Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

On the day it all began, we were on tour. 

Our bus was rumbling over the poorly paved streets of the Californian desert. On their parallel bunk beds, Gerard was scribbling on his sketchpad and Frank was drawing on his palms with a thick sharpie. Mikey was standing nearby, chewing on something and noodling on his bass. I was sitting near the windows, tracing the horizon with my gaze. Mikey’s relaxed bassline teased me into the rift between awake and asleep until the whole bus jerked to a sudden stop. 

“Dammit,” Frank muttered, peering at his marked palm with furrowed eyebrows. “Messed up my shit.”   

“We’re low on gas,” the driver said, stepping out of his seat. “Let’s stop here for a bit. You all want anything?” 

“Gum.” Frank said immediately. “I can’t play without it and Gerard drained my last pack.“

“Did not!” Gerard shot back, jolting upward. “That was Mikey. Look at him!” 

Frank craned his neck to face Mikey. A suspiciously gum-shaped lump appeared in Mikey’s cheek as he stopped chomping. 

“Mikey.” 

He swallowed and then said “What?” with his voice seasoned in forced nonchalance.

Gerard and I cackled as Frank seethed and our driver left the bus.  

A couple minutes passed, and I thought nothing of it. 

Then some more passed, and I grew antsy. 

Then hours passed. I started to panic.

The sun started to bleed orange over the dunes and cacti. The boys were sprawled out in their beds, half-awake. I couldn’t blame them— the tour had been rough on our bodies. But I couldn’t relax. Every stationary second without our driver accelerated my heart rate more and more until it had made a thunderstorm of my ribcage.

I knew something was wrong. 

“I’m gonna go check this out,” I finally said, rising from the same seat I’d been squirming in for hours. “At this rate, we won’t make it to the next venue in time.”

“Yeahyeah go, I…ahhh…” Gee haphazardly muttered, rolling over in his bed and pulling the comforter over his waist. 

I left our bus and started towards the solitary gas station we’d been parked next to for all those hours. Its dual-colored neon lights stuttered and sparked in the deepening darkness of the sky. As expected, we seemed to be alone— there were no other vehicles, except for the placid white Honda parked next to the store. My eyes drifted to the thick black cord strung between our vehicle and the pump. A faint glimmer of red shimmering probed me to go closer. 

“What the hell?” I recoiled. 

It was blood. 

Only a couple drops, but it was still blood. 

It was barely dry— somewhere between the red and orange hues of a fresh kill and its crusted remnants. Frank or Gerard would’ve said something stupid, like, “that’s so metal. We should name a song after it.” 

I had always wished to have that part of me. That resistance. That strength. No matter how they felt, those two always had jokes to tell and stunts to pull.

But I wasn’t like that. 

Whenever I felt a little upset, I became stone.

I hated that about me. 

The jingling of a shop door brought me back into the moment. I flinched and turned in the noise’s direction. A figure— arched and pale— was stumbling out of the gas station store. It seemed as if it wasn’t used to its body: it writhed and struggled and sometimes even hissed. It was uncanny. I couldn’t tell if it was human. 

And I didn’t realize I was sweating until I also realized that thing was what was left of our bus driver. 

His eyes were rimmed in red. Two fangs reached down from his gums. 

He had become a vampire. 

“Holyshitholyfuckholyshitholyfuck” I whispered, and with no plan, I sprinted back to the van and screamed, “THERE’S A FUCKING VAMPIRE OUTSIDE!” 

The bunks creaked as the three woke up and processed what I had just said. 

Then they laughed. 

“Ray, what the fuck?!” Gerard cackled. “You look so deadass, I almost thought you were being serious!” 

“I-” it took me a minute to realize how fucking outlandish that sentence was. “Dammit.” 

“Save the drama for the stage,” Frank remarked. “Maybe you could pull some shit like that during ‘Demolition Lovers’ our last night.” More laughter.

“I’m being so fucking serious,” I insisted. “Our bus driver is a vampire.” 

“Are you high?” Mikey asked, in his innocent sort of questioning way. That made Gerard and Frank laugh even more.   

“I want whatever he’s on!” Frank hollered.

“I’ve never been more fucking sober,” I said. “You need to see it for yourself.” I glanced out the window to track him: the monster was slowly stumbling over to our bus. Then, I saw a sliver of light shoot from behind the store door. 

It was another vampire. 

…Maybe I am high, I thought to myself, staring. 

“Holy shit,” Mikey whispered. I realized he had snuck over to the middle of the bus next to me and was also looking through the windows. The other two’s laughter began started subsiding.

The bus was silent for a minute. 

“Gerard,” Frank said. 

