FicWad

So sorry for the inexcusably long wait. Hope you enjoy the chapter. If a sudden urge to rate and review takes over you, don't fight it. It's good for you. *wink*



I wasn't quite sure why I expected the man to run after me as I darted towards the house, but as I glanced back while I hurried ahead I could see him standing in place, unmoving. I ran across the lawn and swiftly swung myself over the creaky fence circling the patio. Gerard was already at the door, staring at me with alarmed eyes as I wedged myself between the door frame and his amazingly butch body. I stopped on my tracks in the living room, realizing for the first time that I hadn't exactly thought my plan through – running into the house was a success but what next? I let out a shaky breath and turned to Gerard,

”Shut the door.” I ordered. ”Lock it, too.”

He did this with haste and continued to stare at me. I knew he wanted answers, the bewildered look on his face showed just how baffled and clueless he was about whatever was going on, but I couldn't quite bring myself to explain it to him. I was still rather keen on the idea of brushing this off as some maniac trying to get me to shit my pants even though nothing really supported that theory.

The man knew too much, he talked about the other world as if he was a part of it, a part that somehow managed to walk right into this dimension like I had, someone like me. The thought scared me, and for the first time I think I caught a bit of the emotion I had seen flash across the faces of Gerard and Frank, a pure fear for the unknown. At this point of life, I hadn't really expected to come across anything unfamiliar, anything that would leave me terribly out of my depth, and my frantic brain was trying its best to delude itself into thinking it was all a sick joke, or a trick played on me by my imagination. I glanced at Gerard's frozen posture again, and realized that no, I wasn't imagining things. This was real.

”Who is he? What's going on?”

The two question spoken with the kind of demand that wasn't going to settle with a simple shrug left me speachless. Both of the questions remained unanswered in my own mind, and I couldn't think of a way to reply to him.

I let my body collapse, landing on the sofa in an ungraceful, slouchy way and groaned.

”His not a human. I don't know what he is. He said I had to go back.” I shuddered as I replayed the conversation in my mind.

The gap has been left open. They're coming – it's only a matter of time.

”Back?” He flew across the room and placed himself beside me, grabbing my shoulders gently yet firmly, giving a light shake that seemed to do a great job at scattering the remaining thoughts in my disorganized brain. ”What do you mean, go back?”

”He said that-” I glanced at the back yard and saw a relaxed figure making his way toward the house. ”Oh god, he's coming back. Oh god-” I whined and pulled close the shutters.

”You think that's gonna help? Locking the doors and covering the windows?” I was a bit taken aback by the intensive sarcasm and what appeared to be a frustrated kind of anger in his tone.

”What do you suggest?!” I bellowed and tried to shake off his hands that were still located on my shoulders. He didn't let go, which I thought was propably a good thing, since after all his grip on me seemed to be the only thing that kept me from freaking out or falling apart before his eyes.

”You should find out who he is.” He said. ”And what he wants.”

”I already found out the latter – he wants me to go back.”

”Then find out why!”

”Wh- oh.” He had a point there. If he was an inhabitant of the old world – which of course was a bit of an impossibility itself- why would he seem so desperate in his quest to send me back to close the gap? To stop the creatures of my kind from flooding in and invading the human world?

”I'm so confused.” I settled on whispering the words with perfectly toneless voice that reflected the blankness of my mind.

”Then it's his job to un-confuse us.” He reached over to the beaded rope hanging from the side of the window and tugged at it, opening the shutters.

My lungs suddenly found the oxygen to produce a loud scream that echoed in the quiet house as the face of the stranger was no more than two inches from mine, nose pressed against the cold surface of the glass and a wicked grin plastered on his features. A jolt went through my body and I jumped up from the couch, nearly falling on my face. I sat sprawled on the chilly floor and attemped a hesitant backward crawl toward the kitchen when Gerard – to my shock- walked over to the door and unlocked it with a snapping sound. For the moment, it felt like the least welcomed sound in the universe, and I stared at him with accussation.

