Jean woke up with a start. There was a short and stabbing pain in her chest as beads of sweat formed on her forehead. She sat from her bed, a hand on her chest. She shook her head at the old habit she had as a child.
She stood up from the bed as she stretched her back. She sighed as she sat in front of her mirror and brushed down her hair. Her eyes fell on the two puncture wounds that changed her life forever.
***
"Come here, little girl," the man said. She'd been running away from him but he found her. Jean watched as Andy shouted at the other vampires as she shot arrows at those who attacked their home.
She trembled as the man loomed over her. "I promise you, I won't hurt you, Jean." The man called her by her name, smiling down at her. She took a long hard look, trying to put where she had seen him, but she... couldn't remember.
He reached over to her. "No! Go away!" But what could a four-year-old do when a full-grown man took her? "Andy!" She screamed as the man carried her.
Andy turned her head and her eyes widened.
"Jean!"
The older girl tried to catch up with them, dodging the arms reaching at her to stop her. She shot an arrow from the bow she was holding, but she almost missed, only grazing the man holding Jean on the arm. Two more vampires jumped in front of the blonde, blocking her.
"Andy!" She screamed as the figure shrunk in the distance.
The man brought her to an old building, almost identical to where they lived. Where Taylor took her family so they could all be together.
"Tay-Tay," she sobbed. The man went to a room where another man stood, his hands clasped together on his back as he watched from the window.
"Sir, the child is here."
He turned and she thought she recognized him. He looked like her aunt Camille. He smiled and showed his vampire fangs. Jean's body shook in fear.
"Good work, Ethan. Now, go and take care of my dear niece down there."
The man left her with the vampire.
"So, Taylor loves you so much, doesn't she?"
"Who are you?"
"Her uncle." Then he grabbed her by the shoulder and bit on her neck.
***
Jean's hand flew on the side of her neck as if she felt his fangs sink into her skin again. Years had already passed, yet the sensation still felt like it was yesterday, and the puncture wound never really closed. A reminder of what she had become.
She shook her head as if the action would merely remove how she... died.
She went down and looked for her mothers. The two women who raised her as their own.
Jean saw Andrea shooting arrows at a target, hitting all the bullseye with the bow she named Seeker, while Taylor sat at the edge of the lake as rays of the setting sun touched her, illuminating her pale skin. She had her eyes closed but she knew the woman. She was trying to sense everyone and everything around her.
The blonde flicked her eyes towards her and gave her a warm smile before shooting an arrow without looking. She rolled her eyes at her mother.
"Show off."
"It's pure talent, little one," she greeted her with the endearment she and Taylor had called her since she was just a child.
She looked at Taylor only to find the brunette looking lovingly at her wife, a soft and fond smile on her face. It was the same love and affection she had for years for the woman, it never once faltered but only got strong with time. And Jean would sometimes get jealous. They found each other in their teenage years, and here she was, in her mid-twenties and still mateless.
She sat beside Taylor and looked over the lake. Memories came behind her eyes. It was where they were attacked for the first time. It was where she was buried and turned.
"Hey there, little one," Taylor greeted. She looked and smiled at her.
"Hey, Mom." She saw Andrea turn her head towards her at the corner of her eye.
Her adoptive mother looked at her with those intense gray eyes. "You don't call me that unless you're thinking about something. What is it?"
She sighed deeply, something she knew she never needed anymore. "Nothing."
"Jean," Andrea called her, making her look up. She watched the concerned faces of her mothers, and she couldn't help but feel loved by the two women. But she saw the anger and fear on Taylor's. Years had passed, but Adrian's presence hung over them.
"It's nothing serious. I just... I wish I could... meet my soulmate in this lifetime."
The worry vanished from both women and was replaced with an adoring and amused smile. Andrea sat beside her, trapping her between her and Taylor. She slung an arm over Jean's shoulder and kissed her temple.
"Oh, little one, you'll find him, or her. It doesn't matter, right?"
"No, I just... Aunt Camille was five hundred years old when she met your dad! I don't want to wait that long."
"That was still a relatively short time for a vampire, Jean," Taylor smiled sadly.
"I know," she sighed as she looked over the lake. "I remember that day, here."
"I know, it's been years, but still..."
"It's kinda hard to forget, isn't it?" She commented before turning to Taylor. "You still worry about it, don't you?"
Taylor looked down in her hands. "I do. Adrian and Scott's voice still rings in my ear, taunting me. I just don't want anyone to worry."
She turned her head towards the other woman. "But you could feel it, right?"
"Of course," Andrea answered. "She really couldn't hide it from me, but I just let her be. You know how brooding your Mom gets."
"Hey!" Taylor protested but when Andrea raised a brow she folded. "Yeah, you're right."
"It was over, Tay, you killed him."
Her face darkened. "I did. But apparently, not his influence. There are still those humans who know about us. There was a group, and their leader was still alive."
"He's probably old now."
"He was the one who abducted you."
She snapped her head towards the brunette. Taylor looked calm, but she could feel the heat radiate from her skin. Jean took her hand.
"It's been... two decades."
"I know. But... this group," Taylor took a deep breath before continuing, "they torture and experiment on vampires. To what end, we don't know. Adrian may be dead, but... he was right, it meant nothing. He wanted me gone so he sought the humans' help. And when he died, the humans' seemed to have another plan."