“Yeah?” he replied. 

 “I’ve been very high before–“ Frank began. ”Like, out of this world high– but never have I been like, well… that. Sober-minded. Serious.”  

Gerard looked at him with a half-smirk. “Are you being deadass? Vampires? For real?”  

“I don’t know man. Maybe the music you’ve been writing’s been getting to my head, but I’m fucking terrified of vampires, dude. I’m not taking any chances.” 

Gerard sighed and rubbed the crystals from his eyes. “You guys are insane, but I’m bored and got nothing better to do. I’ll play along.”

They both got out of their beds and walked over to the window. Gerard got there first.

“I’ll be damned,” he said. “Did you drug us, Ray?” 

I ignored him. 

When Frank got there, he shrieked and tried to jump into Gerard’s hands like Scooby-Doo– but instead of catching him, they both crashed to the ground. 

“WHATTHEFUCKWHATTHESHITIT’SAFUCKINGHOLYSHIT” Frank squealed until his breath ran out.

“GET OFF OF ME!” Gerard yipped under Frank’s weight. 

“Sorry,” Frank barely managed to say between exasperated breaths, still recovering from his screaming. He and Gerard worked themselves up to their feet.  

“Well, vampires hate wooden stakes, right?” Gerard said as soon as he had rehabilitated.

Frank stared at him with wide eyes, still coming to terms with the whole situation. “Wha-?”

Gee bounded over to his brother’s bass. “Would this fretboard count?” 

“You’re a genius, bro,” Mikey said, his lips arched in a smile. 

Gerard grinned and slung it over his shoulder. 

“You’re just… okay with that?” Frank asked Mikey, still trying not to poop himself. “I-I would die before fucking Pansy up.” 

“Vampire blood on his bass would be pretty fuckin’ rock,” Gerard replied, admiring the instrument. 

Mikey nodded and leaned against the wall.   

We just kind of stood around like idiots until Gee– of course it was Gee– spoke up. 

“Well. I’m off.” 

“To do fucking what?” I asked. 

“To stake the vampires.” He looked at me like I was stupid. “Duh.” 

And then, he just left. Bass in hand, goal in heart, IQ in depths. 

That’s why we loved him.  

“Should we…?” Frank started, until his voice fried back into silence. After all, there was no status quo when it comes to fighting vampires. So, we just watched Gerard as he approached the closest of the two. He swung the bottom of the bass into its head, knocking it backwards and onto the ground. Once it had collapsed, Gee flipped the instrument and plunged the headstock into its heart. We heard a terrible shriek, even from the bus, and then our driver died. Gerard turned to us with a smirk on his face. 

Then a pale face rose from the shadow of his back. 

Fuck. Right. There had been another vampire. 

We tried to mouth warnings, but he just raised an eyebrow. We screamed and then tried to act it out, but neither helped him understand.

At least, not until it was too late.  

I remember it like it was yesterday. Every second of the scene is venomous to remember– as if I was the one who’d been bitten.

The fangs sunk into his neck. It was slow. It was agonizing. Each moment felt like a death- a death repeating over and over again that we were helpless to stop. All of us watching were pale– but not as pale as Gerard as he collapsed on the ground. His eyes were vacant, mouth fixed open, neck gushing blood, body twitching in vain resistance. 

Mikey slammed into the window and screamed. 

Frank recoiled and covered his eyes.

The vampire cackled.

But I just stared. 

And that was how everything started.

Chapter Text

It had been 1,260 minutes since Gerard had been bitten. The sun had risen and had begun to set again. 

1,255 minutes ago, Mikey and I took our guitars and staked the other vampire. Frank hesitantly lugged Gerard inside the bus, the bass still strung over his limp shoulder. 

1,250 minutes ago, we laid him on his bed. We bandaged his wounds, covered him with his blanket, and took his temperature. It was colder than usual. His heart had still been beating, but he was pale unconscious.  

1,230 minutes ago, we noticed tips of fangs starting to develop from Gerard’s open mouth. We covered them with a rolled towel so we wouldn’t have to think about it. 

1,200 minutes ago, Frank, Mikey and I took snacks, drinks, and tools from the gas station. We had no idea where we were and how far away we’d been from society. 

1,000 minutes ago, Gerard’s hair started to thin. 

500 minutes ago, the veins and arteries on his neck turned into a deep red labyrinth, slithering up to his jawline. 

490 minutes ago, we fell asleep. 

And approximately 5 minutes and 31 seconds ago, we woke up to Gerard Way making a bowl of lucky charms in the tour bus’s kitchen.  

“Gerard?” Frank yawned as he rubbed the shards from his eyes. 

