Wow, so there may have been a bit more people interested in this story than I realized. I kind of deduce interest level based on reviews so I wasn't sure if what I was writing, was suddenly going down hill. Anywho, realistically speaking, I sort of lost inspiration and a little thing called school began and never having written an FF story during the school year, I've realized how difficult it is to take time from everything else in order to write a chapter. But, I eventually got to it and I would never have done it without my reviewers. Honestly, thank you so, so, so, so, so much. They're some of the best type of inspiration I get. I really hope that this next chapter doesn't blow so as always, enjoy!


Chapter 7

"Yeah," Grace finally answered, surveying Jerry's looming form above her.

Her next actions were taken almost mindlessly as Jerry's cool hand wrapped around her warm one, pulling up with relevant ease.

Once on her feet, Grace fought down the sudden anxiety that had spilled open somewhere near her gut area. Like sharp razors, her own body was warning her of something she couldn't quite yet detect.

"Thought you were Jane," Grace ended up mumbling out, having nothing better to say.

Ignoring the particularly dark scowl that had materialized briefly over Jerry's lips, Grace ventured a look toward Charley, only to see him pressed against her kitchen wall, eyes full of fear.

"Charley," Grace smiled, padding toward him, "you look like you've just seen a ghost."

Charley's eyes further widened, his mouth opening and closing as if he were a fish out of water.

"You-you invited him in," he finally sputtered out.

Shaking her head in confusion, Grace pondered over his words and remembered Peter's tale.

But none of it is real.

Still, the fear which masked Charley's face could not have been faked.

"Does he think I'm a vampire or something?" Jerry input from directly behind Grace, his frosty breath slamming into the back of her neck.

"Don't you dare, you asshole! You killed Ed, and now you're going to kill me because I know what you are," Charely angrily shouted, stepping away from the wall with an accusatory finger pointed at Jerry.

"Charley, language," Grace noted, not quite angry but unsure why such antipathy existed inside Charley.

"Just a word of warning Grace," Jerry stated quickly, slipping an arm over her shoulder as his body slithered itself right next to hers, "it's usually at this age that kids like Charley get into drugs."

Ignoring the attempt at conviction in Jerry's voice, Grace instead watched Charley's face pale.

"Grace," he brokenly said, running a quaking hand through his hair, "you've got to believe me."

Switching her gaze toward the man beside her, Grace studied Jerry's deep brown irises as his thumb lightly dragged down her shoulder. There was something behind the ease in which his face relaxed itself. Almost like a hidden malice or malignancy that the victim in a horror movie didn't see until just before the psycho serial killer plunged his knife into her body.

Forcefully meeting Charley's eyes, Grace attempted to ignore the shivers that sprouted as a result of Jerry's ministration.

Charley can't be crazy. Jane raised a good kid. Still, this vampire business is ridiculous. Right? Damn it, what do I do?

And like an animated lightning strike from a fictitious cloud above, it hit her.

Shaking off Jerry's heavy arm, Grace shuffled toward Charley, her eyes searching his.

There's nothing but fear and truth in them. God, I hope I don't end up making myself look like an idiot.

"Surely you don't believe him?" Jerry asked with humor slowly forcing it's way out of his voice.

Charley immediately retreated, his eyes pleading an unspoken action.

"Alright, I've got an idea," Grace began, throwing her green eyes toward Jerry's brown ones. "When I was a kid, I went through horror movies like a starving man gulps down water. A good portion of them were vampire movies and I find myself a bit of an expert on the subject since most of the typical vampire rules seem to have some truth to them."

Checking both male's gazes to make sure that they were still locked on her, Grace lifted up her hands.

"Here's what I'm going to do-."

"Grace, wait," Jerry interrupted suddenly, stepping forward. "I was just coming over to tell you that I got a call from Andrew. He wants to talk to you right now."

Grace's finishing words died on her lips as her mouth opened.

"Grace, he's trying to distract you. He doesn't want you to prove that he really is a vampire," Charley sputtered indignantly, furious tears building in his eyes.

"Grace," Jerry stated again calmly, tugging at her arms as he neared her, "he's waiting for you on the phone in my house right now. He sounded desperate, maybe scared. He said that you're the only person he could call. That you never give up on him, no matter what."

