Of the Undead and Found Families

*Frank’s POV*

As the last of tonight’s patrons trickled away I was still talking with Gerard. There were a lot of blanks in his memories of tonight so we’d been trying to build up to it. We’d ended up starting right at the beginning for him. He was 19, or at least that’s the age he was turned, and fairly new to being a vampire. It hadn’t even been a decade. God I pitied the kid there. Disappearing in the age of technology was shit. When I was turned if you disappeared most people assumed you’d died in a woodland and left it at that.

He didn’t tell me who turned him though, and honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t know. Since he turned he’d been jumping from place to place. Before that he'd been kicked out of his home. There was more he wasn't telling me. He didn't have to. We'd all seen the marks on his body, the scars turning wouldn't erase. Whatever had haunted him them had followed him into his second life.

"Why do you even care? You’d have to blind to not see how strong you and your friends are."

"Didn’t stop you from taking a shot." Gerard blushed. "It’s alright none of that was your fault. Pat should known better, he took it too far but I promise you it won’t happen again. Ever. And you’re right, we are strong, but if there’s something dangerous out there I can’t have flocks of people flooding in until we’ve dealt with it." He shifted uncomfortably, staring at the floor so intently I was amazed it didn’t just burst into flames. There really was nothing of him. I put my hand on his shoulder.
"Can I ask you something personal Gerard?" He tensed up and looked me in the eyes. They were a warm brown, and scared. He gave me a slight nod.

"Why are you running? There’s places you could stay. Maybe make a bit of a life for yourself." Instantly he was defensive.

"I’m not running from anything. And even if I was it’s none of your business," He stood up and moved towards the door. "I’ve already been here..."

"You can stay here." I startled myself. I hadn’t meant to blurt it out like that. I’d been planning to offer him a place to stay anyway but I realised I didn’t want him to leave. This kid needed help. He needed someone he could trust.

"I, uh, meant we’ve got plenty of room. It’s kind of what we do here. Supernatural safe house." "A safe house?" Gerard looked at me incredulously.

"Run by a prettyboy and a sex crime waiting to happen. I’m sure it’s the safest place to be."
"Has been for the last 200 years. As long as you stay within the barriers nothing can hurt you like last night."

"And how do I know I wasn’t hurt in your stupid house? I’m sure it wouldn’t be beyond the power of that twat to scramble my brain."

"Ray, the curly haired guy, he did a patrol and found blood. A lot of it, same as the stuff you were covered in."

"You don’t think it was my blood?"

"We couldn’t find a single wound on you." Gerard looked like he’s been kicked in the gut. Then his face bounced through a range from anger to disgust fear then back to anger.

"So you all had your hands all over me. That’s it, I’m outta here."
With that he shot through the door and into the night. I went into the kitchen and took a coffee off of Pat.

"That went well."

"Fuck off."

Notes

Hey there
I'll admit I wrote about three different ways this chapter could have gone. Combined with some family troubles I left a way bigger gap between chapters .
So as always. Don't be afraid to leave feedback, comments or whatever you feel like
Love you lots
Wren <3