A Vampire Fairy Tale (Ronnie Radke)

James Dean and Audrey Hepburn

      Weeks later, Ronnie found himself downtown in Newark at a bar. He had formed a band shortly after taking residence in California, and as soon as he could get the album recorded, they took off in a van. He sat with a bored look on his face, drinking a soda and watching as Jacky hit on the bartender unsuccessfully. He knew his match was somewhere close. He could literally feelher familiar energy, and he was honestly shocked that all these centuries later not only could he feel her specifically, but also that her energy hadn't changed.

He heard a noise from outside over the noise of the bar and got up, motioning to Jacky and Ryan that he was going to go outside, clear his head for a minute. Ronnie had just lit up his cigarette when a girl ran out of a back alley, glancing over her shoulder as she drew a pocket knife. He stood straight and began walking toward her without realizing what he was doing, almost as if he was being pulled by a magnet. He came around in front of her and put his hands on his shoulders as he asked, "Are you ok?"

She looked at him for a second and cocked her head to the side before responding, "Oh yeah. I'm great. I've got these crazy bastards in a van chasing me, and I'm freaked out enough that were I any closer when you put your hands on me, I'd have stabbed you."

She stepped back and readjusted her beanie on her head and quietly stuck a necklace that had been hanging around her neck back in her shirt before glancing back up at Ronnie, "You're staring. Why? I may not have family to miss me, but I put up one hell of a fight, buddy- and I am in a VILE mood."

"Your necklace," Ronnie stepped forward and smiled, "It just reminds me of someone, that's all. I knew someone a very long time ago who wore a similar one. You look just like her. It's just a little weird, that's all."

"This has been in my family for years. My however many greats grandmother handed it down, and it's gone to all the women in my family. Unfortunately, I'm the last one it seems. I'm named after that grandma's sister apparently. I'm sorry, I don't know you. I don't know why I'm telling you my life story," she glanced down, and Ronnie sensed embarrassment primarily- though it was mixed with skepticism and a little bit of fear. Without thinking, he stepped forward and lifted her chin with his hand.

"Let me help you. I have a few good ideas of who may be after you, and if I'm right in either case I know why and how to help. But- there's a rule."

"What's that?" she asked, caught off guard by his sudden and very forward touch.

"Well- two rules, really. One, you have to trust me. Your life is about to get really, really weird. And two, you cannot tell ANYONE anything I tell you or show you. The world isn't what you think it is, Annalise. And those people that are after you, well... I'm what they're keeping you from," Ronnie looked in her eyes and willed her to remember, or to at least not run away.

"How did you know my name? And what the hell is this? Some sick game? Are you in on it?"

She tried to pull back, but Ronnie held strong to her, and when he heard the footsteps behind him her frowned. He looked down at Annalise and whispered, "Stay behind me and let me handle this."

"I think you hunters need to leave. Now. She's with me. The order will protect her from the likes of you, and if I have to blow the top off the whole cover up to protect Annalise Belmont from whatever it is you'd do to keep her from us, then I will," Ronnie stepped forward, allowing his already sharp canines to grow into fangs as he stepped forward. Annalise opened her mouth to ask how he possibly knew her full name as she stayed directly behind him, but a sharp glance backward from Ronnie was all it took to make her close her mouth quickly.

When the men that had been chasing Annalise took another step forward, Ronnie turned and grabbed her, only whispering "hold onto me" in her ear before seemingly folding into the night and vanishing.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?" Annalise jumped back and looked around. She was no longer on a sidewalk in downtown Newark. She was in what looked like a motel room, god only knows where, and the only other person there was this weird asshole that somehow knew her name and said she looked like his dead girlfriend.

"Annalise sit down. Take a breath," Ronnie looked right at her and smiled when she sat back on the bed and looked up at him. She opened her mouth again, but before she could speak he sighed, "This is not how this was supposed to go. I know you're probably scared, maybe even of me. But I promise you, I won't hurt you."

"Who the fuck are you? How do you know my name? Why are you being all creepy? And why can't I stand up?"

Ronnie sighed and sat beside her on the bed as he pulled what looked like a pocket watch on a chain from around his neck. He opened it to reveal not a watch, but two photos. On one side, there was an old timey photo of a young woman identical to Annalise, and in the other was an old timey photo of Ronnie and this strange woman together. As Annalise looked at the pictures with a confused expression on her face, Ronnie began his explanation.

"The woman in this photo is in fact your great great great aunt, Annalise Belmont. You are in fact her namesake, yes. But- you're the last bit of her soul left. The bloodline will die with you. Annalise," Ronnie sighed sadly as he turned to face her, "You are her. You're exactly like her. She was promised to me, and we loved each other, deeply. I was to marry her, make her one of my people and then oversee our kind into the future. However, there were some who didn't agree with that plan. They helped the Catholic church to find her and put her in direct sun the morning after our wedding. This set our people back a few hundred years. I know you can remember. I know you're in there somewhere. You'd have run away from me, too if you weren't."

"So, let me get this straight," Annalise blinked a few times, "My great great great aunt was supposed to marry a vampire- you're a vampire, right? I mean you look like one- I'm getting away from the point. She did, but other vampires didn't like that she married you and helped with her murder to stop you from becoming their leader?"

Ronnie only nodded, and Annalise frowned deeper, "So those guys after me. They were Catholic priests looking to keep vampires from establishing dominance. And vampires and priests have been at war out of the public eye for years?"

Ronnie nodded and looked at Annalise worriedly, "You think I'm crazy, don't you?"

"I mean... yeah? I hate to be mean, but this just seems crazy. I don't even know your name, and you're telling me I'm really your long dead wife. Can you really blame me?" Annalise sighed and looked up at Ronnie, "Though I am inclined to believe the vampire part. I saw your fangs, and you did kinda teleport me back to I'm guessing what serves as a lair right now."

Ronnie chuckled sheepishly and then looked back down at Annalise and nodded, "Was either here or the van, but we're sleeping here tonight. This is just my room. Don't worry. No more unpleasant surprises for tonight. Tomorrow, though," he shook his head and sighed, "Tomorrow, I have to take you to the one person who can help you remember."

Annalise frowned up at Ronnie but didn't fight him when he pulled her up on the bed. She may have thought this man was insane, but he did save her from the men who tried to chloroform her and drag her into an old van- and he did seem sincere in his care for her, even if she still felt it was directed to someone who didn't exist anymore.

"What happens if I remember you?" the girl asked, trying to keep the fear off of her face even though she knew Ronnie felt it, "Will I lose myself? Like... I won't just become her, right?"

"Anna," Ronnie breathed into her ear as he curled her up in his arms, "You can't lose who you are. Because you ARE her, as she would have been now. It won't erase you, and I wouldn't want it to. Now rest, I know you must be tired."

Ronnie smiled a real smile for the first time in centuries as he felt his Annalise curl up and fall asleep beside him. He watched her chest rise and fall, and when she began trying to toss and turn, he pulled her closer to him and whispered, "It's ok, Anna. Nothing will hurt you ever again."