The room was dark and silent as Jean stared at the ceiling; it was almost midnight again. It was so silent that when she closed her eyes and listened, she could hear the soft breathing that came from upstairs. It soothed her to listen to Emma's breathing, to know that she was alive and well. It felt silly when she thought about it, she had had people during her lifetime that worshipped her as a goddess, sure that was centuries ago, but it was still strange how she persistently yearned the attention of this one girl.
It reminded her of the times when she still had humane feelings, when she had reasoning and wasn't drowning in a world of cruel madness. It reminded her of herself when she didn't believe that she was just a cruel monster with no salvation. Emma was like a glimmer of hope that she wanted to hold onto, a hope that was long lost to Jean.
She turned her attention back to the clock on the wall, she would have to feed soon. Normally every vampire slept upon sunrise, most of them couldn't handle the sun and their skin either started burning or rotting under the bright beams of light. Ascending from the ancient ones, Jean was able to go out under the sun, but it still made her skin itch and eventually get burnt. It just didn't kill her as fast.
She stood up from the sofa and felt the dryness of her throat, her vision was getting blurry with hunger and the need to kill. It hadn't been that much of a problem during those two hundred years, but once the beast got a taste of blood it was like the most addictive drug ever. She stared out from between the curtains and looked at the dawn. The sun was almost down. Almost.
Jean practically threw herself out the front entrance when the last traces of sun disappeared behind the forest. She looked around and her eyes landed on the black bike that she had borrowed yesterday from a very dead biker. She snickered at the thought, she wouldn't have to return it any time soon. She tried to push her screwed sense of humor back in her mind and got on the bike. The engine started up with a strong roar and the highlights illuminated the gravel path, which gave her a slight nostalgia of the day before. She managed to get onto the road with better skills than before, she was getting the hang of this.
Familiar roads passed by as she sped through the forest, the wind hit her face and made her hair fly back in waves like bright flames in midnight. She finally took a turn into the main road and the city lights got into her view. She picked a different entrance to downtown and made sure to park the bike far away from the street yesterday. She put the keys in her pocket after turning off the engine and jumped off the bike, she had to play in the shadows today.
Jean used to kill for joy and without any kind of morality, she wouldn't deem herself innocent even after thousands of years, but she usually didn't long for blood like this. Her body was the conserving type, it didn't waste any drop of blood unless necessary, which was necessary now because it was trying to close the giant gap that used to be her non-beating heart. She laughed at the irony; she was literally heartless.
She went through a few backstreets to stay out of view and started walking through dark alleyways, her night vision awakening. The beast got excited and sent a shivering feeling down her spine at the thought of fresh blood. She knew that if this kept up, soon she would be going on a feeding binge, which wasn't the prettiest sight to see or the easiest situation to cover up. In this new era everything seemed to have eyes and she wouldn't risk uncovering her mask.
Her ears picked up some close-by chatting as she walked further down the alley, she took a turn to the left at the end of it to finally come across a little group of street tugs. Her eyes beamed up at the view, she would have a feast tonight.
* * *
"What do you mean she escaped?!"
The throne room had a tension so thick that it was almost palpable. All of the guards were thrown out of the room and now a very injured and limping Eleanor kneeled in front of Jacob. She didn't dare speak as a wave of fear washed through her body. She just kept looking down.
"She couldn't have gotten far; she was deeply injured when she es-"
"Silence!"
Eleanor trembled with the booming voice that sunk down to her bones like needles. Jacob put his hand on his forehead and sighed in frustration. If he knew her sister in the slightest bit, she was probably on a killing spree right now, her body working like a crazed beast trying to heal its injuries.
He had always thought that she was the monstrous one, especially after she had started following their mother's way. He doubted that Jean even cared about the torture that was inflicted on her, but he knew she would be coming back for revenge stronger than ever. He had one shot at this, and he had to find her before it was too late.
He reached his wrist out to Eleanor.
"Drink up."
Eleanor did as told and her teeth gently sunk into the cold flesh. She felt her body starting to heal up with the blood. Jacob and Jean's bloodline had the ability to heal oneself faster than an eye could witness. The muscles in her neck tensed and burned, the fast regeneration causing them to cramp. The extreme healing ability of the blood usually made it painful for anyone who wasn't of a higher generation.
She let go of his wrist after healing up enough and licked her lips, trying not to waste even a single drop of blood. The other guards were far too gone so they hadn't bothered saving them, they had failed at their objective.
"You have one week, bring her back to me dead or alive."
Eleanor knew this was her last chance to redeem herself useful and stay alive, she was already lucky that her her head wasn't rolling on the ground.
"Yes, sir."