“Yeah?” He turned around to face the bunks. 

Frank shrieked.
His face was even paler than before. His hair was thinner, his eyes were dark crimson, and two long fangs grew from his gums.  

“Frank, it’s too early for your shenanigans,” he groaned between his tusks as he pulled a gallon of milk from the fridge and poured it into his cereal. “I had a rough night last night. Thanks to all of you for taking care of me, by the way.”   

“Gerard…” I said. “Do you feel… any different?” 

“Shut up!” Frank squealed back at me. “He could be tricking us!” 

“I feel fine,” Gee said to me. “Just a little cold.” Then he shot Frank a look. “What the hell’re you on about?” 

“You look like a vampire, bro,” Mikey said, polishing his glasses with the end of his shirt. “Glad you’re okay, though.” 

“You’re all so dense,” Frank groaned as he dove beneath his covers (as if that would somehow protect him). 

“Huh?” Gerard said. I saw him lean over the shiny kitchen counter and examine his reflection. “Well,” he said, only a sliver of shock audible. “I’ll be damned.” 

“That’s pretty fucking rock,” Mikey remarked. 

“Damn right,” Gerard replied. “I taught you well, Mikey!” He shoved a spoonful of cereal into his mouth, only to promptly spit it out. 

“Oh fuck, right. You can’t use silver,” Mikey said. 

“This shit’s not silver,” Gerard replied, still scraping cereal dust off of his tongue. “This is dollar store shit. But the cereal tastes like ass. It’s stinging my tongue.” 

Mikey walked over to the cereal box and scooped a handful of charms into his mouth.

“Nah. Tastes the same to me. You sure it’s not the spoon?” 

Gerard put his tongue to the spoon, to no reaction. “Nah. It was cereal.” He reached into the cupboard for a pop tart and took a bite. “Holy shit, these suck ass too.” Then he reached for some chips. “What the fuck. Nothing here is any good.”  

“I swear they’re fine,” Mikey said, trying everything after Gerard.

“HE’S GONNA SUCK OUR BLOOD!” Frank shrieked. 

“Actually,” Gerard said, hands to his stomach. “I am really craving some meat right now.” 

“AAAHHH!!!!” Frank replied. 

“If you really need to suck some blood,” I began, “there are two fresh corpses right outside the bus. I don’t know if vampires can suck other vampires’ blood, but…” 

“I might as well try,” said Gerard, disturbingly calm. With that, he left the bus. 

“Is he gone?” Frank shot from his covers. 

“That’s really weird,” I said, hand to my chin. “The vampires from last night seemed to be… I don’t know… brainless. Like zombies.” 

“But Gerard’s still Gerard,” Mikey finished my thought.   

“Should we kill him?” Frank said, practically ignoring everything we just said and still sweating. 

“No!” I shouted.

“Don’t even fucking think about that,” Mikey said, the ice from his voice penetrating into the atmosphere and swirling into the wind. That shut Frank up.  

“Phew! That was AMAZING,” Gerard announced as he waltzed back into the van. 

Frank dove back under his covers. 

“It was a little bitter,” he continued, “So maybe that’s why most vampires prefer human blood. But it was sooo much better than whatever the fuck happened to all the other food in this van.” 

A pause. 

“Gerard,” I said. 

“Yeah?” 

“Did you leave any blood in those two?” 

“Naw, man. Sucked ‘em dry.” 

“Fuck.” 

“What?” 

“When you get hungry again, what’re you gonna do?” 

“Shit.” 

“Is there anything else you can eat?” 

“Everything else I tried just now hurt. My body just fucking rejects it.” 

Frank screamed again. 

“Maybe there are more vampires,” Mikey said calmly. “I doubt the only two in the world are at this fuckass gas station.” 

“Right,” Gerard reasoned. “And since it’s contagious, there might actually be a lot? Like, some sort of sickness.” 

“It might’ve gotten to the store owner,” I continued, “and then he bit our driver.” 

“We’re so fuckin’ smart,” Gerard punctuated. 

I couldn’t help but chuckle.  

“So we’re gonna look for more?” Mikey said. 

“Looks like it,” I said, rising from my bunk and dragging to the wheel. “And maybe get some real food on the way. I fear that gas station doritos and monster won’t cut it.”

“Ray, are you good to drive?” Gerard queried. “You just woke up.” 

“Respectfully, I wouldn’t trust anyone else here to,” I said. “And I’d rather go now than later. If this really is a zombie apocalypse, we’ll need to find survivors and resources and shelter.”

I started up the vehicle and pushed the pedal. I heard Gerard sprint into the bathroom soon after.

The teal sky and orange sand blurred in the windows until we approached evidence of civilization.  

