I have lived over a hundred years.

For humans, that's a long time, longer than the norm. These days, it's rare somebody makes it past the eightieth mark. Death is never a choice, and often it takes us before we are ready to go. I have lived decades of history, cheating death at every turn; never succumbed to even the most rampant of illnesses, dodged any bullet that struck the hearts of young men during war, lived longer than any woman I have ever loved.

One might say I am a god.

I am the farthest thing from a god.

Years ago, I was turned from human to a creature I had only read about in books; a supernatural being, beyond the average, everyday life of a mortal. The kind of creature you were told scary stories about, the face of one of the most famous literary works in the world. A creature more powerful than anything, walking on an Earth that still struggles to accept him, no matter what the law states. Sustaining not on food and water, but on blood. Human blood. Cold. Immortal. Dead.

A vampire.

My name is Alex Maslar.

I have been a vampire for one hundred and ten years.


ALEX

It was black as pitch when I opened my eyes. My body's sleep cycle, much like any vampire's, always seemed to calculate precisely when the sun went down, signaling the green light for us to wake from our coffins and start our day. Or rather, our night.

I lifted the lid and pulled myself up, rolling my neck and taking a deep breath. Over a century and I still had these human habits when I woke. What can I say? You never can forget your roots. I put the lid back, not bothering to put the coffin away. It was temporary until my new bed came in. With a new home came new furniture.

I could already sense that Joanna was awake; she never slept longer than I did. I left my room to see her seated comfortably at her desk in the corner of the living, a bottle of half-drunk Type O True Blood next to her silver Mac, typing away furiously. She had on glasses which amused me; it wasn't as if she needed them, though when she was human, they were necessary. Like I said, human roots were hard to abandon.

"Morning sunshine," she spoke, not taking her eyes off the screen. "Sleep well?"

"The same," I shrugged, running a hand through my hair.

"Haven't changed yet," she noted, still not looking over at me. "Somebody's clearly not ready to start his evening."

I rolled my eyes. Being Joanna's progeny was a lot like having an overachieving older sister. She had a whopping six hundred years on me, which means she's seen more history than I've ever read about in books. I had yet to meet her maker, but considering her nature, I assumed it ran in the family.

I walked over to the kitchen, aware of how hungry I was. True Blood wasn't exactly the tastiest beverage, but it kept us going and I was grateful some consideration was given to how vampires could walk this earth without killing.

This all sounds extremely bizarre. Allow me to explain.

Vampires walk among humans now; they take part in recreational activities, run businesses, have jobs, date, have sex, all of that. The only difference is, they live forever, with the exception of several methods of murder (wooden stakes, silver, metal, the sun, all the things they write about in horror fiction) They drink blood, and years ago, the Japanese developed a synthetic type of blood called True Blood to keep us going and prevent us from feeding off humans. Recently, more accommodations have been made. Some humans prostitute themselves as feeding objects for vampires and charge to get bit. Some take pleasure in it and do it free- not entirely, anyway. We get their blood, they get ours. Much in the way we crave actual blood, vampire blood is like crack to humans. They heal faster, have more energy, and are incredibly sexually charged. But a lot like crack, too much of it and they can lose their minds along with their lives.

I myself have had the pleasure of many humans being mine over the years; mostly women, but the sixties were different times. I had a few experimentations here and there with men, but if I'm being totally honest, I prefer women. I'm not one to pay to feed; I'm picky with my company. All the company that I've fed off of, I was involved with; ninety percent of the time, sexually. It was rare I fell in love and though the one or two times I did, it never lasted. Being who I am, maintaining relationships was a task on its own. I realized the only true commitment I'd ever have was with my maker.

My whole vampire life, I had been attached at the hip with Joanna. Family is a different concept among vampires; your attachment to your maker is the strongest bond you will ever have. It goes beyond father and daughter, mother and son, so on and so forth. Joanna is singlehandedly the most important person in my life and I would die a thousand true deaths for her. And she would for me. This was the only thing I was ever certain of, and so why I chose a life free of romantic involvement.

We'd traveled the world together, places I had only ever dreamt of going to, shared a bed here and there. We had seen everything, from world wars to the Great Depression, to the movements of the sixties, and the eras of new music of the seventies and eighties. Presidents changed before my eyes and I stayed the ripe age of twenty-four through it all. Not a wrinkle on my face or a wisp of gray in my hair. I was strong, intelligent, quick- and not to make myself appear pretentious, but I'm not so bad looking either. "I wouldn't have turned you if I didn't think you attractive," Joanna would always joke. We'll get to the story behind her turning me later. For now, I was focused on satisfying my hunger before reminiscing in the good times.

