When Jesse woke up, he was back in his garage. It was pitch black and almost completely silent. The bass amp was humming softly at him until he rolled over and turned it off. He put his bass on it’s stand and stumbled inside. Trying to be quiet, he staggered into the bathroom and fell against the sink. The door closed behind him, had he shut it? The faucet was on and the water was washing blood off his hands. Where was the blood from? Suddenly he remembered bashing his head on the ground. He gingerly reached up and touched the back of his head. To his surprise, there was no blood, no pain, no bump, no sign that he had even hit his head.
“What’s going on?" he asked himself as he looked himself over in the mirror. He was drenched in sweat and glistened in the light of the bathroom.
Looking himself over, Jesse couldn’t help but smile at how amazing his tattoos looked on him right now. They were vibrant and detailed and looked like new. Both of his arms were completely covered in ink, no blank skin between his hands and mostly up to his neck from both arms. He had a tattoo of a choker with a dragon medallion around his neck, with the medallion sitting on right about his collar bone. Among his other various tattoos, his favorite was still the purple butterfly on the back of his neck. He had gotten it because of a Rydar, it was the first thing she had drawn in one of his journals. As he studied his skin, he realized there was still a silver glow to it. He reached down and ran his hand over his skin, but it didn’t feel any different. Besides the sweat, it felt like his normal skin.
There was a knock on the door and Jesse looked up in time to see Rydar opening the door. She was full dressed for work and looked worried.
“You okay baby? You didn’t come to bed.”
“Sorry, I fell asleep on the couch.”
“Well do you still want to take me to work?”
“Of course. Just let me change first.”
“Hurry or I’ll be late.”
Jesse hurried out of the bathroom and took off into their room. He changed his clothes then walked back out to her. Together they walked down to their car and left. Jesse was lucky to have the day off, so he was able to drive her and drop her off. It would give him an opportunity to sit at home and think about the crazy dream he had last night.
Jesse was excited to drop Rydar off today. He had a surprise gift for her that, Clarissa had helped him find.
“Okay my love, I’ll see you when I get off.” said Rydar as they pulled up to her parking lot.
“Wait babe,” Jesse caught Rydar’s arm before she could step out of the car, “I have something for you.”
He reached into the center console and pulled out a small box. Rydar gasped as she took it from his hand. Opening the box she pulled out the pair earrings that lay inside. Then a third one that matched the pair.
“Why are their three of them?”
“Because they are special baby. You wear the pair, and this one is for me.”
Jesse took the third one and placed it in his left ear. The only one that he had pierced.
“Legend has it that these ear rings will bond our hearts. We will be everywhere with each other as long as we wear these.”
Jesse was quoting what Clarissa had told him when she helped him pick them out.
She put the earrings on and kissed him passionately.
“Thank you baby, I love them. I have to go or I’m going to be late.
Jesse pulled her back in for another kiss. As they pulled back he noticed a silver glow fading into her lips. Part of himself was being pulled away with her as well. It looked as though Rydar was having the same feeling. She hesitated for a long minute before finally turning and taking off into her work. Jesse watched her disappear inside, then turned on the car and left.
With the radio blaring Jesse flew down the road with a huge grin on his face. After all the crap he had put up with in his life, he was finally almost done fixing it. From drug addicted to being engaged to the most beautiful girl in the world and having his own little family. Suffice to say he was very happy as he sped down the streets to his house.
“GET THE DRAGON!”
Jesse heard the scream like it was coming from right beside him. Suddenly something slammed down on the front of his car and sent it flipping through the air.
The car tumbled through the air and threw Jesse round the inside. He slammed against the seat, the steering wheel, and the roof. Finally the car flipped one last time and landed on its roof and skidded to a stop. There was nothing but silence for a while until Jesse kicked out the shattered window beside him. He crawled out on his stomach, being careful not to get more glass stabbed into him. Blood was streaming from his face and arms as he pulled himself across the pavement. He didn’t feel any kind of cuts on the rest of his body, and most surprisingly he didn’t feel like anything was broken either.
“What a tough little human.”
“He is no human.”
“Either way he will die.”
Three people surrounded Jesse and one of them leaned down next to him. Whoever they were, the were wearing all black clothes and didn’t have any shoes on.
As Jesse tried to get up, he heard what sounded like wings flapping. A foot hit him hard on his side and rolled him over. He started coughing and gripped his sides. The three people stood over him and laughed. Their faces were covered with bandanas and sunglasses so Jesse couldn’t see anything.
“Azrael wants him dead. Finish the job Luke," said the person to Jesse’s left.
One of the three took off his bottom bandana to reveal a mouth littered with fangs. That was exactly what he wanted to see, a vampire. Not like he hadn’t see plenty of those, especially with one of his best friends being one.