“Holy shit! A mall!” Mikey yelped.

I stood up from the driver’s seat and furrowed my eyebrows. 

“Frank, Mikey— get your instruments.” 

“Wha-“ Frank rose from under his blankets— hair disheveled and drool crusted under his pierced lip. 

“There’s no doubt there are vampires in the mall,” I said, “Assuming it really is some sort of plague. But there’s a lot of shit we could use in there, and maybe some survivors. So I think it’ll be worth it.” 

Frank went pale, but Mikey forced him from his top bunk and slung his guitar over his back. His eyes screamed resistance, but his mouth was too frozen to shout.

“Wake the hell up, Frankie,” Mikey said. 

“Eep!” escaped from Frank’s mouth as he snapped to reality and stood upright like a soldier. 

Gerard stumbled out of the bathroom he’d been in since we left, clenching his stomach and violently wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

“Gee?” I asked. “Are you fucking okay, man?”

“It’s nothing, I swear.” He insisted, and shut us up when we asked for more information. “Maybe there’s some leftover cereal or something in my gut.” 

When we stepped through the automatic doors of the shopping mall, we immediately heard the cracks of dozens of necks as about 30 vampires turned their ugly pale heads towards us. 

“Dammit,” I muttered. 

“DAMMIT!” Frank screamed as he instinctually lugged Pansy into the nearest vampire’s chest. The neck staked its heart and the creature collapsed. “Shit! PANSY!” He sprinted over to his guitar, stuck in the vampire’s corpse. He lifted it and held it in his curved arms. He cradled it like a baby and gently stroked it with the back of his hand as he inspected the (thankfully minimal) damage.

Gerard sprinted to another with newfound superhuman speed and sunk his teeth into its skull, promptly killing it. 

Mikey took the left side and swung his bass at the waves of incoming monsters. 

I took the right and did the same with my guitar. Vampires dropped like flies, and suddenly, I didn’t feel so scared. Even though I’d been good at hiding it, I was panicking the whole bus ride. But, just then, I realized that maybe that shit could be fun. 

The stress of music had really caught up with us. It had been a rough tour. So as I saw the grins of my bandmates— my friends— as we cleared the mall, I wondered if we had finally found that spark we had back when we first formed in New Jersey. Back when we were just a couple kids singing about their feelings and shit.

“Look out!” Gerard shouted.

I twisted around and smacked the vampire into the floor with my instrument. “Bingo!” I caught myself grinning maniacally as I saw the creature crumble to my feet. I hadn’t had that much fun in ages. 

After we cleaned that section of the mall, we decided to split in half. 

“We need to cover as much ground as possible,” I reasoned, “So we can get as many resources and find as many potential people as possible. So let’s split up. I’ll go with Mikey, and…”  

“Are you seriously putting me with Frank?” Gerard butt in. “He shits bricks whenever he sees me.”  

I suspected that would happen– but Frank and Gerard both drain my social battery incredibly fast. I couldn’t stand being alone with one of them for more than an hour at a time. 

“Nah, you’re cool,” Frank said, to my relief, sliding a piece of gas station gum into his mouth. “You killed the other vampires. I trust you now.” 

Gerard grinned. 

“As long as you won’t eat me,” Frank chuckled.

“I really mean it,” Gerard said. “I’m not hungry. Trust me.”  

So we decided that he was safe to be with Frank, and with that, we divided. 

Chapter Text

I killed Frank Iero.  

I knew it was wrong. So wrong. 

But even though, in my brain of brains and logic of logics, I knew it was wrong– in my heart of hearts, I couldn’t have cared less. 

And I hated myself for it. 

So when they found me bleeding on the pavement, what the fuck was I supposed to say?

——————————————————————————————————————————

When Frank and I split off from the group, we immediately decided to look for a bar. We both knew it was fucked up, but without Ray’s levelheadedness or Mikey’s innocence, we had no real deterrent. We thought it could take the edge of all this vampire shit off, and maybe we’d get some snacks as a bonus.  

We found one; largely untouched, because everyone there definitely had been bitten and most vampires probably had no desire to drink anything besides blood. The dark brown walls were lined with curvaceous bottles of liquor– big black and white words boasting brands and ingredients on their breasts. 

“Shit,” Frank muttered, sliding onto a stool. “This rocks.”  

I was starving. 

Fucking ravenous. 

On that bus, I wasn’t just throwing up some cereal. I was throwing up blood. The black blood of the vampires I had sucked. I threw it up for hours: hours and hours until my gut turned itself inside out and I thought my heart’d be next. 

So I was starving. 

