Jerry liked to think of himself as a family man. Despite the fact that he wasn't particularly fond of the rampant trials and tribulations that accompanied raising a childe, he persevered still. He prided himself on his loyalty and devotion to his fledglings, though of course that was only given if received in turn. It had been centuries since he'd had one turn against him and that was back when he was barely developed himself. He had grown since then in both his abilities and his compassion, and that, he found, was the key to keeping and subsequently growing his brood. Of course, like any family, his children were prone to fighting, but that was mostly among one another, both for space and his attentions. At first he'd thought it cute, but now he was well aware that those little struggles were very likely to destroy everything he'd worked so hard for. When he came to Vegas, he had promised himself that he would not let there be a repeat of Iowa. What had happened had been his own fault, but he had learned. This time he would not be so self-centered. This wasn't just about him anymore, it was about family.

It was with this goal in mind that he began his new life in the little residential suburb of Las Vegas. Every new day, he found was filled with a plethora of new opportunities. When he had initially settled in Iowa, he thought it perfect for his intentions. Iowa didn't even hold a candle to Las Vegas. He had chosen Iowa because it was quiet and reserved. When a person disappeared, it didn't shake his cover too much. Everything felt remote and safe. Vegas was the exact opposite however, and yet the two still weren't all that different. In Iowa he had taken entire families and no one had noticed for months because they lived on little farms in the middle of nowhere. Here he could do the exact same thing, and while people noticed, they just didn't care. It was paradise. He didn't have to limit himself like he did in Iowa, with the amount of people flocking to the sprawling city, he had the freedom to take whomever he wanted whenever he wanted; it was ideal. For the first time in his lifetime he had the means to ceaselessly sustain himself and probably an entire city's worth of vampires. Just the thought brought a smile to his face. If he were still in to all that stuff, he could definitely rule the night. It was cliche and pointless, but possible. No, what he wanted now were others to share his eternity with. Ones that would love him unconditionally, depend on him, and most of all, never leave him.

Of course Jerry had to be selective with who he chose to give the gift of immortality to. Eternity was quite a long time after all. Ideally mature adults were the best choice, but after a certain age, himself included, people became a little too strong willed. It was this that had broken him and his own maker apart. Adults were not as willing or accepting of the idea of being a part of a hive like structure. They preferred their autonomy. All except the truly damaged ones that was. It was for this reason that he so willingly changed teenagers and young adults. They were still trying to find their place in this world; trying to find acceptance. He welcomed them with open arms and they took to him so easily; they were always eager to please. This didn't mean that they didn't also have their challenges. At the moment, he was finding it especially difficult to deal with the latest misguided soul he had so generously taken under his wing, a one Edward Lee. Unfortunately for the elder vampire, the very same insecurities he had initially preyed upon were now surfacing in their fullest forms, wreaking havoc on his nerves, as well as his sanity. Edward, like most teenagers, was a hot mess of issues amplified by social confusion and braised in broth of hormones and emotions left to boil on the highest setting. Very often he would boil over and Jerry would be left to mop up the mess. While he could be a pain, selflessly taking care of his children was his duty, he mused. Despite all of the trouble the kid was, Jerry couldn't help but try and spoil him on occasion. Letting him sleep upstairs was one thing, especially as needy as he was, their current situation was another.

Jerry didn't see himself as a pushover, though he was still a man and supposed that his biggest weakness was being far too willing to please. When Edward had told him that he wanted a girl, his pride wasn't hurt, instead he was more than happy to provide. He was even elated when he had told him that he already had someone in mind. The problem, however, or what Ed hadn't told him, was that this girl was his "internet girlfriend" who lived all of the way in fucking California. Despite already having agreed, Jerry couldn't help but reconsider. He, himself could make the trip easily, but once Ed was added to the equation, things became much more complicated. The more he thought about it, the less he wanted to make the journey. There were far too many risks involved and the potential reward was not worth all of the guaranteed hassle. Once Ed had finally come clean and given him all the details, he should have said no; he would have been right to say no, but he hadn't. Jerry had no excuse, there was just something about the look in the kid's eyes when he'd said yes. He became so so excited and enthusiastic, not to mention energetic, and there was no way that he could bring himself to crush that. That being said, generally travelling outside of your established territory was dangerous for a vampire. It became even more so for a newborn. Taking a childe of Ed's age, and sticking him in a small vehicle to travel through large, unfamiliar areas where he'd be exposed to many new sights and smells all at once. It was a nightmare even on paper. Even worse, Jerry had to remember that Ed wasn't his only childe in need of attention. If something were to happen to the house while he was away, everything that he had worked so hard for would be all for naught.

