Death Bite (Peterick)

Part 17: Crossing Paths Again Never Felt so Bad

Pete's POV:

There were a lot of things circling my mind, making never ending noise in the form of thoughts. It wasn't uncomfortable living at the hideout now, but I had gotten so used to being on my own that constantly having company was more than I could handle sometimes. Gabe was around more than I expected him to be. He had told me he wanted to catch up on the time we missed out on together, and it was nice honestly. Playing cards and talking reminded me of when we were human, and nothing kept us away from each other.

He said he was happy. That was more than I could wish for for my best friend. William was apparently a hopeless romantic and treated my friend better than anyone could, which I still slightly refused to believe. He really didn't have that much of a heart. I heard their arguments and feuds late at night when they thought everyone was out or asleep.

Whatever the problem was between them I set aside. It wasn't my business to intrude in especially if Gabe couldn't face the reality that maybe they weren't a perfect couple. One of those nights came along when he would get so furious with William that he bunked with me and my roommate, Brendon. Brendon had grown on me somewhat. He was a new face, someone who had shown up around the time I left.

He was only seventeen when his parents kicked him out of their home for admitting to not following their Mormon beliefs. Ryan, who turned out to be one of William's vamps at the time, took the poor kid in. Everyone had taken a liking to him, but to stay permanently he had to be turned because the rest of the gang couldn't control their hunger, resulting in Brendon almost being attacked on multiple occasions. I had asked what had happened to this so-called Ryan guy since I never saw him, and Brendon had muttered something about him being killed by hunters. He seemed awfully upset about it, which was understandable.

"Can I sleep here tonight?" Gabe asked, wiping his eyes in the darkness.
"Yeah, sure. Come here," I said.
He slipped in next to me, and it wasn't weird being that we were friends again. Given, we never cuddled in the past, but it felt right in order to comfort someone who craved some sort of proper affection. 
"What happened this time?" Brendon yawned as he turned in bed to face us.

"Nothing. I...I just wanted to hang out with you guys tonight. You wanna go do something?"
"Not really. All of my energy went this morning when we hit the city again," Brendon replied.
"Come on. We can drain a few people."
Gabe looked at me for any response, and I rolled my eyes, throwing the blanket over my head. I wasn't interested in sparking terror within the innocents, but they couldn't know that. I'd be marked as a traitor again if I refused to kill.

"You guys are so boring."
There was some ruckus coming from the front of the hideout as if everyone had suddenly gotten up. I peeked out the window to see the guys all crowded around someone. William's derby hat stuck out immediately among those gathered. I rose from my bed, ignoring Gabe's protest from the sudden lack of spooning, and wandered out there with curiosity gnawing at my senses.

My eyes followed the direction everyone was looking as I slipped through the gaps in between bodies until I reached the front. A streetlamp shined down on dark sunglasses and blond tips upon the head of a brooding pale individual with a worn leather jacket around his shoulders. I studied the stubble upon his jawline and the structure of his elongated nose that appeared awfully familiar to me. He looked me over once before whispering into William's ear.
"Pete, follow us," Bill uttered.

The crowd scattered, allowing us to go back inside. The two led me into William's room, and the mystery person took off his sunglasses. It was as though I had seen a ghost. At the moment I believed it to be so because right in front of me, in the flesh, was Mikey Way himself. It was unbelievable.

There was anger building up inside me, anger directed entirely upon William, who was standing there acting as though he hadn't lied to me about Mikey's death. I dove straight after him, which proved to be a mistake because he pinned me to the wall in a second flat with a single hand before I could even lay a finger on him.
"Calm down, Peter. There's a logical explanation for all of this."