But if I told them all that, they’d kill me. They’d see me as a liability– a human blood-sucking beast who needed to be put down. But without me, I didn’t know how long they’d last. At least, that was my reasoning. 

I felt dizzy from hunger. But I refused to let myself be satiated– 

–before I started drinking. 

First, it was just a glass. 

Then, it was a bottle. 

And then it got blurry. 

I don’t remember how much I drank. But I learned some shit the hard way– some shit I should’ve expected, but some shit I didn’t think about. 

I felt control leave my body. I felt my inhibitions flee. 

And I caught myself eyeing Frank’s neck. 

I was starving. 

I gripped my pale forehead. My vision started to get blurry. My head started to feel even lighter- so light I could fly. 

Frank was still chugging. 

He was unaware. 

The glimmer of a bottle opener on the counter caught my attention. 

Frank Iero was my friend. I didn’t want him to be a vampire. Who knows what would happen to him? Obviously, my situation was the exception- most of the other vampires seemed brainless. They mindlessly pursued the scent of blood– their faces locked in an eternal grimace. If Frank had to suffer, I wouldn’t want it to be like that. 

So I grabbed the bottle opener. 

I saw the light dance off of its edge;

The same edge I plunged into Frank’s neck. 

I didn’t even say anything. I didn’t say a single fucking word as I murdered my friend. 

Not an apology. Not a threat. Not an explanation. Nothing. I just stabbed him. 

And stabbed him again. 

And kept stabbing him until I saw the life drain from his eyes. 

And with that, I threw the bottle opener aside and plunged my fangs into his throat. 

I was finally satisfied. Suddenly, my head was no longer light— it had deflated, deflated so dramatically I could dive straight back into the ground headfirst.

Chapter Text

If I killed myself, would it rectify my murder? 

That’s what I thought. 

I thought I could dive off of the mall and have the fragments of my skull dissolve and evaporate into pure justice.  

I forgot how hard it is to kill vampires.  

I stumbled to the highest floor of the mall, still half-drunk, smashed through a window, and soared towards the pavement below. 

___________________________________________________________________________

“Dammit,” Mikey muttered, tapping furiously at his flipphone. “Neither’s answering my calls.” He snapped it shut and kept cursing indiscernibly. 

“Shit,” I agreed.  

Strung across my shoulder was a shopping bag full of miscellaneous supplies, and over Mikey’s was a refrigerated tote full of various food items. We had made great progress, but I felt like that mattered substantially less if half of our group had died.   

“What the hell could’ve happened?” I ruminated as we moved through the mall. “I haven’t seen any vampires since we entered.” 

“HOLY SHIT!” Mikey spotted something downstairs. He sprinted out of view and down the escalators. 

“What is it?” I quickly followed. 

“FRANK!” 

Mikey sprinted over to a barstool that held a rotting Frank Iero. I quickly followed. I noticed deep fang marks on his neck and cursed. 

“Shit, he was bitten,” I muttered. “We gotta take him back to the van.” 

“Fuck no!” Mikey said immediately. “Gerard was a special case– most of the vampires we’ve seen are brainless shits. We wouldn’t want him sucking our blood when he wakes up.” 

“What if he’s special, too?” I suggested. “We still don’t know the ‘rules’ or whatever. There’s no reason why he might not be.” 

“What are the chances that, among the four of us, two are especially immune?” Mikey said.  

He paused for a minute. 

He was right, I guessed. 

But I wasn’t gonna leave my friend to die. 

“Back up,” I demanded.

I grabbed Frank’s limp arms and hauled his whole body over my back. Adrenaline reduced the effort of carrying a full-grown man.

“You can sit here and watch our friend die,” I said. “But I won’t. I’m taking him back to the van.” 

Mikey just stared. 

I knew exactly how he felt. 

“You stay here. Don’t look for Gerard. I can’t afford for you to get lost.” 

He nodded silently. 

___________________________________________________________________________ 

  I killed Frank Iero.  

I killed Frank Iero. 

I killed Frank Iero. 

I killed Frank Iero. 

I killed Frank Iero. 

I killed Frank Iero. 

I killed Frank Iero.  

I killed Frank Iero. 

I killed Frank Iero. 

I killed Frank Iero. 

I killed Frank Iero. 

I killed Frank Iero. 

I killed Frank Iero. 

___________________________________________________________________________ 

After I took his temperature, covered him in his blanket, and put a warm towel on his head, I left Frank to rest in his bunk and started back towards the mall. 

I made sure not to check his heartbeat. 

And I made sure not to focus on the fact that he had been alone in a bar with Gerard. 

Mikey was, thankfully, still where I told him to stay. He still looked as if he were processing everything, eyes wide and empty. 