It was five hundred and sixty five miles to Sacramento. That was an 8 hour drive on a good day. Luckily the season was changing into Autumn, so if they left as soon as the sun set, and didn't stop, they could very likely make it there in one night, but that wouldn't leave them with much of a window for the return trip. He wanted to return to Vegas as soon as was physically possible. They could grab the girl from the meeting place and run, but they'd have to stop and take refuge around dawn and that was one of the things that worried him most. He didn't doubt that it would take some effort to keep the girl docile on the return trip. Ed repeatedly described this girl as an angel in grace and mannerisms, but Jerry wouldn't blame her in the slightest for taking an exception to being kidnapped, and he highly doubted that Ed had taken that into account. Jerry wasn't so cruel as to leave her in the car during the day. If he did it was very likely that they would be coming back to a freshly baked corpse and if by some miracle she didn't die, it would no doubt negatively affect her disposition toward them, and that was really the last thing that Jerry wanted, more for Ed's sake than his own. The other thought that he didn't want to entertain was that he might be forced to turn her, which would be the worst idea while on the road. Travelling with two newborns in a car through the desert was more than Jerry felt he could handle. He preferred that they at least make it back to the city limits before it came to that, but if his hand was forced, there was nothing that he could do. If they managed to get all the way there and back without him being forced to turn her, then that would be perfect, but if she somehow managed to escape or even try to fight them, then he hoped she was an angel because heaven help the poor thing, the rest of her short human life was not going to be pleasant.

"Did you text her?" Jerry asked, as Ed came up from the basement.

"Somehow. Your basement has the worst signal ever." Jerry couldn't decide what he wanted to do more, facepalm, or hit him. Instead he elected to take a deep breath,

"Well what did she say?"

"She'll be at Natomas Oaks Park around eight this Saturday evening, ready for our date." Ed answered, proud of himself. The nerd could get the girl, and boy had he hit the jackpot with this one. He'd met Melanie online a few months ago when he was playing WoW and she was just the sweetest thing. Since then they'd skyped a few times, and she had given him her number after Brewster pretty much left him and Adam for good. After Adam disappeared, she was pretty much all he'd had left until Jerry came along. Jerry was going to create one big happy family and he was kind enough to let Mel join. He'd been wrong to be so suspicious of the vampire, not that anyone had believed him anyway except for Adam and… Oh. Ed smacked himself in the head, how could he have forgotten?

"By the way, there's one little detail I may have forgotten to mention…"

Jerry sat up straight in his chair and raised an eyebrow at the newborn. "Such as?" he questioned, his patience clearly wearing thin at this point. If they were going to do this there could be no complications, and no loose ends; namely that brat next door.

"I may have... told her about you... after Adam disappeared…?"

Jerry stood up, "And what did you tell her?" He cracked his neck.

Ed put his hands up in front of him, "Nothing major, just that I thought you were a vampire and that I couldn't see you on my camera. No telling if she actually believed me anyway! I-I mean, she doesn't know what you look like since I couldn't really get a picture of you anyway and since I've been talking to her so often she shouldn't know about me yet!" Jerry sighed and made his way toward Ed, who at this point was cowering in a corner. He clapped one hand down on his shoulder,

"Calm down, if she doesn't suspect anything, then this should be cake, right Guy?" Ed nodded vigorously.

"Right!"

"Good." Jerry moved past Ed, into the kitchen. "You got your stuff packed, yet?" He called back to Ed who was still occupying his little corner.

"Uh, yeah, I packed the essentials."

"We'll pick up some flowers for you to give the girl on the way. What girl doesn't love roses? We'll pick her up some chocolate too."

"Really? That'd be great!" Ed didn't have to balls to tell correct Jerry and tell her that her favorite flowers were actually magnolias.

"Just don't forget to pack the duct tape. I already have the rope in the trunk. We wouldn't want her getting away from us on the trip home." Ed stared at the kitchen entryway, trying to focus on Jerry's words through the haze of excitement about finally being able to see Melanie irl.