“You’re not going to want to do that Luke.”
The man laughed and looked at the other two.
“Why not?”
“Because you’re going to piss her off.”
Clarissa was standing behind the man in full vampire rage mode. Her eyes had turned blood red with her pupils looking like small slits of black. The fangs in her teeth were fully barred and her ears had grown pointed. She was a vision of a beauty that needed to be feared.
Clarissa grabbed the man by the back of his neck and flung him into Jesse’s car. He started to get back up but Clarissa was already in front of him brandishing a knife. She ran it through his chest and nailed him to the car. From her lack of gloating Jesse could tell that she was extremely angry.
Remaining serious she turned around and walked back to Jesse. She pulled him to his feet and pushed him behind her. The other two looked extremely afraid to move ahead or to run. It was obvious they were trapped between which decision to make.
“I am Lauren Juliet Obar, Princess of the Coven of Obar. I demand to know who ordered this attack.”
Jesse had never heard Clarissa‘s real name before. He had known her for most of his life and had only heard her call herself Clarissa.
“Azrael ordered it.”
Azrael? Why did that name sound so familiar?
“Impossible Azrael is in slumber.”
“No, he is awake and wants this youngling dead.”
“Bullshit. Jesse, I mean Romeo Lawton, is under the protection of my Coven. No one is to touch him under threat of war from all of the Covens.”
“We aren’t part of the Covern’s honey. We are above them and you. We are Blood Angels.”
Black wings appeared from their backs and their eyes turned midnight black. Their bandana’s fell off revealing monstrous yellow fangs covered in blood. They screeched at Jesse and took a step forward. Before they could get any closer Clarissa turned and ripped her knife from the dead Blood Angel. Another one appeared in her other hand and in the blink of an eye she had stabbed through both of their throats. They collapsed on the ground as black ooze seeped from their open wounds.
“What’s going on Clarissa?”
“I don’t know Romeo, but better go get Rydar.”
“Right but what about my little sister.”
“I’ll go watch Seaver until you get there. Now hurry.”
“I can’t run there.”
“Right.”
With that Clarissa, was gone and came back two seconds later in a car. It was obvious that she stole it but at this point Jesse didn’t care. He needed to get to Rydar.
Jesse raced through parked and wrecked cars on the streets towards their work. He tried to ignore the crumbling and violent world rising around him. There were screams coming from every direction and the sound of gunfire. He saw humans running for cover as more of the Blood Angels came flying down from the skies. Some of them tackled humans to the ground to feed, others took them to the air and let their blood rain down. They were more powerful then other vampires as he watched them feed on the weaker kinds. Even were-humans were no match for these powerful creatures. They were in a league of their own in power.
Watching them kill made Jesse worry that he would find Rydar dead. It was only made worse when he got to their work and he saw a mass of them gathered inside the front of the store.
“Shit what do I do?” said Jesse stopping in the parking lot.
He thought quickly then backed up to the other side of the parking lot. Hopefully his luck would hold up twice. The tires spun and screeched as he hit the gas pedal and rocketed towards the store. At the last second the car bounced over the curb and flew through the wall and into the store. He mowed down most of the creatures and slammed into the other wall. Quickly he pulled himself from the wreckage and bolted into the back room. He found Rydar huddled in the break room holding a knife.
“Baby come on we have to go,” he said reaching for her.
She screamed and swung the knife at him, cutting into his hand.
“Owww fuck!” yelled Jesse pulling back. He looked down at his hand and watched as the cut closed up. What the hell was going on? He would have to figure it out later. He reached past the knife and grabbed Rydar’s arm. She screamed again but stopped once she saw it was him.
“Baby . . .”
“Don’t ask, just come on.”
They took off out of the store and found the closest car. Jesse tried to open it but the doors were locked.
“This is Dorothy’s car,” yelled Rydar from the other side.
Quickly Jesse ran back inside a grabbed the keys off Rydar’s managers dead body. As he ran out, he noticed that the creatures he had ran over, were actually dead. He had honestly expected them to get back up and attack him, like a normal vampire would. Normal vampires were a pain in the ass to kill, but these creatures, didn’t seem as impossible. He had ran them over to kill them. They had all the strength and power in the world, but were as fragile as humans.
Jesse yanked himself from his thoughts and ran back outside. Himself and Rydar got in the car and took off. He shielded her eyes as they drove past all the carnage and death around them. There was no way she would be able to handle any of this. They continued the drive in panicked silence until they reached their house. It looked like it hadn’t even been touched by any of the creatures. Inside however was a very different story. Bodies were scattered around the house leading up to Seaver’s room. Surprisingly it looked like a mix of regular vampires and these Blood Angels. Jesse slowly opened the door to find it empty.