I watched the scene before me play in slow-motion as if I was trapped in an invisible bubble and not really a part of reality – it almost felt like an out-of-body experience, especially with the sudden change of the atmosphere that made it seem like I was watching a movie, or a teen sit com, seeing the events unfold with absurd normality that in no way matched the state of my mind.

I felt distant, and so not-there, that even the sounds faded away into nothingness, as if I'd grabbed the remote control and pressed on the mute button.
As I caught the sight of Gerard extending his arm to the stranger to shake hands, in a proper formal introduction, my mouth made a popping sound and for the first time I wondered if I was truly going insane. The signs were all over the place, really, and people that lost their minds were perhaps rarely aware of it happening, but as the scene unfolded before my eyes I wondered for a second if the man really was harmless, nothing but neighbor or a driver with a flat tire, and everything that had happened outside of this house was merely results of my own insanity.

Why else would they be shaking hands, why else would Gerard invite the man into his house, and why else would his smile suddenly look less menacing and more warm and kind? Maybe it was all in my head. In fact, it would be a relief. I welcomed insanity, as opposed to any of this being real.


A pair of strong arms lifted me up like I was toddler, forcing me to leave my position on the floor and brake the comfort of the bubble that excluded me from the surrounding world.

”Behave yourself.” Gerard whispered into my ear with a slightly humorous tone and I cast a look of shock at him.

Since when was he the brave one, the one without any fear or frantic reactions such as running away or locking someone up in a basement? He turned his gaze away and for a split second, between his confident and somehow smug expression and the following friendly smile, there was a glimpse of that fear clearly visible in his eyes. I looked away, realizing that it was all an act, and if I wasn't about to start joining the act, he wouldn't be able to hold it together.

I closed my eyes and felt Gerard leave my side. I squeezed my eyelids, wishing for the tenth time that all of this wasn't happening, before proceeding to gather the fragments of my composure and attempting a cool, stale indifference similar to the one Gerard had been able to pull off. After a moment I involuntarily opened my eyes and studied the scene.
The man was now seated on the kitchen chair, and I realized I'd zoned out for quite a while. Coffee was brewing, and the mood was oddly relaxed.

”Nice one, the way you bolted and hid in the house.” He spoke lightly while fumbling with the yet empty coffee cup.

”I- uhm, I thought you were a crazy person.”

I had a massive déjá-vu coming at me as I spoke the words and suddenly remembered Frank. He'd called me an escaped patient of some mental ward as I'd left Ray's apartment months ago, and I'd told him that if I were in his shoes, I wouldn't be caught dead yelling at a crazy person.
Thoughts of Frank invaded my mind without a warning, and I realized that he should be home any minute. And oh what he would come home to...

I felt strangely out of place standing in the middle of the room, several feet from the kitchen table and the man – I would keep it that way in case it was up to me- but also discomfortingly far from Gerard, who stood by the kitchen counter, nervously tapping his fingers on the polished granite surface but bravely keeping that careless expression on.

I was at loss of things to say for the moment. The whole setting felt so utterly absurd, when just a couple minutes ago I'd been out on the yard talking to this man that I found both unsociable and ominous, and then running into the house and being scared to death by his grinning face pressed against the window, only a piece of glass between us. And now.. I looked around again, completely dumbfounded, I was staring at a scene so perfectly normal on the surface after being pulled up by Gerard and told to behave myself, that it was nearly enough to make me faint.

”Milk, sugar?” Gerard called from the kitchen and I was happy to sense that the man's eyes darted away from me. I'd been greatly uncomfortable having him so obviously and unashamedly stare at me.

”Neither, to be honest. I don't really drink coffee to be frank – I just said so for the sake of politeness.” His easy smile looked realiable, but in the most unreliable way.

”..Right. Is there anything you'd like, then?” Gerard asked slowly, while pouring some of the black liquid into a mug that I'd declared mine.

”I 'spose you wouldn't be comfortable offering me what I'd like so perhaps I'll just leave that unanswered.” He chuckled lightly.

I was happy to have found control of my feet, and slowly walked over to the table, taking the seat farthest away from him.
I suddenly remembered his name – Leon- even though the memory of him introducing himself after I'd walked out that door now seemed like days ago.