Allowing Jerry's hand to softly wrap around her wrist, Grace felt panic trickle down her spine. Andrew was still alive, and needed her help.

"Grace!"

Charley's voice came out as a choked gasp, tears finally running down his cheeks as he watched Jerry further tug her into his embrace.

Or did Andrew really need her help?

"Jerry," Grace proclaimed, slipping her hands out of his grip.

"Yes?" he nearly growled out, his presence building over her like a wave of darkness.

Silence entered the room and crackled like electricity, awaiting Grace's answer.

"I revoke your invitation."

Grace's words vibrated over the dead air, slicing it like fine meat.

Jerry simply stood glued to his spot, his features unreadable.

Nothing happened.

Blowing out a sigh of relief as a minute trailed by, Grace turned toward Charley and relayed, "Definitely no vampire activity here, Charley. See, in the movies, once an invitation is revoked-."

The rest of Grace's statement was interrupted by the sound of a foot striking the hallway floor with a loud Slam!

Spinning her head at the sound, Grace backed up slightly as she watched Jerry's face contort into an animalistic snarl, his feet moving backwards against his will.

Slam!

Another leg made its way backward as Jerry gritted his teeth and to Grace's amazement and Charley's horror, two sharp fangs gleamed threateningly in the light from behind his twisted mouth.

Slam!

It was like watching an invisible force press against Jerry's form, his feet further retreating back as he attempted to reach forward or at least fight the aggression pushing into him.

Slam! Slam!

The front door swung open without explanation, greeting Jerry as he struggled at a last attempt to accelerate himself forward. Instead, the same urgent force swung into his body with a deep blow and flung Jerry out into the cool night, the door swinging shut firmly after him.

"Of all the goats in Switzerland," Grace blew out, her hand covering her mouth in shock.

Never having understood any of the times that Grace muttered out one of her crazy phrases, Charley for once in his life, couldn't have agreed any more with what she'd said.

GSCGSCGSCGSC

"Is he out there?" Charley asked nervously, sipping from a Pepsi can as he leaned further back into the living room couch.

"Nope," Grace answered, her eyes scouring her front yard once before letting go of the curtains. "Even if he is, I revoked his invitation. What's he going to do?"

Charley threw a pointed look her way, forcing Grace to nod her head in admission.

"So Jerry is a vampire," she finally stated, licking her lips as the words flew into the atmosphere.

They tasted foreign and odd, like saying them was an anomaly in itself.

"Yep."

"Hmm...," Grace pondered, not quite grasping on to this sudden revelation.

But she'd seen it for herself. Jerry had fangs. Smooth, white, and utterly sharp. Hell, her own house had forced him out...

"This house isn't really mine," Grace muttered to herself, thinking back to when she and Andrew first moved in.

Opening his eyes, Charley set down his Pepsi and stared inquisitively at Grace.

"What do you mean?"

"Andrew was the one that bought the house from your mother. Signed the lease and everything. This house is technically under his name."

"So that means-."

"Andrew is still alive!" Grace shouted out loud, her grin racing across her lips in joy. "In the vampire flicks, if the owner is dead, then the vampire would have been able to stay inside the house."

Charley smiled at her happiness, relived to finally see a smile.

That is, until both of their mirth was abruptly stopped by a knock at the door.

"Grace, I'd like to talk to you."

"That's too bad, Jerry," Grace replied stonily, keeping her eyes on the door.

The knocking ceased, but Charley and Grace both sensed Jerry's presence linger outside of the door.

A mocking laugh made its way through before Jerry remarked, "Your boyfriend is currently bleeding to death in my basement. He's probably alive...I'm not quite sure. Surely, you'd love to visit him."

Shaking slightly, Grace felt her feet move toward the door.

"How do I know that you really have him?" she asked softly despite the inner turmoil sloshing around inside her.

On the other side of the door, Jerry's lips curled upwards, his head resting on the door in amusement as his teeth ran over his fangs, lapping at the blood resting there.

"You don't."

By the time he had finished his phrase, Grace was at the door, anger fueling her as she ripped it open.

The entryway was empty, only Jerry's menacing threat still hanging in the doorway.

"You're not actually thinking about going over there, are you?" Charley questioned after a few silent minutes.

"I have to," Grace answered quietly, more to herself.