Fear shot through Jesse’s body as he bolted from the room. He tore through the rest of the house until he finally found Seaver and Clarissa held up in his closet. Seaver leapt from the closet as soon as he opened it and wrapped her arms around him.
“What happened? Are you guys okay? Why are their vampires in my house?”
“You and me need to talk about this little girl Romeo. She isn’t what you think she is."
Jesse looked down at Seaver who hadn’t let go of him since she busted out of the closet. From the looks of her right now, she didn’t look like she could hurt anyone.
“Why were you in our closet?” asked Rydar walking into the room, interrupting them.
“Center of the house. It was easier to hold them off when they have to bottleneck. What about you guys?”
“No problems. We have to get out of here now.”
“And go where Romeo? It’s not like there’s a safe haven from them. They are out for blood, and most importantly yours.”
“Then I’ll give it to them.”
Jesse turned to walk away but Seaver refused to let him go.
“Seaver you have to let go. I need to do this to keep you safe.”
“No, I won’t let you do this.”
She tightened her grip and sank her teeth into his stomach. It was the best grip she had on him.
“You’ll actually be doing the exact opposite. If Azrael is after you, that means that he would come after us to use as bait against you. We would all be subject to a lot of torture. Besides this little girl here is our best hope for protection.”
“Actually I am.”
Everyone spun to face a legion of Blood Angels with a young looking man standing in the front. He had short black spiked hair and five 0‘clock shadow. His eyes were a crystal clear blue that matched his pearly white fangs. The man was wearing a large black leather jacket, over a black undershirt, with dark blue jeans on. It was very obvious that he was a something powerful. He was outlined in a black glow.
“Azrael,” whispered Clarissa and Seaver in unison.
“Yes, I am the great and powerful Azrael," said the man throwing his arms up like he was introducing himself to a large crowd, “The creator of all you vampires. And these, my latest creations, Blood Angels."
Azrael was very cocky, and had a very evil and dark presence about him. The smile on his face, was enough to piss Jesse off.
“What exactly do you want with me?”
“Right now? I just want you to come with me. We will leave the little vampire and your lover to safe keeping. But Clarissa will have to come with us.”
Who was he referring to as the little vampire?”
“Why Clarissa?”
“Unfortunately her father has humbly requested that I deliver her to him.”
That was worse then him just taking her prisoner. Her father was a devil of a man who used to beat his daughters just to toughen them up. Never using his hands, always choosing to use weapons or other people. He was a vicious man, so much so, that he cost himself his other daughter’s life.
“Or you could just let her go with the other two.”
The smile faded from Azrael’s face for a second, before he snickered and scratched his head.
“That really doesn’t work for me. You see, she is my bargaining chip.”
“It’s not really a negotiation. She’s not going with you.”
Azrael out right laughed at Jesse boldness.
“This guy right here. He’s got a set of brass ones. You don’t get to make demands right now buddy. I could just slaughter them in front of you, and then take you with me.”
Jesse pushed Rydar behind him and got ready for a fight. He kept his eyes focused on Azrael but didn’t move.
“Kill them,” said Azrael quickly turning his back on them.
“No!” yelled Clarissa, “I’ll go, but you must give me your word about not hurting Rydar or Seaver.”
Azrael turned around and flashed an evil grin.
“My word is yours.”
Jesse wasn’t sure what to do. How could he trust that Seaver and Rydar would be safe? It was a huge risk, one that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to take. He looked back at Rydar and Seaver, then at Clarissa who was now standing beside him. She gave him a reassuring nod then walked over to Azrael.
“Good girl. Now Jesse, don’t turn this violent. Just come on over here.”
Azrael held out his hand to Jesse and kept his eyes locked on him. It was very unnerving to keep match his stare.
Jesse turned and hugged Seaver then kissed Rydar. She was going to protest but Jesse gave her a stare that told her it would be useless. He had made up his mind, and she knew it.
“Swear you’ll come back to me.”
“I swear I will find you again. I love you.”
They kissed again and Jesse walked over to Azrael.
“I’m proud of you. Let’s go my angels. Leave the women alone, they are not to be harmed, do you understand.”
All of the Blood Angel’s around him nodded and started filling out of the room.
“See I’m very trust worthy.”
Jesse grabbed his collar and pulled him in. He leaned in close so his mouth was next to his ear and only Azrael could hear him.
“This isn’t over yet.”
Azrael turned slightly and rest his hand on Jesse’s shoulder.
“It was over the day your born.”
Suddenly he smashed his elbow into the side of Jesse’s face. Jesse fell to the floor in a heap and passed out.