”You're not one of my kind.” I stated knowingly, hoping that he would enlighten me on the matter.

”I'm not a vryko, no.” He blurted, and I couldn't help but notice the way he crinkled his nose at the word, as if it held an unpleasant smell.

”Why do you keep calling them vrykos?” I asked unsurely.

”Vrykolakas.” He stated indifferently. ”Ring any bells? The original vampire.” His sarcastic emphasize of the word 'original' hardly went unnoticed by anyone in the room.

”I never realized we were being refered to as that.” I thought aloud. Despite wanting to see myself as purely human, as ordinary as the next girl, I was strangely happy and content with having a name for what I used to be. Although, taking into account Leon's obvious distaste for that kind, I wasn't sure whether it was an appopriate name for the species or a case of unpleasant name-calling.

”I'm not surprised. I mean, why would you bother calling yourselves by any common referance when obviously you people think you're superior to every other kind in the world.”

”But they are!” I blurted out automatically. ”There's nothing as lethal out there.”

”Perhaps. But then, I reckon the most lethal animal species known is Siafu ants, and you don't see them trying to rule the universe, do you?”

”My kind does not try to rule the universe. They only inhabit the old world.”

”As of yet. I think there's a reason they can't cross the barrier. Well couldn't, until you fucked that up.”

”Why do you care?” I asked defiantly. ”What's it to you?”

”It's everything to me – why else do you think I search half the globe for you? Or died like a dozen times to enter the vryko dimension through the Interval only to be ripped to shreads each time, only in desperate quest to find out what's going on after I overheard some vampires talk about the Insolentia having made a run for it and escaping to the human world?”

”Can't you just- Jesus-!” I scoffed ”-Start at the beginning or something? Give me something coherent to hang onto? Or do you really think I'm off to go get myself killed and go back just cause some cryptic stranger told me to?” I banged my fist on the table, making the crystal candelabrum quiver and clink.

”Fair enough. My name's Leon, as I told you before. I was born here, in this dimension, among the humans. My mother was a vampire. My father was human-” he started to explain in a toneless, conversational voice.

”You're lying.” I cut off. ”It's not possible.”

”It's not possible for a human to ravish a vampire? Oh, I wouldn't put it past them. I never said my parents fell in love and got married. May I continue?” He replied icily.

I shrank back, trying to get the mental picture out of my head.. A vampire, caught by a drunken man who couldn't see the difference between the creature he'd come across and a bald, scrawny woman. I felt an intense urge to gag, but tried to keep my face straight and my mouth shut.

”Good. She didn't harm the man – vampires aren't prone to harming any other creatures than animals. I don't know if they even realize they could use their fangs on anything else. She died and portaled back to the Interval. Circled around different dimensions for quite some time. Or that's what I've heard – it's quite a task trying to get vampires to talk, don't you think? I don't know how you managed to squeeze all that information about the human world while you were still with the vrykos. Tortured them, quite likely?”

I popped my mouth open to protest but he waved his hand before his face dismissively.

”Anyway, eventually she ended back here and gave birth to me and my sister. I believe we are the first half vampires in history. Quite an honor, don't you think?”

I realized he was refering to my being a hybrid, as well, and I cringed inwardly, not wanting to acknowledge any similarities to creatures like him.

”She carried us with her for a couple years, then she passed away again and I haven't seen her since. Good thing we developed quite quickly, like vampires do, so we managed to get by on our own.”

”How are the.. vrykos, how are they a threat to you?”

”Other than a physical threat? It's not like they would want to have any other races around if they got here. They'd rip us apart and send us spiraling to the Interval each time we crossed this dimension. And other places.. Well, they just don't meet our appetite.”

I tried to put his words together since obviously he wanted me to figure something out myself but the things he said were like a lacking jigsaw puzzle, pieces scattered and pieces lost and it didn't even begin to form a picture that made sense.

”Your appetite?” I asked.

”My sister and I, we have a special way of enjoying human blood.”