With that she scurried out of the room. Once out she leaned onto the wall to hold her cramping neck. It was painful but she would live through it. She took help from the wall to keep her balance and started walking through the corridors, she didn't have any time to waste. She finally found the girl she was looking for at the entrance of the lobby chatting with another guard and called out.
"Lillian! Help me get to the meeting room and gather the guards."
The dark-skinned girl looked back with surprise, but her eyes glinted when she saw Eleanor. It was relieving to see her still alive. She quickly ran to her side and helped her walk.
"What happened?"
Eleanor let out a painful sigh,
"I have a week to find Jean, or I'm as good as dead."
The smiling expression faded from Lillian's face, a serious and displeased one replacing it.
"He should have killed the damn girl years ago; everyone knew keeping her alive was a bad idea. Now he's pinning this on you?"
"Quiet... You know the walls have ears. I don't want something to happen to you as well because of it."
Lillian glanced away unhappily, but spoke in a sympathetic tone,
"I'm glad you are alive, El."
"I told you to not call me that."
"Like I'm gonna listen."
Eleanor laughed at that but her breath got caught in her throat and turned into a painful cough,
"Yeah, you have always been like that."
They finally reached the meeting room and Eleanor leaned on the door frame,
"I'm fine, go get the others."
Lillian gave her one last concerned look before taking off into the corridor to do as told. Eleanor walked inside the giant room and her eyes scanned around, she was trying to keep a calm composure and not think about her probable death sentence oncoming in a week. That is, if she couldn't find Jean.
She collapsed onto a nearby chair and stared at the ceiling. Lillian had proposed to escape and live together several times, and she would have taken the offer. There was only one problem; Vampires were connected to their masters with invisible bonds. Jacob was her master and that meant she had invisible bonds to him for as long as he was alive. Although his death would also leave Eleanor, and anyone he had embraced in deep injuries or could even kill them according to how strong the bond was. It was an eternal slavery which she had to go through with.
She got out of her daydreaming when the other vampires started entering the room. She quickly collected her composure and put on her strict face; she had become pretty good at putting on masks. She sat up from her chair and cleared her throat to silence the room. This was going to be a long night.
* * *
Jean was licking the last traces of blood that was left on her fingers. She leaned on the wall and looked at the carnage that she had created, she had somehow managed to keep her clothes clean, but she still had a good amount of blood left on her arms and face. She leaned down and searched the pockets of the nearest guy for some money, he wouldn't be needing it now. She took the black leather wallet out and looked through it to find some money tucked away inside, that would do.
She wiped the blood on her face and arms with the shirt of the guy, she was going to get some food on the way back for Emma and her being covered in blood would take just a little too much attention. She wiped it off as best as she could and threw the shirt back on the ground, it was time to dispose of the bodies. With her strength and speed, it didn't take long to carry them all, three thugs in total, to the closest forest area. Three men killed by an attack from wolves, what a lovely headline.
The asphalt still had blood on it but she didn't think anyone was clever enough to connect the dots. Downtown was a dangerous place after all, she snickered at the thought and knew it was probably signs of a not very good mental health. She never claimed she was sane anyway.
She stopped at a nearby restaurant that didn't seem to have many customers on the way and bought some food. She took the few backstreets that she had come from and saw her bike still standing at the side of the road, well, it was her bike now. She placed the bag in her hands at the back of the bike and jumped on it. The way to her haven passed in a breeze.
As soon as she arrived at the familiar entrance of the house she got inside and dropped the bag on the counter, then threw her clothes off. She walked up the stairs and got in the bathroom, she wanted to scrub off the blood on her skin before it dried. Cold water fell down onto her body and she started scrubbing at the blood, it didn't take long this time. She was proud of how clean she had been tonight; it was a sick thing to be proud of, but she didn't care.
She got out of the shower after she was done and drops of water fell down from her body and hair, they would dry sooner or later so she didn't care. When she opened the door, her eyes lingered on the bedroom door that stood right next to the bathroom. Something inside her felt weird, a new emotion that she never thought she had and couldn't understand what it was. What she knew was it gave her a sickly-sweet feeling.
It soothed her, the existence of the girl alone, she stared at the door for a while before slowly opening it and getting inside. She was still asleep under the sheets and her chest rose up and down silently, her face looked peaceful, the peace of not being awake anymore, like a temporary death. Jean borrowed a new pair of clothes and got out of the room, she was borrowing a lot of stuff lately. She walked down the stairs and dropped herself on a couch, the soft cushions felt nice against her skin. She stared at the clock again, hearing every silent tick that it made as seconds passed. It was time to wait for her to wake up. She let her eyes close and her body rest as she waited, it's been a long time since she was in comfort again.