"I thought they were seeking immortality through us?"
"That was before. That was twenty years ago. According to our sources, the man had a son, the future leader, and he despised us. He wants us dead."
"Then we take him out first."
Taylor shook her head, smiling. "Come, we want to show you something."
The three of them went towards the armory. Taylor and Andrea went toward a shelf and when they returned, both of them had a box in their hand. They put it on a table and smiled at her.
"Open it, little one."
She did and her eyes widened. She had pestered her mothers for her own weapon but the two insisted it wasn't the right time. But now...
They were two single-edged swords, their blades deep red while the handles were onyx. She picked them up and the blades instantly glowed.
"We know we had you wait for this. I was really hoping for a day that you wouldn't need a weapon, but... I couldn't risk your safety, my little Jean."
"What is it called?"
Andrea held her elbow affectionately. "It's your swords, Jean, you name it."
She thought back. Jean never regretted becoming a vampire and she loved both her mothers with her heart and soul. But she hated the man who took her, the one who did Adrian's bidding to hurt Taylor. She couldn't exact her revenge on Adrian, but knowing that the man led a group that hunted and experimented on her kind brushed something inside her.
She looked up and smiled at her mothers. "I'll call it Vengeance."
—
She went to work after her dinner with her parents. It actually made her happy to see Taylor eat normal food without throwing up. The first few years she practiced were not a pretty sight.
Jean arrived at the café-slash-bar her brother Kyle had established. It was his before and Jean was simply managing it as he lived with his wife in London, but he had left it for her, saying that it felt like it was hers more than his, but she never thought of that. It was theirs.
It was around ten o'clock and crowds flocked around the bar.
A group of vampires met her eyes and gave a respective nod as a subtle greeting before proceeding to the upper floor where they serve their vampiric clientele.
"So, when will I ever get to see the VIP rooms of the famous Veil & Velvet Tavern?" She heard a voice say. She smiled sadly before turning towards her boyfriend.
"When Kyle approves your application to be a VIP, you know that," she answered with a smile, but a certain pain in her chest appeared when she was reminded that the man was not her other half.
"So, I'm not that important?" He pouted.
"Evan, you know you're very important to me, but my big brother has the final say, he owns this place."
"Fine, you're lucky you're cute."
"I know." She leaned and gave him a kiss on his lips she quickly pulled away, guilt gnawing at her chest.
"Jean... We've been together for... a long time and..." he trailed off. She knew what he was going to say. They've had this same conversation before. But Jean promised herself that she would only give herself to her soulmate, and her soulmate only.
"You know I can't."
A flash of anger appeared in his eyes but quickly dissolved into sadness. "Of course, you can. You just don't want to."
"Evan..."
"Five years. When are you going to be ready?"
She glared at him as anger began to boil in her veins. Her aunt Camille may taught her better control of her temper, but she had the patience of her vampiric mother.
"Why? Is that what you wanted all this time?"
His eyes widened. "Of course not! It's just... I..."
The bartender then tapped her shoulder. He became her friend when she started to live as Taylor and Andrea's child. His family had served the Knightleys since the very first one, and they were more than just some servants. They were one of the Knightley's sworn families.
"Hey, Phil," she turned, but not missing the glare his boyfriend was giving her childhood friend.
"We have a problem at VIP Room 201."
She clenched her teeth. There were times that some vampires would try to bring in unconsenting humans with them, getting them drunk and then drinking off their blood. It was something she, or Taylor, would never tolerate.
She went up and barged into the door without knocking. There were no humans, thank the Night, but three vampires were ganging up on a smaller one.
"I thought everyone was clear about the no-violence policy in this establishment."
They all stood up, shaking. "My lady! We... This..."
"Get the hell out of here, now, and don't come back," she growled. Their eyes widened as they scrambled out of the room. She snarled at them as they ran past her with their heads down.
Jean crouched down and touched the arm of the young vampire.
"Hey, you okay?"
The girl lifted her face and cried. Her face was bloody from the beating and from the tears.
"Please, please help me."
"They're gone now. Why did they beat you?"
She shook her head. "Not for me, please, you have to help me."
"What's going on?"
"They... They don't believe me," she rambled.
"I need you to compose yourself and tell me what happened, from the beginning."
The girl steeled herself. "My sister. She was taken... It was supposed to be me, but... these... humans came with silver... weapons. She... she pushed me off the cliff and the humans got her instead. I've heard... I've heard the news about humans torturing us. Please, please help her." The girl stared into her eyes. "You're her, the Countess's daughter. Please, my lady, help me, she's all I got."
She could see the worry and love the girl had for her sister and it reminded her of herself and Taylor. The woman did everything for her and she would do the same thing for her.
"I will do what I can. For now, come with me, it looks like you haven't had blood in days."
"Thank you, my lady."
"Please, call me Jean. What's your name?"
"Chloe."
"And your sister?"
"Jenna."
"Which clan?"
The girl hesitated. "We... our name is Nightbloom."
Nightbloom.
She had studied all those vampire clans under their banners. Nightbloom was one of them, but they... were almost gone.
Jean was bound to answer to the cry for help.
AN: if you see me updating an existing chapter, I'm just editing some little things I noticed after a re-read, it's embarrassing. hehe anyways, thank you for reading!