FicWad

I had to wait until nearly eleven to sneak out of the house. I sat up listening in the dark, silent room, waiting until I heard mum and dad go to bed at around ten, and then waiting another agonisingly long hour for them to drift off. I creep out of bed, still dressed in my clothes from earlier and pad barefoot across the floor, nervously opening the door, before tiptoeing as quickly as I dare down the stairs, jumping over the creaky bottom two. My converse slip on easily, laces trailing the ground as I unlock the front door, before slipping out into the almost welcoming darkness.
I tear down the silent street, feet barely touching the concrete pavement, my school messenger bag slapping against my side with every step, as if I needed any reminder of the deadly spider sleeping peacefully in her cage that was inside the main pocket. It takes ages to find the decrepit old building where the freak show was held, I almost lost my bottle several times and turned back, before guiltily reminding myself of poor Mikey, lying in a cold lonely hospital bed, hooked up to countless wires and machines.
Gerard was waiting for me when I finally arrived, crouched hidden in the doorway, his eyes bright in the pitch darkness, a velvet red cloak billowing out behind him.
“I believe you have something that belongs to me, Frank?” the vampire asks softly, moving to the side, inviting me in.
Not trusting my voice I just nod and reach inside my bag.
Gerard snatches the metal cage from me and gently shakes it to see how his beloved pet was. He nods once, and then hides it in a hidden pocket in his cloak.
The building was even creepier then I remembered, as I am led back down the hallway that led to the stage. Gerard sits down on the edge of the stage, offering me a seat, but I stay standing, wanting to at least have a chance to run away, even if it was pretty slim.
“I want you to save my friend. Your spider bit him and now he`s in a coma and no one knows how to help him.”
Gerard blinks his heavily outlined eyes once. “I am just a freak; you truly believe that I can do what medically trained doctors cannot?”
I nod. “Please, I know you can!”
The ringmaster shrugs. “I may have an antidote that could restore your friend’s health.”
I could hug him, you know if he wasn’t an evil bloodsucking monster.
“But maybe,” he carries on, “It is a small bottle and maybe I don’t want to waste it on an evil little child like Mikey. Maybe I wish to save it for myself, in case I am ever bitten.”
“I-I will make you save him!” I reach into my jeans pocket and pull out my two secret weapons, a golden cross from mum`s jewellery box and a bottle of holy water Gran gave me years ago.
Gerard blinks, and then does something really unexpected. He laughs. He actually laughs. A really high pitched, almost girly sound that makes my stomach do weird flips and turns.
“You expect to make me save him with an old piece of jewellery and some refreshing water?” he mocks and before I know it he has grabbed my cross and folded it into a small golden ball and chucked it away like tin foil.
“Crosses don’t hurt you?”
“Why should they?” he asks in between gulps of holy water.
I stare open mouthed. “Well…because you`re evil, aren’t you?”
“Possibly, yes. But that is neither here nor there, Frankie.” He grins, “I have a proposition for you. If you really want me to save your foolish little friend-“
“Don’t talk about him like that!”
He ignores me. “Then we shall do a little trade I suppose you could call it. Mikey`s life in return for your servitude to me.” he speaks calmly.
“I-I don’t understand.” My heart thumps. “Y-you mean you`ll save Mikey?”
He nods. “If you become my assistant.”