A Vampire Fairy Tale (Ronnie Radke)

Can You Feel My Heart?

         Ronnie fiddled with his phone anxiously as he waited for an update from anyone. He hadn't heard from Anna yet, but he could feel her anxiety fading as days went by. He was supposed to keep up his playboy status and fly under the radar, but since he had Annalise back, even feeding off of other women out of necessity felt wrong to him now. The next woman he fed off of would be Annalise, and it would be the night he reclaimed her. He had promised himself that the day he left her in his father's care.

Ronnie's phone finally pinged, and he smiled when he saw that it was something from Kellin; a picture of Anna sitting next to Vic by the same river where Ronnie had given her the necklace and smiling in the same way she had so long ago.

Kellin: Guess who's back?! One more night, they say. This is going to be the hard one for her. Be ready. I know you feel what she's feeling.

Ronnie: Thanks for the heads up. Do they really have to show her how she died? She's going to feel it all over again.

Kellin: Afraid so. They say it's to help her remember who not to trust. Vic and Andy caught Bert trying to back her in a corner, fangs out. Scared all the shit out of her, and we had to talk her down because she was TERRIFIED and had no idea why.

Ronnie: I wish they'd let me chain that bastard down in the sun and let him roast over the course of weeks. That's how long it would take, right?

Kellin: Don't we all? But his dad is Viktor, so I don't see that happening any time soon. We all know that's why him and Craig didn't get dusted.

Ronnie frowned and locked his phone. Bert's status as nobility had protected him, even though he had almost exposed them numerous times in the centuries he's been alive. He openly resented the fact that the Radke lineage was considered supreme despite being slightly younger than his own. His idea was that since Viktor was the one who turned Vlad Dracul, Ronnie's great grandfather, his family should be in line for control. That was why Bert did what he had done to Annalise, and it was something Ronnie would never let go, even if he would have to contend with Bert as an elder when his time came to rule. Even though he didn't want to think of it, his mind wandered back to what he will always know as the worst day of his life.

Ronnie sat up in bed. He had drifted off to sleep by accident, and when he woke up and saw her side of the bed empty, he went into full panic. Annalise hadn't even been a vampire for 24 hours, so her being out of bed on her own was not only unlikely, it was downright impossible.

He bolted out of bed and into Vic's room and shook him awake shouting, "Anna's not in bed! There's no way she'd be strong enough to stand up, much less open that door and walk out of the room!"

Vic's eyes shot open and he stood up and frowned at Ronnie, "What time is it?"

Ronnie frowned and opened the blinds, closing his eyes when the light hit his face, "The sun is rising." Ronnie turned and punched the wall by the window, shouting a curse and looking over at Vic, "Get up! We have to get to her before—"

He was cut off by the sound of an ear-piercing shriek. Neither man spoke. Ronnie grabbed Vic and folded into reality, focusing on his Annalise as he did so. His blood ran cold when they landed and he saw what had become of his bride.

Bert and Craig held Ronnie and Vic back, their faces lit up with glee as Annalise lay on the ground, too weak to crawl into shade or even thrash around as her body burned slowly in the rising sunlight. They only let go and vanished when the echoes of her cries for help died out and what was formerly Annalise Radke had been reduced to ashes.

Ronnie ran to the ashes, holding back his tears until he touched her and she turned into a pile of dust at his feet. He gathered up what he could hold in his hands as he sunk to his knees.

"I'm so sorry, Anna. I failed you," he whispered as he watched what was left of his love disappear into the wind around him.

"Earth to Ronnie," Jacky frowned as he clapped in Ronnie's face, snapping him back into reality. Ronnie frowned and shook his head.

"Yeah? I'm here, sorry," he mumbled as he looked into Jacky's eyes and tried to stabilize himself.

"You ok there, bud? You kinda... zoned out," Jacky searched Ronnie's face and sighed, "Come on man, last show of the tour. Let's do this."

Ronnie smiled and followed his band out on stage. Just a few more hours, he reminded himself. A few more hours, and he'd be back with his Anna, and he would never have to leave her again.