“Look alive, sunshine,” I remarked as I patted him on the chest. “We still have a Gerard to find.” 

“Dammit, right,” Mikey said as he sort of snapped back into reality. His voice sounded as if it fought to come out. 

We started walking in a random direction. 

“I’m less worried about Gerard,” I lied. “He’s practically superhuman now, so he’s probably doing fine.” 

“Sure,” Mikey said, his eyes still vacant. “But… what if-” 

“Shut up.” I said. “Let’s find him.” 

___________________________________________________________________________  

I was in a daze. 

Not quite dead, not quite alive. 

I lied on the pavement– my head ringing, my vision fuzzy, pain shooting into every nerve.  

I couldn’t stop thinking about Frank. I heard his screams. I remembered his face. I kept reliving it and reliving it until the memory got distorted.

And then I heard it. 

I heard the cymbals, the footsteps, and the floats. I heard the applause and indiscriminate shouts. 

I turned on my back, releasing a guttural declaration of my pain, as I noticed the sky looked grey. I saw black pellets dancing through the wind. 

The marching band got louder. 

And louder. 

And it got so violently and deafeningly loud that I blacked out. 

Chapter Text

There were bodies in the streets. 

A flood of dead vampires. 

“This is your doing,” she said, surveying the scene with me, as she slipped her palm into mine. “Is this what’s right?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Why did you resort to killing?” she asked me. Her voice was muffled by the gas mask plastered on her face. “Is that what you want them to do to you?” 

“How else do we survive?”  

“Do what you would do to save yourself.” 

________________________________________________________________

“Is he gonna be okay?” I shot up as the nurse slipped out of Gerard’s hospital room.  

“Which one?” the nurse replied. 

“Both of them.” 

“Well,” her face darkened. “The one with the shorter hair…” 

“Yes?” Mikey said. 

“His heart is no longer beating.” 

We froze. It felt as if the air had gotten ten pounds heavier. Something growing from the bottoms of my eyes started to flood my vision.

“I’m so sorry,” she said.

“W-what about the other one?” Mikey struggled to say.

“Oh, yes, yes, he’ll be fine,” she dismissed, “but there’s something much more fascinating to discuss. Only if you’re up for it, of course. I can’t imagine the weight of the loss you’ve just experienced.” 

Mikey swallowed back his tears. “What is it? Is it important?”

“Undeniably,” she began. “Your friend has an incredibly rare blood type. Rh null. Golden blood.”

“Huh,” Mikey whispered. 

“So my working hypothesis is that because it’s so rare, this ‘vampire disease’ is unsure how to deal with it. That also suggests that it has to do with blood cell antigens.” 

“Do you know how else it works?” I asked, wiping my cheeks. 

Her eyes lit up again. “Actually, almost! Thanks to drawing your friend’s blood, I’ve found out that it functions like some sort of virus.” 

“Ohmygod,” Mikey muttered. “That has to be huge, right?” 

“Obviously!” She laughed. “We could be on the road to a cure!” 

“Like, soon?” I butt in.

“Well, maybe not,” she admitted. “But it’s better than nothing.” 

“Well, tell us about it,” I said. 

“See,” she started, “I sampled some of his cells and saw a super weird virus thing. It was so unfamiliar– definitely not naturally occurring. It seemed almost… robotic?… man-made. 

“Huh.”

“Wait,” Mikey ruminated. “Why couldn’t you test on dead vampires?” 

“Well,” she began, "I tried. When I did (to the distaste and fear of my coworkers), I discovered that when vampires are, er… turned…, their blood composition tends to alter substantially, almost beyond recognition. It turns black, and because blood travels throughout the body, it comes into contact with and drastically affects almost all of the individual’s cells. It was so messy, I couldn’t identify the virus that I now know exists. So, now with the relative integrity of your friend’s blood and my discovery that it is kind of a virus, that’s how I believe the virus affects the whole body– the virus starts with the blood cells, and through bloodflow, quickly proliferates and attacks every tissue.”   

“So,” she concluded, “your friend has some evidence of the virus, but because of his lack of any sort of blood cell antigen (I presume), much more of his body is still preserved.”

“Wait,” I said. “Would a vampire’s blood still be edible by other vampires?” 

“I dunno,” she said. “I theorize that vampires need to eat human blood to survive because of the blood alteration and cell damage they undergo, along with anomalies in the brain’s morality-related areas and food-related functions such as hunger signals I’ve seen in your friend.. So, I would guess not, because vampire blood is so distorted.”

Me and Mikey looked at each other and quickly turned back to her. 