I popped a bottle of Type O into the microwave and warmed it up before taking the first sip. The aftertaste was there but I couldn't complain. I had yet to explore our new home. Joanna and I had just moved to a famous little city known as Beverly Hills after spending two years in Chicago, giving birth and raising another new addition to our hospitality business known as Vessel Towers. It was specifically designed to cater to vampires but humans were welcome as well; we'd been raking it in ever since we started our first one Seattle seven years ago. Since then, we've expanded to every popular city on the map, which was why we traveled so much. Joanna was already looking to go further, overseas even; she never liked to stay in one place long, though if I were being honest, we spent a fairly longer amount of time when we were in Louisiana than any other place, seeing as her maker was there. I knew little about him, but it was best not to probe any further with Joanna.

"Getting ready for construction?" I asked, leaning against the kitchen counter and tipping the bottle into my mouth for another drink.

Joanna finally looked up, removing her hands from the keyboard. "Should be ready to start soon. But doing business with Californians is like asking for a death sentence in court," She removed her glasses and got a good look at me. "You'd think down in the ol' South, they'd be stricter towards our kind but it's looking like we'll be fighting with liberals more than we will with the hicks."

I shrugged. "People are weird everywhere we go, but it's never stopped us before." I dumped the empty bottle in the trash. "You need me tonight or am I free to explore?"

Joanna sat back in her chair and crossed her legs. "What are you up to tonight, Alex?"

She spoke calmly but she had a cheeky tint to her lips. I smiled at her; she knew me best and that I liked to have fun wherever we went. Joanna may have had her troubles with the douchebags in suits but if I remembered anything about the West Coast, its that California girls were something else and couldn't wait to get my hands- and sink my fangs- into a few.

"What I do every time we move from one city to the next." I turned and walked towards my room. "Make it home!"

I opened the door to my room and turned my head back to look at her. "I'll be in the shower. You wanna join me tonight?"

Her lips curled into a smile and she shook her head. "Not in your wildest dreams." She put her glasses back. "Make good choices. And don't bring anybody home. You've yet to unpack."

I rolled my eyes, tossed her an irritable, "Okay, Mom" and closed the door behind me.


JOANNA

I shook my head as I watched Alex walk back into his room but at the same time, I felt my heart swell. These were the moments where I felt an indescribable amount of love for my progeny- he was like a son, brother, lover, father, all combined into one figure to me. A good chunk of my life had been spent with him, something I never thought possible after five hundred of it being spent with my own maker. Before Alex, I never thought I could feel love for my own child the way my maker felt for me.

When I turned him, I realized how wrong I'd been, and it was the only time I ever felt happy to have been wrong.

"Over a century," I muttered, leaning back in my chair. I glanced back to the screen. Being the head of a successful business wasn't always glamorous. I had spent a large part of my vampire life following my maker around the world, never really making a name for myself. When we parted, he left me a considerable amount of money, enough for Alex and I to do our own exploring and expanding. We'd had odd jobs over the years but in the twenty first century, we finally settled into a line of business that was growing on the daily. I was proud of our product but all the days of meetings, dealing with finances and licensing and hardheaded "anti-fanger" assholes had me wishing I was still in bed with my maker somewhere in Europe, away from this madness, despite whatever bitterness I held for him now.

But having Alex kept me going. And for that, I couldn't complain.

As I scrolled through a list of unread emails, the sound of my phone tore my gaze away from the laptop. I stopped short at the name that appeared on the screen. Speak of the devil. Eric.

I slid my finger across the screen and pressed the phone to my ear, keeping my voice calm and controlled. "Eric," I greeted, though even as a vampire, I felt my insides shaking,

I could hear the smirk in his smooth voice. "Miss me?"

I bit my lip. "I'm neutral."

"Don't lie to me, sweetheart. I made you. I can already sense it."

I closed my eyes for a second and reopened them. "Alex is still home. Don't start."

"Ah yes, your progeny. The one I've yet to meet." I heard a movement in the background and the sound of a door closing. "How is my grandchild?"

"He's doing fine." I supported the phone with my shoulder and started playing with my glasses in my hands. It was a nervous habit, something only Eric Northman, the one who made me, could do. "About to enjoy another night out in our new city."

"As he should. Los Angeles has quite a nightlife."

My brows furrowed. I had never told him our next city would be LA. "How do you-?"

