rob stood back up to his full height, pushed out his chest, slung one arm around me, leaning on me like a drunk, and raised up his other hand with his guitar in it like a sword.

"Do not worry for I shall protect you!" he said loudly, making me laugh once again. He hugged me briefly and departed with his band, Grace's band finishing their set up. Katy laughed, cooing at my flushed expression.

"So that was Rob huh?" she asked. I tried to look unfazed—though Brittany may have been boy crazy, I was certainly not, and liked to keep it that way. Katy was quite flushed herself; apparently she had been having a good time, which pleased me greatly.

The guy that had been staring at me before jumped off the amp and sauntered coolly towards the microphone—almost dead ahead of me. I groaned in my head, now cursing my once blessed location. The guy's demeanor completely changed: despite never seeming shy or similarly before, he now exuded a kind of strong, arrogant, outgoing twist to him.

Uh-oh.
That was my kryptonite with guys.

His stare fell onto mine and his lips quirked into a smirk, causing me to frown in confusion, my heart acting strange at the instant of his smile. My heart did not skip a beat, but instead felt suddenly hard, fragile, like it had crystallized and was ready to break for some reason. I did not like this feeling at all, as it made me feel weak--something I tried to avoid. I looked away from him, and surveyed the rest of the band. There were five of them in all, each making the final tunings on their instruments. Refusing to return my stare to the singer though he was literally less than a half-foot away from me, I stubbornly chose to survey my friends surrounding me, having to turn so I wouldn’t match eyes with the singer in the slightest.

Brittany was drooling over the guy who handed me the flyer, Grace was waiting excitedly, and seemed to love the fact we were so close to the band (I guessed she hadn’t been as close before), and Katy and Casey were now standing around awkwardly—forcing me to feel a sudden pang of guilt. Katy and Casey were the preppiest by far of the five of us, and though Rob's band and the local band weren’t hard rock or anything, I could tell this wasn’t really their forté. Noticing the harder and darker looking guitars and drums, and the fact that they were all wearing black of some sort, I knew that this band would probably be the darkest-sounding band of the four that had played, adding to my guilt. The band got into their positions, and unfortunately I knew that I would eventually have to look at the singer. I heard feedback from the mic, and cringing, I looked up at him. He had his eyes closed thankfully, and he began to talk into the mic, almost hesitantly at first.

"Hello and goodnight," he breathed into the microphone, then paused. I noticed him open his eyes slightly, and he looked at me, seeming to gauge my reaction. I didn’t know what he was waiting for, so I didn’t react at all. His smile seems to strengthen in confidence and he continued, the drummer beginning to beat on his drum meanwhile: "We are... The New London Fire!" He said, and his eyes went wide as the music immediately crashed into the scene.

And then it happened.
Suddenly they became as one, and it was the most beautiful yet terrifying sound I had ever heard.

"Gaze into her killing jar
I'd sometimes stare for hours.
She don't poke the holes so I can breathe.
She bought the last line,
I'm just the worst kind
Of guy to argue
With what you might find.
And for the last night I lie,
Could I lie with you?"

He had had his eyes shut as he sang, but at the last line, opened them suddenly, and set them dead on me, making me blush fiercely, and him grin. I began to feel lightheaded and looked around me. Surprisingly, Katy and Casey were having a good time, dancing and singing somehow, even though I knew they didn’t know the words. Everyone was having a good time as waves of music hit us with every chord strummed, every beat hit, every word sang by his voice...

"All right...
Give up, Get down.
It’s just the hardest part of living.
All right,
She wants, It all
To come down this time...
I'm...
lost in the prescription,
she's got something else in mind.
Check into the Hotel Bella Muerte..."

He embellished the last line, sending shivers down my spine, and I felt... the fog once again.

"It gives the weak flight,
It gives the blind sight,
Until the cops come,
Or by the last light.
And for the last night I lie,
Could I lie next to you?"

I tired to shake my head, fighting it off, but nothing seemed to work...

"All right...
Give up, Get down.
It’s the hardest part of living.
All right
She wants, It all,
to come down this time.
All right...
Give up. Get down.
It’s the hardest part of living.
All right
She wants, It all
To come down this time..."

I grabbed my head, trying to block out everything and concentrate on emptying the fog out of my head. Music worked the last time, but this was loud music. Once again, I wondered if something was horribly wrong with me.

"Pull the plug.
But I'd like to learn your name...
When holding on,
Well I hope you do the same...
Awww sugar.
Slip into this tragedy
You've smoked this chamber dry...
All right...
Give up. Get down.
It’s just the hardest part of living.
All right
She wants, It all
To come down this time.
All right...
Give up. Get down.
It’s just the hardest part of living.
All right
She wants, It all
To come down this time."

I looked around. Nobody else was having this problem, what was going on in my head? I was panicking, not understanding if I was going insane, having some kind of seizure or mental breakdown. The lead singer suddenly touched me, giving me another extreme jolt. His fingers grazed my cheek and he stared at me as he sang, as if he was trying to calm me. I froze, my breathing shallow as I attempted to function and look away from his eyes.

"Pull the plug,.
But I'd like to learn your name.
And holding on,
Well I hope you do the same.
Awww sugar..."

The song ended, almost causing a physical sense of depression in the room. The singer held my face more steadily as the music faded away, forcing me to look him in the eyes.

"Come on Ali, just go with the music. Its not so bad, right?" he didn’t wait for a response. "So just stop trying to fight it..." He let go of my face and turned around suddenly as the music started up once again. The drummer began beating, but the singer seemed to take a long pause, the crowd silent, waiting for him, totally captured. After what felt like forever, the singer went back up to the microphone.

"So you are all probably wondering who were are," he said, smiling slightly into the dreamy faces of the crowd, all but one eating up his every word: Me, the freak standing before him, frowning with my arms folded, wondering what the hell was going on. This guy, this band, were scary, too intense and... I couldn't even wrap my mind around this feeling of control they were putting over the entire crowd. Even the members of the other bands were standing around eagerly, smiles on their faces and awe in their eyes, including Rob.

"This," he said, pointing out the members, "is Frank, Ray, Bob, and Mikey, my brother," he said, slinging his arm around the bassist. "And I," he said, smiling at me, "am Gerard." A collective sigh went up from what I was guessing was a mostly female part of the audience. I rolled my eyes and sighed in defiance of his little groupies. Gerard smiled, taking it all in. I gritted my teeth, starting to really dislike him. He just laughed in my face as he watched the obvious discontent in my expression, though not as meanly as I expected.

"Come on Ali, don't be such a drag... You're upsetting your friends," he said, leaning in close to me, away from the mic. "Especially your little lover boy Rob over there...” He was grinning, though for some reason his voice was tinted with an edge. I looked away from him, trying to avoid his burning eyes, trying to not think about him. Turning my head I saw Rob with a slightly confused mask on his face. Gerard lifted up my chin, coming way too close. From the corner of my eye I saw Rob's eyes widen, and he almost started to look pissed.

"What do you want Gerard?" I asked stubbornly. Everyone was staring at us now, and my legs felt shaky. I noticed the drums were still beating in time; they had never faltered.

"You," he answered simply, giving me a peck on the lips, his lips a brief flash on mine before going back to the mic as the guitars suddenly came in. I almost fell from his sudden movement, staring up at him in slight shock.

'Did I just imagine that...?' I wondered, as Gerard began to sing once again.

Notes

Last one for tonight, I think!

Hopefully ya'll like it c: Have a good night, killjoys.♥ I'm glad this website exists, and there are still fans out there.