"R-right!" He mumbled, an idiotic smile on his face. Soon he'd be with what had to be the sweetest girl in the whole wide world. He wondered what they would talk about, what they should do on their date. Jerry had to give him at least a little time with her before they left, right? He could hardly wait! With that grin still on his face, he stumbled downstairs to finish packing and maybe get some sleep, if he could. Oh sweet Melanie. He kept imagining what she was going to wear, how she'd do her hair, if she'd paint her nails just for him. He imagined the look on her face when he gave her the flowers. It was all in the little details. He could imagine her little "oh, you remembered" and her look of surprise, her beautiful smile, the softness of her hand as he held it, the moment that soft skin would give way under the pressure of his fangs and his mouth would be filled with warm, rich blood. No. He groaned, trying to clear that thought from his mind. He couldn't do that to her. Jerry was going to turn her and they'd roam the night together; indulge in the upcoming bloodbath that would be the demise of this town and all its inhabitants. He pictured the two of them, Charley and Amy begging for mercy at their hands. Ed groaned again, but for a different reason. There was no way he was going to be able to sleep like this, the anticipation was killing him!

Jerry, still in the kitchen, could hear Ed lock himself in the bathroom and couldn't help but roll his eyes. He couldn't remember being a teenager himself, but he really hoped that he wasn't that hormone crazy. If he was, he sent a small apology out to the universe. The two were leaving tomorrow and he really hoped that Ed had the self control to keep it in his pants for the duration of their journey and if not then there was going to be a minor issue. After all he highly doubted that the girl was going to be in the mood immediately after being forcefully taken from what she thought was going to be a nice, calm walk through the park, and Jerry didn't want to introduce the girl to their particular brand of relationship just like that, unless she was into it of course, which again, he highly doubted. He also figured that she probably wouldn't appreciate or find it flattering being the reason that Ed repeatedly holed himself up in the bathroom, which in itself was a creation that humans needed far more than their kind.

Jerry decided that he was going to head into town tonight and grab something to eat, and perhaps pick up something to keep the little miss quiet for a few hours. Fun fact: chloroform takes ages to work and even then starts to wear off the second that it is removed the victim's breathing passages. It is also known to cause chemical burns. Don't believe everything you see on TV kids. That being said, roofies weren't hard to get a hold of, though he needed a way for the girl to consume them. Of course, he could always persuade her himself, though he had a feeling Ed would take exception to that and he really didn't want to deal with his fledgling's whining all the way home. No, it would be much easier just to drug her, just long enough to get her away from town, though he'd need to think of a plan of action for when they stopped for the day. His blood could be enough to keep her docile, but the trip itself was going to be enough of a strain without having to glamour the girl. Then again, glamour as an option made everything that much easier. It would certainly put her in a much more willing mood, though again, the question arose, how to get a good girl to swallow. Duct tape and rope are not acceptable attire to wear in public, so Jerry was going to have to do some work in order to get the girl in and out of the motel without being caught. Not to mention that they had a twenty-four to forty-eight hour window before her disappearance would be notified to the police. Considering the circumstances, they would most likely label her a runaway and not extend their efforts beyond questioning the residents of Las Vegas, and that was only if she was smart enough to tell her parents about the guy from the internet that she was meeting with. Even then, once she was safely locked away and the police discovered that Ed, too, was gone without a trace, they'd have no more worries. "Young love" they'd call it. More like teenagers and their out of control hormones.

Jerry tuned in to Ed, still in the bathroom. If the kid was still that randy when he got back he'd have to have another go at him himself before they left. Newborns were akin to animals in that way. They found it hard to focus on anything besides their base instincts, their need to feed, fight, and fuck, and with him being the kind and loving patriarch, who was he to deny them? It was just another part of taking care of his family. He had been there for Adam, for Ed, and his girl would be no different. After she had calmed down a bit, he'd leave her to Ed to do with as he pleased, but until then, after being forcefully ripped from all she'd ever known. She'd need stability and someone to care for her. She'd need him, and he was more than willing to oblige her.

Jerry grabbed his keys off the counter and locked up before heading off into the night. He'd also have to bring back a little something for the ones downstairs. It just wouldn't do to have them down there starving while they were gone. Now that would be cruel. It only took one to incite a rebellion and he had learned that lesson the hard way. The last thing he wanted was to come home to see that his children had all torn each other apart in his absence. In their current state, he rarely needed feed them at all, they didn't expend too much energy sleeping as they did, but he liked to be ready. After all a good daddy always provides for his children.