"Grace-."

"Charley, I want you to go to your house and don't let anyone in, alright?"

"Grace-."

"No, listen. I'm going to the bastard's house, getting Andrew, and coming to your place. You can't argue and your mother put me in charge of you. Do as I say," Grace commanded.

Charley opened his mouth once to say something, but then closed it at the strictness in Grace's voice. He'd never heard her so...on edge before.

"Do you really think that Jerry is just going to let you walk out of there with Andrew?"

For the first time that night, Grace closed her eyes in hesitation.

"I don't know."

"Grace, he took Andrew for a reason."

"I don't care to know what that reason is right now. Now, go get your things."

GSCGSCGSCG

"Are you sure about this?" Charley whispered as they stood on Jerry's lawn, peering at the darkness surrounding his house.

"I have to," Grace repeated once more, studying the slightly ajar door.

"And what if you don't come back?"

Grace turned around and faced Charley, taking his hand into hers.

"I'm going to return, alright? Jerry messed with the wrong New Yorker," Grace promised, meeting his eyes confidently.

Lifting his bag, Charley placed the strap in Grace's hand.

"What's this?"

"My reassurance," Charley answered.

Glancing inside the bag, Grace's lips conformed into puzzlement.

"Charley," she responded, picking up a wooden stake, "do you really expect me to murder another person?"

"Grace, you're forgetting that Jerry isn't human. You can't ever forget that. This is the same creature who took Andrew and murdered my best friend. Trust me, you're going to have to use this sometime when your inside that house if you want to survive until morning."

"I-," Grace began, fingering the smooth oak as it laid comfortingly in her hand. "How do I get close enough to use it?"

Glancing around him, Charley's left hand disappeared behind him, only to reappear seconds later with a silver gun in hand.

Feeling her heart stop, Grace placed the stake back inside the bag and stared.

"Please tell me that this is your way of asking me to join the NRA."

"Right before you decide to stake Jerry, shoot him."

"Charley, where did you get this?"

"Mom bought it after dad left. Carried it around with us, just in case we'd ever have to use it. Shoot him so he's down, then stake him."

Meeting his eyes, Grace allowed the gun to be placed into her palm, the frigid cold of the metal contrasting harshly with the sweat pulsing in her hand.

"I'm guessing you know how to use it?"

Swiping at her dry lips, Grace switched the safety on and off, before cautiously lifting her shirt and sheltering it inside her jeans.

"You should know right now," Grace commented, taking a deep breath, "that whatever happens in there, you don't come in after me. And when you get to that point where you just can't bare it any longer, at least wait until the sun comes up. Do you understand?"

Nodding his head, Charley took in Grace's tall, almost regal form. She stood oddly still despite someone whose boyfriend was probably enduring gruesome torture. Blowing back from a night breeze, her dark hair framed the heartshaped paleness in her face under the moon's glow. Clearly nervous, her green orbs gave away nothing and for the first time in his life, Charley truly witnessed Grace's appeal.

It wasn't that she wasn't attractive or wasn't his type. Realistically, he'd been too caught up in chasing Amy in order to really notice, much less ogle at his neighbor. Grace had always been more of a close, personal friend rather then someone he'd develop a crush on.

But it was this sudden recognition of Grace's beauty that stirred something inside him. Something important. Something that his mind was trying ruthlessly to reach, but the thought kept slipping through a torn net.

Reluctantly acknowledging the fact that he wasn't going to figure out the dire thought in time, Charley simply observed Grace one last time.

"Kick his fucking ass," he remarked.

Hugging Charley, Grace watched him as he turned and briskly sprinted into the darkness of his home.

Turning back to the house, Grace observed the structure with careful calculation. Charley's words from earlier before had kept ringing inside her mind.

"He took Andrew for a reason."

Shaking off a sudden bout of shivers, Grace lifted the strap over on to her opposite shoulder, attempting to calm herself by thinking of the objects inside the bag.

I'll garlic bread him to death. Better yet, throw holy water at him as if I'm ridding him of a demon. How the hell am I even supposed to get a stake through him?

As if right on cue, a cool pressure strapped to her thigh answered her question.


Confrontation time comes in the next chapter. Let me know what you're thinking in a review. I'll try to update more frequently.