To Kill a Vampire

Chapter Eight ~ Our Lady of Sorrows

Gwen was in a state of shock as Gerard pulled her out of the Starbucks, earning a few curious glances from nearby customers. As soon as they were outside Gwen snapped out of her trance and pulled back on her wrist, making Gerard stop in his tracks.

“Gerard, what’s going on? Who is Frank?” she asked seriously, her eyes wide open with shock. Gerard turned around and took a step towards her, stopping a mere breath away from her. Gwen felt a little uncomfortable because of the little distance between them, and her gut was telling her to take a step back, but she remained frozen in place.

“Gwen, you can be so naïve sometimes,” he whispered. Gwen looked up and met his eyes. Her head tilted slightly in confusion.

“Frank wants you dead. They all do. That’s why I am the only one who can save you.” He breathed. Gwen felt her mouth open in a silent gasp.

“They? The vampires?” she asked. Gerard nodded. “But why-“

“Because they think that you are going to drive them out of New York.” Gerard interjected, saying it as if it were the silliest thing in the world. Gwen looked down, noticing that her and Gerard’s shoes were touching.

“I meant why aren’t you with them?” she asked. Gwen looked up at Gerard. Something lingered in his normally hard gaze. His eyes softened and his eyebrows lifted slightly.

“Because-“

“Gwen!” someone shouted. Gwen whipped her head angrily towards the source of the interruption. Her angry expression disappeared when she saw Mikey’s head bobbing through the crowd. She heard Gerard sigh impatiently beside her, but she ignored him and took a step towards Mikey. He emerged from the crowd, panting.

“Where are you going? I came into Starbucks and-“

“Mikey,” Gwen interrupted. “I’m sorry, but I really need to go.” She looked pleadingly up at him. Mikey’s face fell, and his eyes flicked behind Gwen. Gwen turned around to see where Mikey had looked, and noticed that Gerard was now leaning against a telephone pole a good five meters away.  Gwen felt her face heat up.

“What is going on?” Mikey asked, his face devoid of any emotion. His eyes were fixed on Gwen’s but she tried to not keep eye contact. Gwen sighed and looked up at Mikey, feeling Gerard tense up behind her.

“Remember what I told you earlier? The thing about vampires and me?” she asked. Mikey nodded slowly, his face slowly putting on a confused expression.

“You weren’t kidding, then?” he whispered. Gwen bit her lip and nodded.

“I wasn’t.” She laughed, trying to make the situation less awkward. Mikey squinted his eyes slightly, and Gwen found herself about to ask where his glasses were.

“Well, what does that have to do with anything?” Mikey asked. Gwen blinked in surprise, suddenly remembering what the conversation was about in the first place.

“Oh, yeah. Well, please don’t overreact, apparently there are some vampires that want to kill me, and they might come looking for me in my house. So, I’m just going to chill at Gerard’s place for a bit until it’s safe.” Gwen explained, barely opening her mouth so that Mikey wouldn’t understand her clearly. She looked cautiously up at Mikey to find him staring at her with his mouth open.

“Someone’s trying to kill you? And you’re going to his house?” he shouted, waving his arm towards Gerard. Some people walking by gave Mikey a funny look, but he ignored them.

“Mikey, I really don’t have a choice!” Gwen replied. Mikey grabbed his hair and pulled on it, while letting out an exasperated groan.

“Gwen, I knew you would do this! You know what?” he began, rubbing his forehead angrily. “You trust people way too easily! How do you know this dipshit is telling you the truth?”