The Lost Girls (Chris Cerulli Vampire Story)

Chapter 4

Chris and I ended up going to a concert venue called The Dome. It was surprisingly small considering the name. The music pumping through the speakers made the floor rhythmically shake as we got closer to the stage. The band performing was wonderful, despite their singer. He could use some improvement to be truthful.

Chris pulled me closer to him to speak in my ear so I could hear him over the volume of this place, "You know, I used to be in that band."

I turned slightly in his direction and regretted it since his face was so close to mine, making my pulse speed up. I did my best to play it off by casually asking, "Really now? What did you do?"

"The vocals."

"You can sing?"

"And scream." He added.

I nodded, "I'd like to hear you some time then."

I noticed that Chris didn't let go of me as we continued to watch his old band's set, but I didn't mind at all. His tall form kept a lot of people from getting around us since they couldn't see over him. Several songs later the band got off stage and quieter music filled the venue as the next band started to set up. Chris let me go and I noticed then how cold he had been because the usual heat of a concert enveloped me.

I shivered slightly before asking, "So what was the band's name?"

"Motionless in White. I'm pretty sure they kept it even after I left."

"What made you leave?"

It honestly surprised me to see the hesitation on Chris' face as he gave a short explanation, "There were just other things that I got involved with and I couldn't stick with it."

"So do you still make music?"

He grinned and shrugged, "On occasion."

Chris lead me over to a table in the back of the venue and I was surprised to see that there weren't many people around this area. They all seemed to migrate more to the bar to drink and outside to smoke. I watched Chris for a moment as we sat down, trying to picture him up on that stage instead. It honestly wasn't that difficult, he seemed to have this presence to him that was perfect for the stage. He was very much a leader.

"So what are your hobbies then Ashlyn? Since you seem so interested in mine." He questioned, breaking me out of my trance.

I bit my lip saying, "It's kind of weird."

"How so?"

I sighed softly admitting, "I like to race."

"On foot or...?"

"Cars and bikes mostly."

"How is that weird? That's fucking awesome actually."

I felt the blood rush to my cheeks, "Thanks, I'm glad you think so."

"So when was the last time you did it?"

"Right before we left Florida."

He grinned and basically mocked what I had said a minute ago, "Well you'll have to show me some time."

I laughed, "Alright, but you have to ride with me then."

His smile only got wider, "Do you think you're going to scare me or something?"

I shrugged giving him a playful smirk, "You never know."

"Well good luck, because there isn't a lot that can scare me. Trust me on that."

"We'll see."

Before Chris can say anything back another voice called out to him. "Chris? Is that you man? Where the hell have you been?"

I turned to see a short guy with long dark hair and tattoos that I recognized from Motionless in White as the drummer.

"Shit, let's get out of here." Chris muttered jumping to his feet and grabbing my hand to pull me along with him while the other guy shouted after him. 

Once we were out of sight from the concert venue I was finally able to ask, "Who was that?"

"My best friend Angelo."

I paused in my tracks at that, "If he's your best friend, why did we run out of there like that?"

Chris seemed to be struggling with something on the inside as he shook his head, "I haven't seen him in nearly two years, it would be too difficult for him to understand some things."

"Did you guys have a fight?"

"Yes and no, but I can't go back now. I can't fix what happened."

I frowned and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry Chris."

He gave me a weak smile and then suddenly his head snapped in the direction behind him, like he had heard something.

I gave him a worried look asking, "Is everything alright?"

His gaze seemed intense and focused even though he was peering into the darkness. "Yeah, but I think I should be taking you home."

His strange behavior had me quickly agreeing to the idea and on the walk back to my grandma's house he seemed to stay on edge. When we finally reached our destination I was still concerned for him.

"Are you going to be alright?"

He did his best to give me a reassuring smile as he said, "I'll be fine. But we should hang out again soon. I like having someone new to talk to now."

I grinned at that saying, "Okay, I'll see you around then."

Chris waved goodbye as he strolled off the porch and into the darkness. Once I made my way inside I saw that Haylee was still up like she said she would be. She was in the middle of channel surfing when I stepped inside and she quickly stopped when she saw me.

"I'm glad to see that you're still in one piece." She remarks.

I rolled my eyes at her saying, "Of course I am."

She gave me a lingering look before groaning, "Please don't tell me that you're starting to have a crush on that guy."

"Really? No, I barely even know him. Why would you think that?"

"Because I know you."

"Well apparently not well enough because I don't like him like that." I point out and then notice a stack of comic books beside her that read things like Vampires Everywhere and Destroy All Vampires. I picked one up asking, "Since when do you read this kind of stuff?"

"Ellen and Alana gave them to me."

"That explains a lot." I muttered rolling my eyes.

I hurried up to my room, feeling my blush still keeping my cheeks warm. Sure, I did think that Chris was really cute, but that didn't mean that I had feelings for him. Leave it to my sister to rush to conclusions about those sorts of things. As I changed out of my outfit I wondered about so many things. Like why had Chris left his band? What happened between him and Angelo? And what could have made him look so scared?

I decided to worry about it later as I climbed into bed and thanks to Haylee and her friend's little stories about vampires, I had nightmares about them. One stuck out in my mind in particular and it was the one where I had to save Chris from them.