“Yes, despite your friend’s fine blood and many of his cells being generally preserved, he does, unfortunately, have some of what I’ll call the ‘vampiric’ brain distortions.” 

I saw Mikey turn a little pale. 

I kept thinking about the bite marks on Frank’s neck.

“What about knocking them out?” I suggested. “Then you could study them without them dying.” 

“Vampires, once fully converted, are either dead or alive,” she said. “They’re simpler and almost zombie-like– they don’t ever sleep or ‘blackout’ like people do. Except for your friend, of course, because he’s a special case.” 

________________________________________________________________

“What do you mean, ’do what I’d do to save myself’?” I asked her.

“Do you remember why you formed the band?” she asked me. 

“It was to… to help people,” I recalled. “Through music. To help people cope with their pain.” 

“Exactly.” She kept staring at me, waiting for a revelation. 

“What… what are you suggesting?” 

“Listen to the marching band,” she said, pointing. 

________________________________________________________________

We sat there, still taking it all in. 

“Sorry, this might seem weird,” I started. “But can we get your number? In case anything happens, of course.” 

“Sure!” she smiled. I handed her my flipphone. 

“By the way, what’s your name?” 

“Lindsey,” she said, grinning with teeth as she punched the numbers in. Then she flipped it over and handed it back to me. “Lindsey Ann Ballato.”

________________________________________________________________

“The music,” I said. “It’s...” 

“It's saving them,” she concluded. 

The band— their faces indiscernible— thundered down the beaten pavement on their float as the rows of vampires—people— rose to their feet with warmer faces and normal teeth. They seemed freshly awake— still gathering themselves. 

She handed me a microphone. And without control, words I didn’t know flew from my throat: 

“Stop your crying, helpless feeling

Dry your eyes and start believing 

There’s one thing they’ll never take from

you.” 

Then, I found myself on the float. 

I found Ray and Mikey behind me. 

And I saw all the people around us, who had just been vampires, crying and screaming and shouting and cheering and feeling everything other than the jet-black misery they’d been suffering in since they’d become vampires. 

I knew what to do. 

“It wasn’t your time to go,” Mother War’s voice assured me. “We’ll meet again.” 

And the vision died. 

________________________________________________________________ 

Mechanical beeps from the room behind Lindsey informed us that Gerard needed attending to. 

“Oh! Your friend’s waking up,” she said as she scurried back into the room. “You’re free to come in, if you’d like.” 

We did. 

Gerard shot up, eyes wide and wild, hair twisted into knots, lungs thirsty for air. He gasped and gasped until his bandaged body’s breathing slowed.  

“We didn’t have to do much to tend to his injury,” Lindsey informed, untying his bandages and extracting various needles from his body as he grimaced (including one that appeared to be injecting blood into his stomach). “Many of his cells proliferated abnormally quickly due to… well, y’know.” 

“Ugh… I…” Gerard muttered as he woke up. 

“Gerard!” Mikey shouted. “Thank Heaven you’re okay!” he draped himself over Gerard’s half-upright torso and wrapped around him in an embrace. 

“Oof,” he grunted, then chuckled. “Hey, Mikey.”

I couldn’t bring myself to hug him. 

I kept thinking of Frank’s neck.  

“He does, unfortunately, have some of… the ‘vampiric’ brain distortions”— that rang through every corner of my brain like an alarm. I kept hearing it. I heard it as Gerard stood up. I heard it as he smiled, and as Lindsey clapped, and as Mikey nearly cried of joy. 

“Some of the ‘vampiric’ brain distortions.” 

I couldn’t stand looking at Gerard.

We navigated through the chaotic hospital hallways led by Lindsey in an effort to find the exit. The labyrinths of corridors were lined with doctors in hazmat suits, people being wheeled around in stretchers, and doors opening and closing at irregular intervals. 

Then Gerard, who’d been covering his mouth, stopped. All of us followed suit. 

“Would you guys happen to have any… vampires in here?” 

“Hm,” Lindsey said. “There’s a wing that’s inaccessible to the general public which we’ve been using recently to house some vampires. Primarily for research. Why do you ask?” 

I didn’t want to think of the ethical connotations of that.

“I have an idea,” Gerard said. “It’s gonna be stupid, and it’s gonna be crazy, but I saw it in my dreams. Literally.“ 

“Eh?” Lindsey blushed.

“Ray?” he turned to me. “Get your guitar. We’re gonna raise some hell.”

Chapter Text

“Well, are you ready, Ray?” 

I picked a string of my guitar. It was hooked up to a portable amplifier I’d brought from our bus, which was parked outside of the hospital from when we rushed Gerard and Frank over. We were getting ready to perform an unreleased song for some… some fucking vampires. 