"Joanna, do you expect not to know what my progenies are up to? You might still want to pretend we never spent five hundred years together, but I'm particularly careful not to let you stray off my grid. Besides…" another movement. "We both know you'd come back. You proved that when you started up in New Orleans."

A lump started to form in my throat. I hated when he spoke like this- like he hadn't completely betrayed me. He could bring up all he wanted how our lives were practically one and that I was forever weak in the knees for him; but it didn't change the century-old resentment I felt towards him for what he did to me.

I exhaled. "What is it, Eric? What do you want?"

Eric's tone shifted a little. "I have to be in California for a few days. I have… business to attend to. And I was hoping I could have a place to stay, and seeing as a Vessel Tower has yet to arrive…"

I stiffened. "I can arrange something for you."

"Don't be rude," Eric crooned, "Show a little respect for your maker."

"You can't stay here," I snapped, turning my chair around, hoping Alex was taking his time getting ready. I lowered my voice to a whisper. "This is not a good time to get in the middle of my plans, Eric. You may be my maker but you do not have the right to intrude."

"Who says I'll intrude? I'll be a well-behaved guest," he responded calmly. "And I'll get a chance to meet my grandson. I've been wanting to do so for a while now. Can't hide me forever, Joanna."

I closed my eyes again, hearing him say my name. "Eric… please."

"Not the time you usually beg me." I wanted to smack him for the amount of cockiness that emitted from his voice. Not that it would do anything.

"This is not the time to come here," I continued, "We've just moved, I'm barely getting this project going, and Alex… I don't know how he'll deal with it."

"He's old enough," Eric replied. "He's not a baby vamp anymore. I think he's ready to meet the rest of his family."

My nostrils flared upon hearing the word rest. "Don't. You. Dare. Eric. Northman."

Eric laughed. "Put the fangs away, honey. It's just going to be me. Don't worry. Pam can hold down the fort while I'm gone."

"I never said yes."

"You don't have a choice." I froze as the smooth voice turned a little cold and hard. It was clear that he was no longer playing around and I really didn't have a say in any of this.

"You don't have power," I murmured, "You released me a long time ago."

"I don't need it. Not with you. You're still mine. You will listen to me, Joanna van Eyck. And you will obey."

I pursed my lips together and for the third time, squeezed my eyes shut. But it was already too late. The warm red trickles of blood already began to crawl down my cheekbones. "As you say," I choked, lips trembling as I spoke. Vulnerability was not my favorite quality to display, not even to Eric. At that moment I heard shuffling in Alex's room and immediately wiped my eyes and straightened up. "Just let me know when you'll be here and I'll make arrangements."

"Good girl," Eric murmured. "And trust me. I won't be any trouble."

Taking a moment to clear my throat and making sure my eyes were clear, I swiveled my chair back around. "We'll see about that." Without a goodbye, I ended the call. It wasn't ideal behavior towards a maker; progenies do as their makers command. Defying them was a death wish. But my relationship with Eric was different. He would never kill me; and soon, I would be face to face with him. He would meet Alex.

My eyes were already locked back onto the screen when Alex appeared in the doorway, dressed for the night. "Sure you don't wanna join me?" He asked, walking over to the closet where we'd had the opportunity to hang a few jackets and coats. "You're always working, Joanna. Work too hard, you might turn human and start aging early."

"Ha ha," I tossed off a sarcastic laugh, "Maybe another night. I've got a lot on my plate. Don't get too used to it. I'm putting you to work pretty soon."

Alex chuckled. "I'll be back in time for sunrise. Don't wait up."

"Never do." I smiled and watched him exit the door. It disappeared slowly as I played the scenario in my head of Eric meeting Alex for the first time.

It was not so much my own resentment towards Eric that had me hesitant for this meeting; it was more so how Eric would react to Alex. Me personally, I was so, so proud of my progeny. He had never been difficult; training him had been a breeze, which is more than I can say for myself. Eric had had trouble with me for a long time; it was as if once I turned, I entirely lost touch with myself, and it was a decision we both had come to. But once I got used to it, I latched on even harder to Eric and never let go. Alex was the same; together and even on his own, so much had been achieved.

Would my maker be proud? Could he appreciate what I had done for myself with my own progeny? Or would I forever be the little girl wrapped around Eric Northman's thumb?

No matter what the betrayal, I loved him. But I still feared him too.

I ignored the thoughts in my head as I continued to distract myself with work. Worrying about Eric could happen later. Right now, I had a damn business to run.