The 16 Candles Vampire Hunters

Chapter 1 Tantrum

October 3, 2005 12:48 AM

Joe's POV

"Shit!"I exclaim. My gun jams as I try to shoot a vampire off of the hood of the car. I have to admit Andy and EJ are very convincing bait, maybe just a little but too much. A dark streak tackles the vampire on the hood and the rest flee, seeing who it was.

"You call yourselves hunters?" Pete growls. Oh. no. he. didn't! I open my mouth to say something but Pete dives off the overlook, leaving Patrick and me stunned and speechless. "Next time you be the bait!" Andy shouts after him. "Did he really just.. I can't believe him." he continues slamming the door as he got out of the car.

"Joe what happened?" Patrick questions. "My gun jammed." I respond defensively. "We need to get back." Patrick mumbles loading his gun in the car. "Should we even try to talk to him?" EJ asks to nobody in particular. She starts up the car and waits for everyone else to get in to continue.

"I know I said he should talk to us but this is out if hand. He can't go running off when something goes wrong. That's just being a drama queen."

"He is a drama queen." I say with no regret.

"Always has been. Always will be." Andy concludes.

"Devin's going to kill him when she finds out." Patrick says casually. I don't think any illness will stop her. "Most definitely." I agree. EJ drives painstakingly slow and careful, which nearly doubles the time it take to get home.

~~~

When we finally reach the house Pete is already there, sitting next to Devin, watching t.v. I was not going to be the one to say anything so I take my spot next to Andy. "What the hell happened?" Devin asks before going into a coughing fit. "Dev, are you okay?" EJ asks. Devin nods whilst coughing making a rather unconvincing lie. "Continue please."
"Joe's gun jammed. Pete had a tantrum and jumped off a cliff." Andy states drily, not wasting any time making excuses.

"I did not have a tantrum!" Pete yells louder than necessary.

"Really?" Patrick questions, "I'd call yelling 'You call yourselves hunters ' and then jumping off a cliff a tantrum."

"I was frustrated, okay?!" Pete stands up.

Patrick replies quickly, now yelling with Pete, "Frustrated is one thing; being a freaking drama queen and jumping off a cliff is another!"

This is going to be a shit storm. They continued yelling back and forth, getting farther off topic and closer to each others' face each time.

"Maybe if you'd just talk to us it wouldn't be such a problem!"

"Maybe I don't want to talk to you!"

"That's a shame! We're all you've got! You can't just hold your emotions in like you do!"

"Well, I do! It's the only thing I can do! You guys don't understand any of this!"

"Don't you dare go all 'you don't understand me emo teenager'!"

"I just did, because you don't! You never will!"

"Shut up! Both of you shut up!" EJ screams.

Pete shoots an angry glare at Patrick and sits down. "You guys are being ridiculous." Devin scolds. "I'm not the one being ridiculous." Patrick counters, like a child. "Then stop arguing and shut up."
I get up, "You're not going anywhere, Trohman." Devin warns dangerously.

"I have to use the bathroom, geez." I lie casually. I walk into the bathroom but slide down the door sighing the moment the door is shut. I wish they would stop fighting. I can hear Devin yelling at them with a hoarse voice through the door. Patrick and Pete continue to argue; this time a little quieter.
The volume doesn't matter. They were still fighting.
I didn't want them to get suspicious so I hurry and try to collect my thoughts. Breathing in and out slowly I open the door.

Pete's POV

Joe walks back in and sits next to Andy. I was still fuming. I want to be anywhere but in this room. Everything about this house, these people, my life, just made me want to scream. I didn't think I would ever see the day I couldn't stand my best friends.

At least I'm not with Brendon. It could be worse.

I was a danger to all of them when I was like this. That thought snaps me back into reality. I did over react. I took a few deep breaths, their scent burning my throat. I was getting good at ignoring it, "I'm sorry. I over reacted." I say. I am never the first to apologize. I hope they see I really mean it.

"It's cool bro." Joe says. He's usually always the first to forgive. "I'm going to head up stairs. Night." EJ says leaving the room before responding to my apology. I notice nobody else says it was okay. I try not to over react but it did hurt. Did I really push them to the breaking point? They're right, I am a drama queen. Good, God, what have I done?

I check the time, knowing it's nowhere near my bedtime. "So, I have this idea for a song." Patrick says changing the subject. That gets my attention. "And?" Joe asks. "Let's hear." Patrick gets up and makes his way to the music room, trailed by Andy, Joe and I. "Are you coming?" I ask Devin. She shakes her head slightly. "No." I almost ask why, but realize she must really feel like crap.

Patrick picks up his guitar and plays for a few seconds. I hum along once I get the rhythm. "I can see this working." I muse. Different words float around in my head. This should be fun. "So would it be something like this?" Joe asks playing a slightly off version.

~~~

We continue to work for a few hours but by four in the morning it's only Patrick and me left. "I forgive you...just so you know." I smile at his words and mumble a thanks. "Just don't jump off cliffs, okay? That's dangerous."

"Everything about this job is dangerous." I remark. "I suppose you're right. But how did you know you could make the jump anyway?" I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know, who knows maybe I wouldn't have even made it." A small voice in the back of my head whispered 'I wish I wouldn't have made it.' but I ignore it.

"Don't do stupid things like that. You could've died." I try to avoid his concerned stare. What would've been the big deal? "We will turn you human again. I promise." I laugh cruelly. "Okay."

"So until then, don't do anything that will endanger that. Because, according to my doctor, dying isn't good for your health." I laugh at his stupid joke. "Goodnight, Pete."

"Goodnight."
Patrick pulls the bed out of the couch and crashes in nearly 5 minutes.

I get up and make my way upstairs to my room. The clothes on the floor mixed with crumbled up paper is slightly a comfort. I sit in the quiet. It's never silent to me anymore. Electricity buzzing, air conditioning whirring, light and sometimes deep snores, tossing and turning, and...a page turn.
I listen for awhile longer and hear it again. Someone was reading.

I nearly get up to go talk to whoever it is. But that just seems rude. I lie down on my half clothes covered bed, kick off the pizza box, and close my eyes in hope that sleep will come tonight.