I didn’t know what else to say– everything had just happened so fast, I was barely aware of where I was. So I just said, “Yeah,” like it was written.

“How bout you Fr…shit…Mikey?” 

“Fuckin’ ready,” he said. 

“I think I’m alright,” Gerard said, gripping his bluetooth microphone, also hooked up to a similarly cheap speaker. A steady pre-programmed drum beat reverberated from it, too.

“One, two, three, four!” 

Lindsey stepped back.   

The three of us slammed through the thick door into a horror-movie-esque back section of the hospital. It was a long, dirty, and grey corridor, with the occasional blue shimmer of cheap and flickering LED bulbs. Vampires came pouring out of the damaged doors upon smelling our blood and hearing Gerard’s voice. My guitar’s distortion rang through the hall as Gerard took a deep breath. My heart was thundering out of my chest, and I bet Mikey’s was too, even though he didn’t show it.

This was a stupid fucking idea. I knew it was. But Gerard was so confident that I didn’t know how to say no. So I strummed, Mikey played, and Gerard sang. 

“Three, two, one, we came to suck! Everybody party ‘til the gasman comes…” 

The horde kept thundering down the corridor. 

“Uh- sparkle like Bowie in the mornin’ sun…” 

They kept coming.  

“And get a parkin’ violation on La Brea ‘til it’s done!” Gerard belted, his eyes scrunched shut, mouth stretched wide, microphone kissing his lips. 

And in the corner of my eye, I saw some of the vampires stop. A little smile crawled up my lips. Gerard’s stupid fuc-’king plan had worked.

We kept playing. 

“Hair back, collar up, jet black, so cool!”

Some more stopped. 

“Sing it like the kids that are mean to you!” 

Mikey and I joined in on the chorus– screaming with raw emotion, coated with hope, as we shred our fingers off on our instruments. We hadn’t felt this good in ages– even back when we fought all those vampires in the mall. This time, we weren’t killing others to save ourselves– we were saving everyone. 

We had found our spark again.

“When you wanna be a movie star, play the game and take the band real far, play it right and drive a Volvo car, pick a fight at an airport bar!” 

And all of a sudden, a chorus of unfamiliar voices, soaring throughout the corridor, joined us– as if the music reverberated directly into their bloodstreams.  

“The kids don’t care if you’re alright, honey! Pills don’t help, but it sure is funny, gimme gimme some of that vampire money, c’mon!”  

And suddenly, so suddenly, as if it had never happened, it was over. 

My heart was still racing. Long strands of barely curling hair stuck to my sweaty forehead. Gerard’s heavy breath was passing through the speakers. I saw Mikey’s grip on his bass loosen as the song came to a close. 

And then there was an applause. 

I looked up. 

A swarm of people had been there. I realized that they’d been there all along– we had just freed them from their monstrous restraints. 

“Holy shit,” Gerard managed to say into the mic. “We fuckin’ did it.” Another thunderous applause. 

“Fascinating,” Lindsey said as she scurried behind us. She put her hand on Gerard’s shoulder and said, “I think you’re the cure.” Then, she turned to all of us. “I think you’re all the cure.” 

I grinned and almost laughed. “We fuckin’ did it!” Mikey, Gerard and I smushed into a three way hug. “Holy shit, we did it!”  

“Wait,” Mikey said after a second, upon feeling Gerard’s cold flesh. “You haven’t changed.” 

I broke away from the hug, too– and sure enough, Gerard still had crimson eyes. 

“Dammit,” he muttered. 

“It’s probably the blood thing again,” Lindsey noted. “I’m really sorry, guys.”  

Gerard paused. “Hey, doc– what’s your name?”  

“Lindsey,” she said, sweeping a couple of loose strands of hair from her face. 

“This might seem dumb,” he said. “But would you happen to have any blood on you? Like, from donors or something?” 

Lindsey raised her eyebrow. “For you to drink?” 

“Yeah, he said. “I wouldn’t wanna hurt any mo-” he stopped and bit his lip. “Any of them if I get really hungry.” 

Lindsey laughed as if it were a joke. 

The three of us didn’t. She promptly stopped.

“It’ll be hard to explain to my coworkers,” Lindsey said, “but I’ll try my best. Be right back!” 

She opened the door, leaving with the cluster of humans, and shut it behind her. 

Then, the three of us just stood around for a while. 

I wasn’t sure what to say. I wanted to mention Frank, but I was too afraid. I wondered if Mikey felt the same. 

So we just stood there. It was like nothing even happened as I felt that familiar emptiness I’d felt during most of our tour return– feeling like an ant, aimlessly working for some far-off goal.