Before the shock had even started to set in, I heard loud clatter take place in the kitchen, and from behind the breakfast counter I could see Gerard's horrorstruck face staring at me with wide eyes, his hand still holding on to the porcelain mug that had already shattered to pieces hitting the floor.

”Don't you worry, buddy – unlike the vrykos, I can restrain myself.” Leon called out to Gerard without looking away from my uncomprehensive eyes, all the while a small smile played on his pouty lips.

Gerard ducked, and started to frantically collect the broken shards of the mug.

”So you see, if they got here, I would start to gradually starve. Not very compelling, the thought. I've drunk animal blood as an infant, while our mother still bothered to drag us along, and it tasted like week-old stale dishwater.”

”Your mother, she..” I thought for a moment. ”She actually cared for you two?”

He chuckled loudly, as if there was some hidden joke in the words that I could no understand.

”Obviously, she didn't really have any deep insight to motherhood. You know how vampires are, don't you? But there must've been some kind of an instinct she had that kept her carrying us with her for a couple years. I don't have any bad feelings toward the poor thing. She never knew what hit her.”

”Where's your sister?”

”We had a falling out a few years back. She was too intent on drinking until her victim deceased. I was never really into that whole killing part of my existance. I like to have a taste, and consume the amount I need to be content, and then move on. Maybe it's just my male ego – I like to think I've drank from as many women as most human men could only dream of having sex with.”

”Do they know? What you did to them?”

”Nah, I do it while they sleep, mostly. I guess that crashes the male ego thing, huh? Don't wanna traumatize anybody. Did you know there's a club in Manhattan, with all kinds of freaky humans that identify themselves as devil worshippers? They drink blood for fun, and give it away to anyone who wants to join the orgy. I thought it was the sickest, weirdest thing I ever saw.” He spoke with a hollow laugh.

”No.. I did not know that.” I didn't know what else to say. ”Does it... pass on?”

”Of course not. Don't be silly, now. Does the vryko shit pass on- no. It's the same. Oh-” He threw up his hands in some sort of expression of exhiliration. ”Oh! I've been dying to ask you – I can't believe I forgot- what's your story? How were you made?”

”I've no idea. Surely not the way you were.” I spoke quietly.

”Bummer.” His green hair looked less bright and glistening inside the house, and more like a massive amount of clay or play dough smacked on his head. It looked plastic, and fake.

”Do you wear a wig? I mean,” I wasn't sure why I was blushing all of a sudden. I suppose I didn't want to insult a man's mother. ”Vampires, they don't have like... hair..”

He cackled a throaty laugh and made a show out of pulling on strands of his hair that came a bit past his ears.

”It's real. Dyed, but real. I guess I oughta thank old Pap for that, eh?”

I nodded, slightly embarrassed.

”Look, you seem like an awfully nice couple-”

”We're not really a couple, though.” I just had to get that out of my system.

”But there are reasons I'm here. Reasons that cannot be ignored. You came here and you left the barrier down. Look, I don't know how you were made, or how you were able to cross over, but you have done unimaginable damage. No one can undo it but you – don't you think I tried passing through myself first thing after I heard about it from a vampire? It's only a matter of time one of them tells the vrykos. It's not like they want the vrykos here, either, but they might talk about it in wrong places or something, I don't know.."

He scratched his head and for the first time since arriving here, he looked greatly troubled. Like a young boy, a lost young boy. He couldn't be that old, twenty, tops?

"I just strongly think that a thing this big will not stay secret for long. This isn't just for me, you know..” His voice trailed off, and I knew fully well what he meant.

He came here in despair, for selfish reasons, but he also knew I would never go back for his benefit. I didn't even know him.
I glanced at Gerard, who was currently taking mugs out from the cupboard above the sink, and sighed. I knew perfectly well what he meant..

If the vrykos got here, they would spare no one. Everyone I knew would be gone, and I would be, too. I would never ever be able to protect them, not even if I was what I used to be and definitely not as a human. We'd all be dead.
One by one, the humans would be shredded to pieces and consumed.
Pretty young girls, men with futures, innocent children.. and their mothers.
Ray, Mikey, Bob.
Gerard.


And Frank.